News Tribune UMD Sweeps North Dakota Article

The Minnesota Duluth women’s hockey team is enrolled in mental toughness training.

Coach Shannon Miller conducts the course with the hopes of focusing on teams at the bottom of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. The class includes reading material with quotes on preparation and commitment, and a list of player goals.

“The ability to be disciplined enough to stick to the game plan, no matter what the circumstance,” the reading material says. “And control yourself, rather than being controlled by the situation. The ability to not be distracted, disturbed or knocked off your intended course.”

The first-place Bulldogs weren’t distracted Saturday night against North Dakota in a 5-0 victory to sweep the WCHA series at the DECC. The Bulldogs downed the Sioux 8-1 Friday.

The recipe for a letdown has loomed as the No. 3-rated Bulldogs — winners of 14 straight — played last-place Bemidji State Jan. 18-19 and seventh-place North Dakota (4-20-4 overall, 4-16-2 WCHA). The Bulldogs are 20-1 all-time against the Sioux and 37-0-1 against the Beavers.

“We can’t take any opponent for granted,” said UMD’s Joss Larocque. “We did that with Minnesota and after that we don’t take anyone lightly. We’ve done a great job of that and 14 wins shows it.”

UMD (22-3-1, 19-3) is 1-3 against the Gophers and hasn’t lost since Nov. 18.

“Since we’ve been talking about mental toughness, our team is recognizing situations where they need to be mentally tough,” Miller said. “It is one of the reasons we are having success.”

To preempt a possible letdown, the players’ goals are tailored to focus on each game.

“Personal greatness is not determined by the size of the job, but by the size of the effort one puts into the job,” the goal sheet says.

The Bulldogs have met their goals with a breakout period in each of the past four games.

Against Bemidji State, UMD scored three goals in the second period of a 5-1 win Jan. 18 and four goals in the first period in a 6-1 victory Jan. 19. A four-goal second period opened up Friday’s drubbing.

On Saturday, UMD scored all of its goals in the second period.

Freshman forward Haley Irwin scored a power-play rebound goal at 2:26 for a 1-0 lead. Iya Gavrilova and Karine Demeule scored goals in the 10th minute. Elin Holmlov and Laura Fridfinnson added scores late in the period.

UMD is the highest-scoring team in the country at 4.12 goals per game.

“They understand momentum,” North Dakota head coach Brian Idalski said of UMD. “When they have someone on the ropes, they know how to finish. They are very successful at that.”

The Bulldogs had a 45-15 shot advantage, including an 18-4 edge in the lopsided second period.

“We’ve been able to pop in goals right away,” Irwin said. “We didn’t do it at the start [Saturday], but we got one and they started to come.”

Late in the third period, the Bulldogs and Sioux got into a scrum. Irwin landed a few gloved punches to the helmet of the Sioux’s Ashley Lynch. The fracas sent six players, three from each team, to the penalty box. Players on the two teams also fought Friday.

UMD converted on two of seven power plays, while holding North Dakota scoreless on three player advantages.

UMD plays at Ohio State (12-11-3) at 6:07 p.m. Friday and 3:07 p.m. Saturday. The Bulldogs return home Feb. 8-9 to play second-place Wisconsin.