Statesman

Issue date: 11/18/09 Section: Sports

Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, not going to happen. The UMD men's hockey team entered the weekend series against Michigan Tech having not recorded a loss on Friday evening all season. In the past weekend, things changed a little bit. Despite throwing up 50 shots against the Michigan Tech goaltender, the Bulldogs were only able to find the back of the net twice. Michigan Tech countered three times, and UMD fell 3-2 on Friday. Change was in the air Saturday. Brady Hjelle (after taking the back seat to Kenny Reiter on Friday) took his place between the pipes for Saturday's game and played at an all-star caliber. The Bulldog offense took the ice with a mission, and they didn't let up until the final second ticked off of the scoreboard.

It didn't take long for the team to get themselves on the board. Sophomore defenseman Brady Lamb broke the ice eight minutes into the first period, giving the Bulldogs the lead. A lead they kept for good. Keeping only a modest lead heading into the second period, UMD did not leave the game close.

Justin Fontaine took the team on his shoulders and literally sprinted to the finish. Recording a hat trick, plus another goal along the way. He had the trick wrapped up by the end of the second period, making short work of the night. The Bulldogs made it look easy. By the end of the night, the scoreboard rested in favor of UMD, 8-1. After Fontaine's four goals, sophomore Brady Lamb contributed two of his own, and Mike Connolly and Mike Montgomery added one each. After a depressing Friday night, it was a promising sign to see the Bulldog offense back in form. Head Coach Sandelin was asked about the sudden surge of production overnight.

"We didn't do anything special, we just found a way to score tonight. It was great to see Justin [Fontaine] get back in the scoring column tonight," Sandelin said. UMD finished the weekend tied for third place in the WCHA, with nine points. This weekend, the team heads south to the Twin Cities to take on the Gophers.

Sandelin said it best,"We needed this one. We haven't lost on a Friday yet, so we needed to win tonight. Obviously, they're below us in the standings, and we want to keep it that way."

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