BY JIMMY GILLIGAN | Sports Editor | The Statesman In their opening exhibition game, the 2015-2016 season got off to a slow start for the Bulldog hockey team.
Facing Lakehead University of Thunder Bay, Ontario at Amsoil Arena on Sunday night, UMD went into the locker room trailing after the first period.
But their finish was anything but slow, as six second-period goals lifted the Bulldogs to a 6-1 win. Besides a trio of goals scored within 63 seconds of one another it was a pretty typical exhibition game for UMD, a lopsided affair filled with post-whistle scrums.
It wasn’t, however, just another game for Bulldog freshman forward Billy Exell. He scored the first goal of his Bulldog career, the second of three quick goals in the middle of the second period.
The Thunder Bay, Ontario native faced a team he was quite familiar with in his first collegiate game.
“I actually knew about five guys on the team, so seeing them out there was kind of funny. Growing up watching the Thunderwolves play, it’s definitely a little different playing against them now,” Exell said.
As if his night wasn’t memorable enough, the game also fell on his twentieth birthday. He capped off the night with an assist on UMD’s last goal.
Exell was one of four first-year players that got on the score sheet Sunday but he was the lone freshman goal scorer.
“I thought those guys came out and did a good job,” head coach Scott Sandelin said of the freshmen players.
Sandelin thought their strong efforts were good confidence builders heading into their regular season opener versus Bemidji. The game will be intense for not only the freshmen but also the 21 players returning from last year. When the two teams met in the North Star College Cup last season the Beavers blanked UMD 4-0.
“The goal is to get better every week. Obviously next weekend’s games are for real. The competition level and the intensity level is going to go way up,” Sandelin said.
“Our guys probably don’t forget last year so hopefully they have a ton of respect for that team.”
The Bulldogs will look to avoid last year’s result with much of the same team.
Sophomore Kasimir Kaskisuo, a pre-season pick for the All-National Collegiate Hockey Conference team, will again handle the starting duties in goal. Returning all but one defenseman and most of the forwards, UMD hopes to build off last year’s team, who earned an NCAA tournament berth and finished the season sixth in the USCHO.com poll. With the bulk of the roster returning they were voted into the No. 2 spot in the USCHO.com reseason poll.
“It’s nice having an older team because the guys know what we’re trying to do,” Sandelin said.
“We didn’t have a lot of losses last year but we lost some key guys. Guys with character and leadership. But we replaced them with some freshmen that can help out in the long run and also we have some guys that have been here that we’re expecting to step up so I like our depth at every position.”