Two unassisted goals and a third consecutive shutout performance by Ryan Fanti gave Minnesota Duluth a 3-0 win over Michigan Tech in the opening game of the NCAA Loveland Regional in Colorado on Thursday.
The Bulldogs led 1-0 at the end of the first period on a Kobe Roth’s unassisted goal at 14:54. Roth forced a turnover along the boards near the Huskies’ blue line, skated in and fired through a screen and beat Blake Pietila cleanly for the 1-0 lead. After a scoreless second period, Kyler Kleven made it 2-0 at 6:09 in the third, picking up the puck in front of the Michigan Tech net after a failed clear by Huskies defenseman Eric Gotz.
The Huskies pulled Pietila with 4:06 remaining in the game but were unable to beat Fanti, who held on for the 28-save shutout. Roth scored his second goal of the game into an empty net in the final minute.
The Huskies played nearly the entire game without leading scorer Brian Halonen, who was ejected at 3:17 in the first with a five-minute major penalty for boarding. For the first two minutes of that major penalty, Minnesota Duluth’s Gotz was also in the box for slashing.
Michigan Tech finished the season 21-13-3. Minnesota Duluth (22-15-4) advanced to play the winner of second regional semifinal between UMass Lowell and Denver.
Full story to come.