The Bulldogs couldn’t have asked for a much tougher schedule coming into conference play at Amsoil Arena. Last weekend they faced off against the No. 2 Wisconsin Badgers and are now preparing for a weekend series with No. 1 Minnesota, two teams that have given them trouble in the past.
In their most recent set of games UMD fell 0-2, falling 4-1 on Friday and 6-2 on Saturday.
“It’s a tough league,” senior captain Emma Stauber said. “I think after you play a couple games in the WCHA, you get used to it. I think we just have to build from here and hopefully it will go better as we get a few more games in here.”
One characteristic of this team so far is the ability to stay hungry no matter what the score is or how much time is left on the clock. During Friday’s 2-1 loss, UMD’s Zoe Hickel scored with less than four minutes remaining in the game to make it 2-1. Again on Saturday, after being down 5-1 at the end of the second period, senior forward Jenna McParland scored less than a minute into the third. It’s that “never say die” attitude that Miller is happy to see from her team.
“It’s my personality,” Miller said. “They always say the team takes on the personality of the coach and I’ve been waiting a couple of years for these kids to get their killer instinct, find that tiger in the tank. And this year I’m seeing it; I like what I’m seeing.”
With so many newcomers, UMD expected it to take a few games to get everyone on the same page. One unique issue facing the team is in terms of communication. With athletes from six different countries all donning the Bulldog sweater, many of them speak English as a second language and miscommunication on the ice is expected early in the season.
“I know on one of the problems that we have, it was with someone where English is their second language, so I knew that was an issue there,” Miller said.
The Bulldogs, however, maintain that they are a better team than the scoreboard suggests. Wisconsin’s 4-1 victory Friday was padded by a pair of empty net goals and goaltending issues on the part of the Bulldogs; Saturday led to three goals for the Badgers that Miller sees as the downfall.
“When I called that timeout, I said there’s 35 minutes left in the game and all I want is you to do is to try to win that 35 minutes,” Miller said. “We lost it 2-1, just like we lost last night 2-1 before I pulled my goalie. My message to my team is we’re far better than it looks on the scoreboard. There’s a really serious piece of the puzzle that we have to solve and it’s goaltending and I can’t hide it. I have to talk about it because everybody knows.”
Starting goaltender Kayla Black stood on her head Friday to keep her team in the game, stopping 31 of 33 shots before being pulled for an extra attacker. Saturday, however, was a different story. Junior Karissa Grapp took over between the pipes for Black during the second period after she let in five goals through 40 minutes of play.
The question now is how will UMD respond this weekend against Minnesota — the team that took them out of the WCHA Frozen Faceoff Semifinal last season.
“Obviously we know they’re good and we have to expect to get scored on,” Stauber said. “We have to expect it to be hard, but we have to learn to battle with them and compete with them and hopefully something will go our way most of the time.”
BY NICOLE BRODZIK Sports Editor