Questions Still Abound

Tight Win Over Lakehead 4-2 Shows Room for Improvement

On the night of the Bulldog's first game, an exhibition against Lakehead University of Canada, leads right into the season just four days later.  A strong showing would be preferred, but a lackluster last minute (1:35 to be exact) escape is the game we got.

From the get go of the new season all eyes were on the net minder.  Would McNeely finally take the reigns and be the main guy as we thought when he arrived?  Or would freshman Kasimir Kaskisuo emerge as the dominant force.  The first indication of the current situation did not take long as Lakehead buried their first shot of the night beating McNeely 0:42 into the contest.  Not the start anyone hoped for.

Maybe just as concerning was the lack of scoring throughout the game.  UMD did not find the back of the Thunderwolves net until 6:03 into the second period as Brett Boehm scored with helpers from Austin Farley and Carson Soucy.  The tie would be short lived as UMD would go into the second intermission again trailing, now 2-1, after McNeely yielded a goal midway through the second.

UMD did held a decisive shots on goal edge throughout the game ending with a 61-21 edge.  But it wasn't until very late in the third period that the Bulldogs took their first lead before the 4-2 final.  third period goals for UMD were tallied by Farley, Justin Crandall, and Alex Iafallo.

On the horizon is the Ice Breaker Tournament held in South Bend and hosted by Notre Dame where UMD will face a tough test against the Gophers Friday afternoon.  A definite challenge for a team that has many challenges.  UMTC is coming off of their exhibition opener, a 5-0 win over visiting Northern Alberta.

The game Friday starts at 1:05pm CDT and can streamed for free along with all other tournament games.

Around the NCHC.
Rough start in Omaha for the Mavs.  Not only do they lose their exhibition game against the same Northern Alberta who lost to the Gophers 5-0, but the Mavs were shutout 4-0.

The only other loss in NCHC exhibition play was Miami being shutout 3-0 by the visiting US U18 Developmental squad.