6 Bulldogs score in #17 men’s win over Northern Michigan

DULUTH, MN. (Northern News Now) - After a double-digit overtime matchup between Northern Michigan (NMU) and seventeenth-ranked University of Minnesota Duluth on Friday the two teams’ offenses were back in action during an 8-5 UMD win.

On Saturday at Amsoil Arena, NMU opened up the scoring 21 seconds into the first period but it would be the only lead for the Wildcats for the rest of the game.

Four minutes later after a NMU penalty, Bulldogs sophomore Ben Steeves scored UMD’s first goal of the game on the power play.

With 10 minutes remaining, the shorthanded Bulldogs would strike again when sophomore Cole Spicer scored his first goal of the season on a breakaway.

UMD’s team captain Luke Loheit scored the final goal of the 1st period on another power play for the Bulldogs as they went into the second period up 3-1.

Another power-play goal opened up the second period and gave junior Owen Gallatin his first goal for UMD this season as the lead was bumped up to three.

NMU would get a long-awaited second goal of the game halfway through the second period, only for graduate senior Connor McMenamin to give UMD the three-goal lead back a minute later. Both goals were scored on power plays. The second-period goal was also McMenamin’s first goal of the season.

The Wildcats would score the third goal in under two minutes to make it 5-3.

Steeves scored his second goal of the game with five minutes left in the second which would give Duluth a 6-3 lead going into the final period.

Senior Blake Biondi would add his first goal of the season seven minutes into the third as the goal total hit double digits.

NMU wouldn’t go away scoring twice more off of power plays midway through the third to bring the game within two.

McMenamin would score an unassisted goal with less than two minutes remaining to cap off the 8-5 victory.

The Bulldogs went 4-8 on the power play to win the special teams battle.

UMD was led by Ben Steeves with two goals and two assists, and he now leads the Bulldogs in goals (4) and total points (6) on the season.

The Bulldogs play a home-and-home series against Bemidji State next Friday and Saturday.

Friday’s game will be broadcast on the MY9 Sports Network with puck drop set for 7:07 p.m. at Amsoil Arena.

Click here to download the Northern News Now app or our Northern News Now First Alert weather app.

Copyright 2023 Northern News Now. All rights reserved.