This will be quick.
Running errands and blogging on the phone. Excuse typos.
That one stung. Still does, actually. UMD snatched defeat from the jaws of victory Friday, dominating statistically but falling 4-2 on a pair of third period goals by Jonny Brodzinski.
The only areas the Huskies outplayed the Bulldogs were special teams and faceoffs. SCSU was 2 for 4 on the power play, held UMD to one goal in six chances, and won 44 of 71 faceoffs.
UMD owned in shots, possession, and chances, but St. Cloud goalie Ryan Faragher was sharp as a tack.
It wasn't Matt McNeely's best game in the Bulldog net. He allowed a goal from center ice after a bounce off defenseman Tim Smith high in the defensive zone. Hard top blame him solely for the other two he allowed, but he looked shaky at times, fumbling the puck a bit and seeming to struggle to control it.
Can't pin the loss on him totally, not that I ever do just blame the goalie. The Dogs lost too many faceoffs, didn't do enough on the power play, and need to be more consistent with getting traffic to the net.
Generally, they played well against a very good team. It'll take an even better performance Saturday, because you can bet SCSU won't be satisfied with the win considering it was outshot 38-19 and outplayed much of the game.
I believe UMD can win and split, but there's a part of me that thinks our best shot was Friday. Had them on the ropes and couldn't finish. Hopefully I'm wrong.
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