Rob Anderson’s 40-save heroics help UMD stun CC Tigers 2-1
Sophomore goaltender Rob Anderson bounced around in the crease like a ping-pong ball Friday night, singlehandedly keeping UMD in the game against Colorado College for large stretches of play.
“It’s about damn time I did, too,” said Anderson. “I’ve been wanting to play well enough to win one for this team all year. This could be the turning point in the season for us.”
Strong words, but not without validity. Anderson’s stout netminding was the key in a 2-1 victory over Colorado College, before 3,251 fans at the DECC.
It was a welcome change for the Bulldogs, who have had some leads this season, but they were only 1-12-1 in the WCHA until Friday night, and the CC Tigers were one point out of first place, having gone 9-1-1 in their most recent 11 games. Colorado College fairly flew at hyperspeed through the first period, outshooting UMD 12-3, but Anderson kept it scoreless. For the game, CC outshot UMD 41-19, but Anderson made 40 saves — right down to the controversial final millisecond.
“Hopefully,” said Judd Medak, “we learned how to win tonight.”
Medak scored the game’s first goal, on a great individual effort at 3:31 of the second period, when he came off the bench on a line change just as a clearing attempt bounced high in the air. Medak reached up and gloved the puck down to the ice, carried in deep on the right side, circled the net, and came out on the left.
“I just kept going around the net, and shot into the far side,” said Medak, whose sixth goal of the season was hardly sufficient reward for consistent hard work, but it was vital in this game.
Drew Otten made it 2-0 at 11:53 of the middle period, with a power-play deflection of Nate Anderson’s shot from the left boards.
“I saw Nate at the half-wall, and he took a couple of strides in and shot it about six inches off the ice,” said Otten. “I got my stickblade on it and it went up and over the goalie’s shoulder.”
The goalie, Colin Zulianello, came in leading the league with a 1.85 goals-against average and a .936 save percentage. Just last week, Scott Meyer of St. Cloud State came to the DECC leading the league and the Bulldogs got seven goals against him in two games. But they lost both of them.
This time, thanks to Anderson’s brilliant play, the only goal given up was Chris Hartsburg’s power-play goal from the right circle with 1:43 left in the second period, and the ‘Dogs doubled their victory total to 2-12-2 in the league and 5-16-2 overall, while CC is 10-5 in WCHA play and 15-5-1 overall. But it was close.
At the start, the Bulldogs couldn’t contain the Tigers speed. At the 9-minute mark, Reid Goolsby gloved a high pass, knocked the puck to the ice, and swung at it. The puck went in, but referee Robin Anderson waved it off, ruling it had been batted in by hand. “I was right behind him,” said Otten. “He knocked the puck down, but I think it went across the line before he swung his stick at it.”
Beau Geisler fed Medak for UMD’s first shot, at 9:48 of the first period, by which time CC already had nine shots at Anderson, plus the one that didn’t count. In that first period, CC’s sophomore Tom Preissing, a can’t-miss NHL defenseman from Rosemount, Minn., twice stickhandled end-to-end through a slow-motion UMD defense, but Anderson thwarted his shots.
“I know Preissing really well, and I was so pumped when I stopped him,” said Anderson.
Which time?
“Both of them,” said Anderson.
After having been thoroughly outplayed through the first period, UMD’s chances looked bleak at the intermission.
“We stood around and watched them for most of the first period,” said UMD coach Scott Sandelin. “We were good spectators. But we recovered from that. We bumped them a little, and played much better in the second period.”
As impressive as CC was in the first period, and in the game for that matter, Tiger coach Scott Owens wasn’t impressed. “I didn’t think we played that well,” he said. “Not compared to the last four weeks. We didn’t play nearly as well as we did against North Dakota, Harvard or Denver.
“We came out flying, but Anderson was good. We’re a very skilled team, but Duluth played a very intelligent, smart game. We gave a team lacking in confidence a lot of confidence tonight, and they deserved to win.”
Because the memory of excruciating last-minute turnabouts against Wisconsin, for example, when a 2-1 lead turned into a 3-2 overtime loss, the final seconds of this one were excruciating. With Zulianello pulled for a sixth attacker, and CC throwing everything at Anderson, referee Robin Anderson blew his whistle and called a penalty. The clock showed 0.01 seconds remaining — one-hundredth of a second.
Medak skated up to Rob Anderson in goal. “He said, ‘If they score with 0.01 left, I’ll shoot myself,’ ” Anderson said. “Then we both looked up and saw that they had put 1.5 seconds back up on the clock. We both went, ‘Oh, no!’ ”
That’s because the Bulldogs had already found that if something can go wrong, it very well might. But that was earlier in the season. Before the Bulldogs learned how to win.
Rob Anderson’s 40-save heroics help UMD stun CC Tigers 2-1
Sophomore goaltender Rob Anderson bounced around in the crease like a ping-pong ball Friday night, singlehandedly keeping UMD in the game against Colorado College for large stretches of play.
“It’s about damn time I did, too,” said Anderson. “I’ve been wanting to play well enough to win one for this team all year. This could be the turning point in the season for us.”
Strong words, but not without validity. Anderson’s stout netminding was the key in a 2-1 victory over Colorado College, before 3,251 fans at the DECC.
It was a welcome change for the Bulldogs, who have had some leads this season, but they were only 1-12-1 in the WCHA until Friday night, and the CC Tigers were one point out of first place, having gone 9-1-1 in their most recent 11 games. Colorado College fairly flew at hyperspeed through the first period, outshooting UMD 12-3, but Anderson kept it scoreless. For the game, CC outshot UMD 41-19, but Anderson made 40 saves — right down to the controversial final millisecond.
“Hopefully,” said Judd Medak, “we learned how to win tonight.”
Medak scored the game’s first goal, on a great individual effort at 3:31 of the second period, when he came off the bench on a line change just as a clearing attempt bounced high in the air. Medak reached up and gloved the puck down to the ice, carried in deep on the right side, circled the net, and came out on the left.
“I just kept going around the net, and shot into the far side,” said Medak, whose sixth goal of the season was hardly sufficient reward for consistent hard work, but it was vital in this game.
Drew Otten made it 2-0 at 11:53 of the middle period, with a power-play deflection of Nate Anderson’s shot from the left boards.
“I saw Nate at the half-wall, and he took a couple of strides in and shot it about six inches off the ice,” said Otten. “I got my stickblade on it and it went up and over the goalie’s shoulder.”
The goalie, Colin Zulianello, came in leading the league with a 1.85 goals-against average and a .936 save percentage. Just last week, Scott Meyer of St. Cloud State came to the DECC leading the league and the Bulldogs got seven goals against him in two games. But they lost both of them.
This time, thanks to Anderson’s brilliant play, the only goal given up was Chris Hartsburg’s power-play goal from the right circle with 1:43 left in the second period, and the ‘Dogs doubled their victory total to 2-12-2 in the league and 5-16-2 overall, while CC is 10-5 in WCHA play and 15-5-1 overall. But it was close.
At the start, the Bulldogs couldn’t contain the Tigers speed. At the 9-minute mark, Reid Goolsby gloved a high pass, knocked the puck to the ice, and swung at it. The puck went in, but referee Robin Anderson waved it off, ruling it had been batted in by hand. “I was right behind him,” said Otten. “He knocked the puck down, but I think it went across the line before he swung his stick at it.”
Beau Geisler fed Medak for UMD’s first shot, at 9:48 of the first period, by which time CC already had nine shots at Anderson, plus the one that didn’t count. In that first period, CC’s sophomore Tom Preissing, a can’t-miss NHL defenseman from Rosemount, Minn., twice stickhandled end-to-end through a slow-motion UMD defense, but Anderson thwarted his shots.
“I know Preissing really well, and I was so pumped when I stopped him,” said Anderson.
Which time?
“Both of them,” said Anderson.
After having been thoroughly outplayed through the first period, UMD’s chances looked bleak at the intermission.
“We stood around and watched them for most of the first period,” said UMD coach Scott Sandelin. “We were good spectators. But we recovered from that. We bumped them a little, and played much better in the second period.”
As impressive as CC was in the first period, and in the game for that matter, Tiger coach Scott Owens wasn’t impressed. “I didn’t think we played that well,” he said. “Not compared to the last four weeks. We didn’t play nearly as well as we did against North Dakota, Harvard or Denver.
“We came out flying, but Anderson was good. We’re a very skilled team, but Duluth played a very intelligent, smart game. We gave a team lacking in confidence a lot of confidence tonight, and they deserved to win.”
Because the memory of excruciating last-minute turnabouts against Wisconsin, for example, when a 2-1 lead turned into a 3-2 overtime loss, the final seconds of this one were excruciating. With Zulianello pulled for a sixth attacker, and CC throwing everything at Anderson, referee Robin Anderson blew his whistle and called a penalty. The clock showed 0.01 seconds remaining — one-hundredth of a second.
Medak skated up to Rob Anderson in goal. “He said, ‘If they score with 0.01 left, I’ll shoot myself,’ ” Anderson said. “Then we both looked up and saw that they had put 1.5 seconds back up on the clock. We both went, ‘Oh, no!’ ”
That’s because the Bulldogs had already found that if something can go wrong, it very well might. But that was earlier in the season. Before the Bulldogs learned how to win.
Top 10 Hockey Rankings
BOYS STATE
1. Elk River
2. Armstrong
3. Holy Angels
4. Duluth East
5. White Bear Lake
6. Bloomington Jefferson
7. Roseville
8. Greenway of Coleraine
9. Eden Prairie
10. (tie) Cloquet-Esko-Carlton
Rochester Mayo
BOYS UP NORTH
1. Duluth East
2. Greenway of Coleraine
3. Cloquet-Esko-Carlton
4. Hibbing
5. Ely
6. Grand Rapids
7. Mesabi East
8. Duluth Denfeld
9. Hermantown
10. Duluth Central
GIRLS STATE
1. Roseville
2. Blaine
3. Hibbing
4. Edina
5. Bloomington Jefferson
6. South St. Paul
7. Rosemount
8. Henry Sibley
9. Moorhead
10. Forest Lake
Rooth, Holst get hat tricks as UMD women blitz Northeastern 11-0
If UMD’s tight, tense 3-2 victory over Northeastern on Sunday night was the chance to get back on track from vacation, then the Bulldogs were like a runaway train in Monday night’s 11-0 blowout over the Huskies.
The game completed a six-game sweep for the Bulldogs over Eastern powers New Hampshire, Harvard and — after a three-week break for Christmas — Northeastern. Strangely enough, the Bulldogs now take another week off before heading into the intense schedule of the second half of the Women’s-WCHA race with a series at Minnesota State-Mankato. If the ‘Dogs can simply keep going where they let off against the Huskies, they’ll be in position to make a run at repeating as league champs.
Maria Rooth and Erika Holst scored three goals apiece for the relentless Bulldogs, in their most prolific offensive show of the season. Rooth also had four assists and Holst two, to go with their hat tricks. Brittny Ralph and Laurie Alexander each had a goal and four assists, with Alexander assisting on the game’s first three goals as the Bulldogs sailed ahead 4-0 by the first intermission.
Joanne Eustace, Sanna Peura and Sheena Podovinnikoff also added a goal each, with Eustace also assisting on two.
The No. 2 rated Bulldogs started the weekend celebrating the birth of teammate Jenny Schmidgall’s baby daughter, Madison, on Friday night, and outshot Northeastern 39-19 in Sunday’s nail-biter, but got everything to click from start to finish in the rematch, when the ‘Dogs outshot the Huskies 56-18, making it 95-37 in shots for the weekend. UMD is now 15-4-1.
Northeastern is 11-4 after learning earlier Monday they had vaulted from No. 8 to No. 3 in national ratings. The Huskies beat No. 1 Dartmouth 4-0 on Friday, causing the ratings jump, which came despite losing the 3-2 game Sunday. Monday’s game was not calculated, which was about the only thing that brought a smile to the face of Joy Woog, Northeastern’s interim coach.
“The second period was unbearable,” said Woog. “It was like the longest period I’ve ever seen.”
The Bulldogs whistled six goals into the Northeastern goal in that second period, although that wasn’t all that much worse than the first.
Because Northeastern had gotten progressively better throughout the series opener, and UMD goaltender Tuula Puputti needed to be at her sharpest to allow the Bulldogs to hang on, it seemed that the rematch would be tough from the outset. “We thought so,” said Rooth, whose comment may have indicated the reason for the romp — the Bulldogs anticipated a tough challenge.
Instead, UMD scored four times and outshot Northeastern 22-5 in the first period. Rooth notched her 19th and 20th goals at 4:05 and 5:33, getting the ‘Dogs rolling. “I was behind the net on the first one, and we had two players in front, but the goalie moved out toward them, so I shot for the back of her legs,” said Rooth. “It was mostly luck.”
The goalie was Erika Silva, a senior who had a sterling 1.50 goals-against and a .948 save percentage coming into the game. The puck hit the back of her pad and caromed in. It was luck, but it was calculated luck. A minute and a half later, Rooth broke long up the left side and scored with a low shot to the far side. At 9:11, Eustace came off the left boards with a teammate in front. Again Silva anticipated a pass, and Eustace fired a lot shot right through her for the 3-0 count.
At that point, Woog said, she turned to her assistant to discuss how pulling Silva might affect her, and to her surprise, she turned and saw Silva skate to the bench and pull herself. Chanda Gunn scrambled to find her helmet and facemask and went in, but about one shift later, Silva went back out, putting herself back in the game, too. Woog, who is still trying to get to know her players since stepping in just before the start of the season, was amused about learning something about her ace goalie in the heat of battle.
As if they needed help, UMD got a two-skater power play late in the period and Rooth circled the net for a shot that left a rebound for Holst to convert for the 4-0 lead.
In the six-goal second period, during which UMD outshot the Huskies 18-10, Peura — who made her return from six weeks off for a concussion with a goal on Sunday night — got her second of the weekend on a second rebound. Ralph also scored on a power-play rebound, and this time Woog beat Silva to the change-in-the-fly goaltending by dispatching Gunn from the bench for relief duty.
Silva’s statistics will take a hit from yielding six goals on 27 shots, but Gunn fared no better. Holst scored on yet another power-play rebound, then came the two most impressive goals of the night. Shannon Mikel, who hadn’t scored all season, cranked up from the left boards and ripped a slapshot through a maze of bodies and right past Gunn into the far-side upper corner, a startling goal that made it 8-0 at 11:04 of the middle period.
At 17:56, Eustace rushed up the left side, 1-on-2, and spotted Alexander breaking off right wing. Eustace, whose play seems to improve every game, sent a picture-perfect pass through the skates of a defender, across the slot in perfect position for Alexander to drill with a one-timer at 17:56. Thirty-four seconds later, Rooth completed her hat trick on a rebound, and it was 10-0.
Podovinnikoff deflected Jessica Smith’s shot for the 11th goal to open te third period, then coach Shannon Miller sent Rianna Burke in to relieve Puputti, and Burke faced only one shot through the final 10 minutes.
While the Bulldogs don’t need another break right now, the Huskies don’t get one. They go back to Boston and face ECAC rivals Harvard and Brown this weekend. “That’s probably good,” said Woog. “I told the players all we can do is forget this, and all this can do is help us. As they say, that which doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger.”
No. 2 UMD beats No. 8 Northeastern
The UMD women’s hockey team had a lot of good news Sunday night at the DECC.
First, news came that the Bulldogs All-America teammate, Jenny Schmidgall, had given birth to a 7-pound potential winger named Madison on Friday, but rumors she already had made a verbal commitment to UMD were unsubstantiated.
Then the Bulldogs returned to competition for the first time in three weeks, and Finnish freshman Sanne Peura returned to the lineup for the first time in six weeks, following a concussion at Ohio State, and scored the game’s first goal.
The Bulldogs won their fifth straight game against top 10 rated Eastern foes by holding off persistent Northeastern 3-2 — a victory, before 526 fans, that could propel UMD into the No. 1 national ranking.
Northeastern (11-3)came to Duluth ranked No. 8 in the nation, BEFORE whipping No. 1 and previously unbeaten Dartmouth 4-0 on Friday night. The Bulldogs (14-4-1)were No. 2, although a rise to No. 1 might depend on another victory in tonight’s Monday night rematch at the DECC.
The Bulldogs had been off for holiday break since Dec. 17, after having swept New Hampshire and Harvard on successive weekends. Northeastern, which is located in Boston, hadn’t played since Dec. 10 before the “warmup” against Dartmouth. But the Huskies faced an adjustment at the DECC.
“This rink is so tiny,” said Northeastern coach Joy Woog, a Minnesotan who once starred at Brown University. “Our rink is 200 by 95 feet, and this one [190 by 85] is so small, there is no neutral zone. That was a big adjustment for our players, and I don’t think they’ve adjusted yet.
“We didn’t have a Christmas tournament or anything, but when we came back from break, everybody was so sharp, I was surprised,” Woog added. “Our passing was on, and our players seemed more disciplined, more focused and more intense. Dartmouth hadn’t lost, and they appeared to be a little flat against us. Comparing them and UMD, Dartmouth is a little smaller, but might have a little more team speed. Both are obviously well-coached teams that stay with their systems.”
The Bulldogs had reason to be concerned about being rusty at the outset, and they had more reason to be concerned about Peura, who required lengthy rest after suffering a concussion against Ohio State six weeks ago.
“Of course, I was a little bit worried about how I’d be after being off for six weeks,” said Peura. “But I had practiced well for a week. I was most worried about my conditioning, and I made some short shifts tonight.”
But Peura was named the No. 1 star after a spirited performance, during which she scored the first goal and had several other determined bids at the goal-mouth stopped by Northeastern’s star goaltender Erika Silva. UMD outshot the Huskies 39-19, but Silva’s 36-save performance kept it close throughout.
“We were a little rusty,” said UMD coach Shannon Miller. “I thought we played well for about two periods, but we had two 10-minute lapses, early in the first period and midway through the second, when we were horrible. Northeastern is a physical, tenacious team, and they hold you up everywhere. We had to fight through that. It was good to see that Peura was sharp.”
Peura’s first shot came at 7:23, and went in. “I gave the puck to Hanne [Sikio] and she gave it back to me, and I shot,” said Peura, matter-of-factly.
The Bulldogs peppered Silva, who has a 1.5 goals-against average and a .948 save percentage, by outshooting Northeastern 15-4 in the first period, but the only other time they could score came at 18:45, when Satu Kiipeli drilled a low, screened shot from the right point into the lower left.
For a team with a tendency to start slowly and usually need to rally, the 2-0 cushion at the first intermission seemed enormous. But a continuing assortment of penalty calls by Krista Knight kept the game from flowing in the second period, and Northeastern came back to push the ‘Dogs the rest of the way. Brooke Whitney and Lisa Giovanelli, the Huskies two most tenacious forwards, got the two goals, Whitney in the second period and Giovanelli on a power play at 7:12 of the third, and both goals came with interesting use of the backside of the UMD net.
The puck was trapped on the back of the UMD cage while players from both sides took repeated whacks at it, still no official whistled down the play, even though UMD goalie Tuula Puputti had her hand raised for several seconds to signal it. Giovanelli finally got the puck dislodged and worked it out front, where Whitney kicked the rebound to her right and put it behind Puputti at 14:45.
That made it 2-1, and another apparent UMD goal was disallowed for Peura being in the crease. Peura had rushed the net for a shot that Silva saved, and with the puck already in the crease, Peura’s momentum carried her into the crease after it, and Pamela Pachal quickly converted the loose puck. But Knight waved off the goal.
All of that seemed moot when Jenny Hempel’s quick work with a rebound at the right edge of the cage made it 3-1 at 18:16 of the middle period, although that turned out to stand as the game-winner.
The Huskies got within reach at 7:12 of the third period when Giovanelli shot from deep on the left. Puputti had the shot measured and slid across to block it, but Giovanelli’s shot hit the left outside of the net, and she retrieved it and quickly jammed another try from behind the net that bounced in off the back of Puputti’s pads.
About the Author
John Gilbert is a lifetime Minnesotan and career journalist, specializing in cars and sports during and since spending 30 years at the Minneapolis Tribune, now the Star Tribune. More recently, he has continued translating the high-tech world of autos and sharing his passionate insights as a freelance writer/photographer/broadcaster. A member of the prestigious North American Car and Truck of the Year jury since 1993. John can be heard Monday-Friday from 9-11am on 610 KDAL(www.kdal610.com) on the "John Gilbert Show," and writes a column in the Duluth Reader.
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