Sweep Completed, Rankings on the Rise

In a show of force and talent, the UMD Bulldogs powered through the Colorado College Tigers Saturday night 4-1 to complete the sweep in Duluth. The scoring started for the second straight night by Kyle Schmidt with plenty of JConnolly, MConnolly, and Fontaine mixed into the scoring sheet.

The fact that the top line for UMD is producing points in the newly started second half of the WCHA season is very promising. The addition of other Bulldog players taking the opportunity of opposing teams paying so much attention to the top line has aided in the great success of Schmidt, Rob Bordson, and Travis Oleksuk.

Kenny Reiter has solidified the goalie situation with three strong games in row in which he started in net. Granted his defense in front of him has been improving greatly, Reiter still does have to make the plays and he has been.

Next the Bulldogs take this upward bound team on the road to Mankato for a key test. This road trip against the bottom-half dwelling Mavericks will be telling if the Bulldogs will continue to push for #1 in the WCHA and the McNaughton Cup. As of now, they are alone in second two points behind Denver. A sweep against Mankato would make leaps and bounds towards the cup.

Rankings. The USCHO poll released today places UMD at #10 up from #13 last week. The Inside College Hockey Power Rankings has UMD up six spots to #8. From INCH:

Let's dub the Bulldogs' forward trio of Mike Connolly, Jack Connolly, and Justin Fontaine the FCC Line. They can't be regulated, combining for six goals and seven assists in the weekend sweep of Colorado College.

With success comes expectations. Many are starting to expect a lot from this seaon’s Bulldogs.