Duluth Bulldogs rally past Miami 5-2 in Hoagie tribute

Minnesota Duluth rallied from an early 0-2 hole to defeat No. 20 Miami 5-2 at Goggin Ice Center in Oxford, Ohio, scoring five unanswered goals in the first game of a pivotal two-game NCHC series and playing their first game since the death of UMD Hall of Famer Dale “Hoagie” Haagenson.

“Like we said, what does Hoagie want you to do? He wants you to win games,” Bulldogs coach Scott Sandelin said. “We got to go out and fight and battle just like he did and try and win some games. We needed this, we needed a win. There’s not many games left. Hopefully we can try and find our game here. Tonight was a good start.”

Miami struck first when David Grimes opened the scoring at 14:04 of the first period. Miami added a second-period goal from David Deputy at 6:15, assisted by Kocha Delic, to build a 2-0 lead before the Bulldogs responded.

UMD cut the deficit when freshman wing Hunter Anderson scored at 12:34 of the second period on the power play, assisted by Grayden Siepmann and Kyle Gaffney. Sophomore wing Max Plante then tied the game at 17:21 of the second with a goal credited to Jayson Shaugabay and Gaffney on the assists. Sophomore wing Max Plante got a goal, assist and a spear to the worst area to lead UMD in an emotional come-from-behind victory just days after the death of UMD Hall of Famer Dale 'Hoagie' Haagenson.

The Bulldogs took control in the third period. Senior wing Scout Truman scored at 3:13 of the third on the power play; that goal is listed as the game-winning tally. Jayson Shaugabay added a goal at 15:16 of the third, assisted by M. Plante, and Callum Arnott sealed the win with an empty-netter at 19:33. The official box score lists the period scoring as Minnesota Duluth 0-2-3, 5 and Miami 1-1-0, 2.

Netminders finished with identical save totals: Ethan Dahlmeir stopped 27 shots for UMD and Matteo Drobac recorded 27 saves for Miami. Special teams swung the game toward Duluth, with UMD converting 2 of 5 power-play opportunities while Miami went 0 of 4. The box score also lists penalties as UMD 5-10; MU 6-23.

The win moved the Bulldogs to 19-12 with a 10-11 conference mark and kept Duluth positioned fourth in the NCHC race, while Miami fell to 17-12-2 overall, 8-11-2 in league play and sat sixth, six points back of Duluth with three regular-season games remaining for both teams. Friday’s result sets up Saturday’s rematch in Oxford as a crucial opportunity for both teams to improve playoff positioning in the final weekend of the regular season.