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The fifth-ranked Minnesota Duluth men's hockey team traveled to Sioux Falls, S.D., expecting to establish itself as a legitimate national contender. Instead, the Bulldogs lost one game, tied another and returned home with an embarrassing reminder that national rankings mean absolutely nothing without performance.
Augustana. A hockey program playing only its fourth season at the NCAA Division I level. And the Bulldogs couldn't beat the Vikings once in two opportunities. That's unacceptable for a program with UMD's history, resources, coaching experience and championship expectations.
Coach Scott Sandelin's club lost 4-3 in overtime Friday night, then managed a thoroughly unimpressive 1-1 tie Saturday at MIDCO Arena. Augustana even won Saturday's postgame shootout 2-0, although the result officially counts as a tie.
UMD is 2-1-1, and its two victories came against Long Island University. Against its first opponent with a winning record from last season, the Bulldogs failed to win either game. There is no respectable way to dress that up.
Friday's loss was especially disturbing because UMD led 2-1 entering the third period before allowing Augustana to score twice in 17 seconds. The Vikings went ahead 3-2, and Zam Plante's late goal with an extra attacker merely delayed the inevitable. Brett Meerman scored 20 seconds into overtime to complete the upset.
A nationally ranked team cannot surrender a third-period lead that carelessly, especially against an opponent it should be capable of defeating.
Saturday offered an opportunity to respond. Instead, the Bulldogs scored once in 65 minutes despite putting 35 shots on Augustana goaltender Mathis Langevin, who finished with 34 saves.
Junior defenseman Ty Hanson scored UMD's only goal at 6:38 of the second period, with Zam Plante assisting. The Bulldogs went scoreless for the remaining 38 minutes and 22 seconds, including overtime. The power play went 0-for-2. UMD lost 36 of 64 faceoffs. The Bulldogs produced only six shots in the third period with a game there to be won.
Those are not the numbers of a fifth-ranked team playing with the urgency required to justify its standing.
Freshman goaltender Carl Axelsson deserved considerably better. He stopped 21 of 22 shots Saturday and has allowed only one goal in 125 minutes this season. His performance gave UMD every opportunity to win. The offense gave him one goal.
Sandelin has coached the Bulldogs to three NCAA national championships, including consecutive titles in 2018 and 2019. Few coaches in college hockey can match his championship credentials. But those championships were won seven and eight seasons ago. They cannot excuse what happened in Sioux Falls.
Sandelin's responsibility is to prepare a nationally ranked team to perform like one, regardless of the opponent. Through four games, the Bulldogs have shown offensive talent and promising goaltending, but this weekend exposed problems with late-game execution, scoring consistency and the ability to finish games.
And don't dismiss Augustana as a program without legitimate talent. The Vikings went 22-11-4 last season and have made impressive progress since launching Division I hockey in 2023. Coach Garrett Raboin deserves credit for developing a competitive program in a remarkably short period.
That makes Augustana respectable. It doesn't make UMD's winless weekend acceptable.
The Bulldogs represent one of college hockey's most accomplished programs, backed by a tremendous facility, passionate supporters and a recruiting reputation built through decades of success. They compete in the NCHC, where championship expectations are established long before the opening faceoff.
UMD should not need a lesson in competing against an emerging Division I program.
What makes the weekend particularly frustrating is that the Bulldogs have a bit of offensive talent. Zam Plante, Jayson Shaugabay, Barrett Hall, Callum Arnott and Hunter Anderson provide legitimate scoring ability, while Hanson contributes offense from the blue line.
Yet against Augustana, UMD managed four goals in two games, including only one Saturday. Those players are capable of considerably more.
The Bulldogs also have developed an unfortunate early-season pattern of making opponents' goaltenders look unbeatable. Langevin certainly earned his 34 saves Saturday, but a team with UMD's offensive personnel must generate better scoring opportunities, particularly when it controls the shot count.
Thirty-five shots are meaningless when only one crosses the goal line.
Perhaps the most troubling statistic from the weekend is that UMD has now lost twice to Augustana in its past three meetings over two seasons. That is no longer a single disappointing result against an unfamiliar opponent. It's a warning.
The Bulldogs have a week to address the problems before No. 20 Minnesota visits AMSOIL Arena for a Friday-Saturday nonconference series. The opener is scheduled for 7:07 p.m.
The Gophers will arrive with their own expectations, and the rivalry offers UMD an immediate opportunity to demonstrate that its national ranking is justified. But beating Minnesota will require more than playing respectable hockey for two periods, collecting shots and explaining away mistakes afterward.
It will require finishing scoring opportunities, protecting leads, winning important faceoffs and competing with discipline when games are on the line.
Sandelin has enough experience to understand the difference between an early-season disappointment and a warning sign. One lost weekend will not determine UMD's season, and the Bulldogs have ample time to improve.
But this wasn't a weekend against defending national champion Wisconsin, perennial contender Denver or another established national powerhouse. This was Augustana, a fourth-year Division I program that has built a respectable team while UMD has been chasing another national championship.
The Vikings looked like they belonged on the same ice as the fifth-ranked Bulldogs. In fact, they were the better team when the outcomes were decided. For Augustana, that's a tremendous accomplishment. For Minnesota Duluth, it's a failure of expectations and execution.
Sandelin and his players have every opportunity to answer the criticism beginning Friday against Minnesota. After what happened in Sioux Falls, they'd better have one.
