Sunday Thoughts: November 18

UMD Gains One Point in a Pair of OT Games

UMD is getting closer, but still has a long way to go.

Mired in last place in the WCHA, they gave two valiant efforts this weekend in Grand Forks against North Dakota.

Friday night the team fought back in the third to gain the game tying goal and a precious point on the road in a 4-4 game.  It definitely looked as though the team was making a statement and was poised to take the next step.

Saturday saw an apparent continuation of a statement started by the Bulldogs Friday night as they roared to a 3-0 lead.  Then the problems of old entered in demonstrated by UMD allowing the next 4 goals en route to a 4-3 OT loss.

Even though play seems to be getting better for UMD, there is no moral victory here.  Time is ticking and the season is moving by.  Next week at this time UMD will have finished the first third, or period, of the regular season and we will be working on the first report card for the team.

In our staff discussions last week, we were looking two weeks ahead, at UND and home against SCSU.  We talked about playing two good teams and how UMD needed to get at least two points somewhere in those four games.  Now being halfway there in both game and points we have three thoughts:

1. Scoring needs to be spread out.  Our preview for this past weekend talked about how freshman heavy scoring is for UMD.  This weekend didn’t change that much if at all.  Farley and Cameranesi teamed for three goals and two assists.  Look for Cameranesi to be in consideration if not a front-runner for WCHA Rookie of the Week.
2. Holding leads.  The Bulldogs have lead in their last three games and have only one point to show for their efforts.
3. Talent abounds and the future is bright.  Good, but bad.  Fans want to win now and this team should be in the W column more than they are now, zero for November.

Up Next.  As mentioned above, Saint Cloud State is the Thanksgiving leftovers for UMD in Duluth this Friday and Saturday.  The Huskies were off this past weekend and are currently 6-4-0 overall and tied for 4^th in the WCHA.

Elsewhere in the WCHA:

Michigan Tech travelled to Bemidji State and played two OT games just like the UMD-UND series.  Except here, the Huskies took both games in the extra session.  Great for MTU, but devastating for the Beavers moving forward.  

The Gophers still are showing they are a team building towards something, we think.  I know that Wisconsin is a rival, but they are down especially with Zengerle out and UMTC should have had four points.

Denver is on a roll after sweeping CC this weekend in part one of the Goldpan series.  It will be a hard climb for CC to take the Pan.  Denver certainly looks to be in the driver seat of the WCHA right now.