No. 5-ranked Minnesota Duluth tied Notre Dame 3-3 in overtime on Saturday at Compton Family Ice Arena in South Bend, Ind., as the Bulldogs rallied from 2-0 and 3-1 deficits.
Here are my thumbs up and thumbs down from Saturday’s game, plus my three stars of the game.
Thumbs up to senior center Tony Cameranesi
There’s fast, and then there is Tony Cameranesi. The same could be said about tough, and Cameranesi.
The senior center prevented a complete disaster of a weekend for the Bulldogs in South Bend by scoring twice Saturday and assisting on another goal in a come-from-behind tie against the Fighting Irish.
And if you didn’t notice, he did much of this hurt.
Cameranesi lit a spark under a fairly lifeless Bulldogs team by scoring 6:13 into the second period. The goal was a bit pricey, though, because Cameranesi crashed hard into the boards after the puck crossed the goal line. He injured his shoulder on the play, but after getting checked out by the UMD athletic training staff, he returned to score the Bulldogs’ second goal and then assist freshman defenseman Neal Pionk on his first collegiate goal that tied the game at 3-3.
It’s tough not to love a guy who always goes full throttle and is not afraid to keep his foot on the gas, even if it means putting his body on the line. That’s what happened on the first goal as Cameranesi screamed toward the Irish net, moved to his right at the last second to put the puck into the net and then crashed into the board still at a very high rate of speed. I’m not sure he put the breaks on once on the play.
The fear of course is Cameranesi seriously injures himself with this style of play, but according to the senior center, an extra sharpening of the skates by equipment manager Chris Garner should help his brakes out a bit, should he decide to use them ever.
Thumbs down to the power play. Again.
I don’t think UMD’s power play was any better tonight than it was Friday, but it wasn’t worse either. In some areas, it improved, such as with zone entries. On the other end, literally, the Bulldogs struggled with retrievals after Notre Dame clears.
One thing was for sure, the power play was certainly just as unopportunistic as the night before with the failed advantage in the final two minutes of overtime being the straw that may have broke the camel’s back for head coach Scott Sandelin.
After the game Saturday, Sandelin said he believes he has the right people on the power play units, but possibly not in the right spots. He said there will be some changes this week ahead of the series with UMass-Lowell. We’ll see what those entail.
Because what UMD is doing now it just not working.
Matt’s Three Stars
3. UMD freshman forward Neal Pionk: His first collegiate goal was a big one, tying the game at 3-3 in the third. He scored on a blast from the point that may have caught a few bodies and eventually iron before going in.
2. ND sophomore goalie Cal Petersen: Another day, another 39-save night for Petersen. He was a tough nut for UMD to crack this weekend.
1. UMD senior center Tony Cameranesi: See the thumbs up above. The assistant captain put his body on the line tonight to get his team back in the game. That’s why he’s one of the team’s leaders.