UMD Men’s Hockey Looking to Bounce Back Against Rivals Minnesota

The Bulldogs will take on the Gophers in a home-and-home series this upcoming weekend.

DULUTH, Minn. – This past weekend was less than stellar for the UMD men’s hockey team.

The Bulldogs dropped both games to Wisconsin and head coach Scott Sandelin was not happy with his team’s defensive effort.

“We can’t give up as many goals as we’ve been giving up and certainly the outnumbered rushes and chances. To me, it starts there. Make the commitment there and you’re not playing your d-zone, you’ll probably get more chances. If you’re in your d-zone and your chasing games, you’re probably too tired to play offensively so it doesn’t really matter,” said Sandelin.

“I just think it’s the compete level and staying in the game for the full 60 minutes. You can’t take a shift off versus any of these teams. They’re coming at us hard,” said forward Noah Cates.

“For a lot of us in the room, losing two games in a row isn’t something that we’re used to. I think we’re taking it on the chin and just learning from what happened that weekend and moving forward,” forward Nick Swaney said.

“It’s early in the year and we have a lot of learning to do. That’s what we’re taking from that weekend,” said defenseman and co-captain Nick Wolff.

It will be another ranked opponent for the Bulldogs this upcoming weekend, and it’s a big one as they take on arch rivals Minnesota.

“Growing up down in the cities, I watched them play all the time. It kind of gets you going a little bit more,” Swaney said.

“A lot of good players over there. I know a lot of them. It’s a fun match-up and a lot on the line for bragging rights and stuff like that,” said Cates.

And this will be a home-and-home series, which will provide an interesting dynamic on the ice for both nights.

“We’ve an Olympic-size rink on Friday and a small rink on Saturday. But last time I checked, the distance between the dots is not different. What you’re trying to accomplish in the game doesn’t really change,” Sandelin said.

Puck drop Friday night at the Mariucci Center in Minneapolis is set for 7 p.m. Saturday night’s game will take place at Amsoil Arena.