Minnesota Duluth Defeats Nebraska Omaha Behind Aaron Crandall's Glove

After the UMD Bulldogs finished the first half of the 2013-14 season, question marks surrounding Minnesota Duluth's goaltending consistency was one of the major setbacks that coach Scott Sandelin was confronted with.  After both goaltenders had shown glimpses of glory and defeat, senior Aaron Crandall shown bright in last nights 3-2 victory over Nebraska-Omaha at the Century Link Center in Omaha, Nebraska.

After a scoreless first period, Bulldog freshman and Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Dominic Toninato lit the scoreboard with a few minutes left in the second period.  Before second period time would expire, senior captain Adam Krause would bury another goal, giving UMD the 2-0 lead heading into the locker room before the third and final period.

The Mavericks would score first on a powerplay tally by Nick Seeler in the third period, but it wouldn't last long as Andy Welinski blasted one by UNO netminder Ryan Massa minutes later to give the Bulldogs their two-goal lead back.

UNO freshman blue-liner Ian Brady would find a hole in Crandall's well protected net with an extra attacker on the ice for the Mavericks, but they couldn't find a tying goal as the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs would earn the 3-2 road-win.

Although he wasn't even listed as a star for the night, Crandall recorded a career high 38 saves, including some saves many are still pondering how it was humanly possible.  Don't believe me?  Check out what twitter had to say...

Aaron Crandall made 38 saves tonight, had a few HUGE saves and didn't make it into the three stars of the game. Sorry, but that's nonsense.

— Matthew Semisch (@matthewsemisch) January 11, 2014

great save from Aaron Crandall may have saved three points for UMD. He's been impressive tonight.

— Zach Schneider (@zschneiderNNC) January 11, 2014

Aaron Crandall is your first star. Two monster saves.

— The Red Army (@RedArmyUNO) January 11, 2014

Highlights

Scoring Summary

2nd Period - UMD (14:55) Dominic Toninato from Alex Iafallo and Willie Raskob

2nd Period - UMD (19:28) Adam Krause from Alex Iafallo and Dominic Toninato

3rd Period - UNO (5:55) PPG Nick Seeler from Austin Ortega and Brock Montpetit

3rd Period - UMD (8:29) GWG Andy Welinski from Tony CameranesiToninato

3rd Period - UNO (5:55) EAG Ian Brady from Michael Young and Brock Montpetit

Goaltending Summary

Aaron Crandall (UMD): 13-13-12 = 38 (2 GA) - W

Ryan Massa (UNO): 8-15-4 = 27 (3 GA) - L

Official Three Stars

1. Alex Iafallo

Two Assists

2. Dominic Toninato

One Goal, One Assist

3. Johnnie Searfoss

Three Shots

Game Notes

• Minnesota Duluth now stands 8-8-1 (NCHC: 4-5-0-0)
• Nebraska Omaha now stands 8-10-1 (NCHC 5-3-1-1)
• The Mavericks finished 1-for-6 on the power play, while killing all four UMD man advantages.
• UMD's Toninato and Iafallo, and UNO's Montpetit were multi-point scorers on the night.
• Nebraska Omaha was coming off  6-3 and 5-2 losses at New Hampshire in last weekend's action, extending their losing streak to three games.
• Andy Welinski, who has the only two goals of UMD's entire eight-man defenseman crew this winter, increase his personal scoring to a personal-best four games.
• Despite losing last night, the Mavericks have still denied UMD from taking the all-time record in Omaha, which now stands at 4-4-0.
• The Bulldogs are 8-0-1 when they've taken a lead into the third period this season and 8-3-1 when they've scored first.
• UMD, which is now 5-4-0 away from Duluth in 2013-14, will look to post its first road sweep in over a year (Dec. 14-15, 2012 at the University of Alaska Anchorage) tomorrow in Omaha.
• Announced attendance: 6,124

Enjoy,

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Matt Christians covers Minnesota Duluth and the NCHC for SB Nation and College Hockey News. You can also give him a follow here -> Follow @matt_christians