{"id":88782,"date":"2018-11-01T14:00:34","date_gmt":"2018-11-01T19:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/?p=88782"},"modified":"2020-08-24T14:09:35","modified_gmt":"2020-08-24T19:09:35","slug":"88782","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2018\/11\/01\/88782\/","title":{"rendered":"Minnesota Duluth ‘going in the right direction,’ but still more work to be done"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Riley<\/a>
Riley Tufte has popped three goals and an assist in eight games so far this season for Minnesota Duluth (photo: Bradley K. Olson).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Minnesota Duluth coach Scott Sandelin has a three-word explanation for the fact that, for the third consecutive week, there\u2019s a new No. 1 new team in the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause it\u2019s October.\u201d<\/p>\n

His Bulldogs, listed first in USCHO\u2019s preseason poll released Sept. 24, are back in the top spot after sweeping Notre Dame on the road last weekend. The Fighting Irish were No. 1 for just a week, with Ohio State holding that spot down in the Oct. 8 and Oct. 15 polls.<\/p>\n

UMD was third for three consecutive weeks after opening the season with a home-and-home split against Minnesota. The Bulldogs stayed in third despite back-to-back sweeps at Michigan Tech and home to Maine.<\/p>\n

The Bulldogs have won their last six games since falling 7-4 in Minneapolis on Oct. 7. Minnesota jumped out to a 3-0 first-period lead that night before UMD played the Golden Gophers even over the last 40 minutes, but Sandelin was less pleased with his team\u2019s performance in a 1-1 tie the night before in Duluth.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe gave up seven goals (in Minneapolis), and obviously you never want to do that, but they capitalized on their opportunities and it was kind of a weird game in that respect,\u201d Sandelin said. \u201cI didn\u2019t expect to go in there and outshoot them 2-1 and really outchance them, but they capitalized on theirs and they\u2019re a good team, but I was more disappointed with the first night.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought we gave up a lot of outnumbered rushes and we weren\u2019t very good defensively, and that kind of carried over into the (Michigan) Tech series, but I think we\u2019ve tightened up a little bit defensively and we\u2019ve given up 10 goals in our last six games. That\u2019s got to be a staple for us because we aren\u2019t going to be this high-scoring team and we\u2019ve got to play well defensively.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teams often struggle to score in bunches, but Sandelin is happy with his team\u2019s recent offensive output. UMD has scored 24 goals during its current winning streak, netting at least three in each of the Bulldogs\u2019 last five games and catching fire Oct. 19 in an 8-2 over Maine.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe aren\u2019t where we started, I can tell you that,\u201d Sandelin said. \u201cI think we\u2019re getting closer and I think guys are getting more comfortable with the things that we need to do, and that includes older guys. Sometimes you take for granted that they\u2019ll just know and everything\u2019s like it used to be, and there\u2019s no way anybody\u2019s going to be where they were at the end last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s constant reminders and trying to get guys to buy into that stuff. The way we started the year certainly does grab their attention, but it takes time. I like the direction we\u2019ve gone, especially defensively, and we\u2019re getting different scoring from different guys, which is kind of our make-up. We\u2019re going in the right direction, but like I told our guys, it\u2019s only one month. There\u2019s still six more months to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

UMD (6-1-1) is idle this week ahead of a home series Nov. 9-10 against Colorado College. The Tigers (4-1-1) have had their own solid start to the season but will face their toughest test to date this weekend against second-ranked at home against St. Cloud State (5-1).<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll use this week to regroup a little bit, and these are always hard weeks, I always find, from a player\u2019s focus standpoint because you\u2019re not playing, but you keep them on the ice, keep them moving, let some guys heal up some bumps and bruises, and come next Monday we\u2019ll get the focus really back,\u201d Sandelin said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think (CC is) a real good hockey team and they\u2019ve done a really good job of putting together that team. They\u2019ve got some high-end guys and certainly their top line is very good, so we\u2019ll watch tape this week, see how they play against St. Cloud and prepare our team as best we can, just like we do for every team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Holding onto the No. 1 ranking, if UMD is still there this time next week, would be a bonus in a time when no team has held that spot for long.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone\u2019s finding their identity and what kind of team they\u2019re going to be, and they\u2019ve got young players who are learning every week, all those things that go into early-season stuff,\u201d Sandelin said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like the fact that we\u2019ve played eight games, and we\u2019ve learned more about our team through the month, which everybody does when you start playing games, and we\u2019ve had some real good opponents and have played on the road for half and been at home for half, so it\u2019s good, but I think that first month, you know what, there\u2019s a lot of ups and downs and inconsistencies to everybody\u2019s game, but as the year goes on, things sort themselves out.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Minnesota Duluth coach Scott Sandelin has a three-word explanation for the fact that, for the third consecutive week, there\u2019s a new No. 1 new team in the country. \u201cBecause it\u2019s October.\u201d (photo: Bradley K. Olson).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":111231,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[812],"coauthors":[810],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMinnesota Duluth 'going in the right direction,' but still more work to be done - College Hockey | USCHO.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Minnesota Duluth coach Scott Sandelin has a three-word explanation for the fact that, for the third consecutive week, there\u2019s a new No. 1 new team in the country. \u201cBecause it\u2019s October.\u201d (photo: Bradley K. 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