Bulldogs blast North Dakota to reach NCHC championship

GRAND FORKS, N.D. — Minnesota Duluth will go for its fourth NCHC Frozen Faceoff championship next weekend following a 5-1 victory over regular season champion North Dakota in the league tournament semifinals before a crowd of 9,902 fans at Ralph Engelstad Arena.

The fourth-seeded Bulldogs — who last won an NCHC postseason title in 2022 — will travel to second-seeded Denver, which beat third-seeded Western Michigan 2-1 in overtime Saturday. UMD and the Pioneers will play for the league title at 7 p.m. CDT Saturday at Magness Arena.

“I don’t think there are much bigger feelings,” said sophomore wing and UMD’s leading scorer, Max Plante. “Biggest game we played in yet in college hockey. We got it done, so one more stepping stone to achieve our first goal.”

Sophomore forwards Callum Arnott, Max Plante, Jayson Shaugabay and Harper Bentz scored for the Bulldogs, as did senior center Kyle Gaffney.

Senior wing Dylan James scored for North Dakota’s lone goal less than two minutes into the third period.

Bulldogs sophomore goaltender Adam Gajan made 33 saves — 17 in the opening 20 minutes — while North Dakota freshman Jan Spunar — the NCHC Goaltender of the Year — finished with 17 stops.

“This guy was great,” Bulldogs coach Scott Sandelin said, pointing to Gajan in the chair next to him at a news conference Saturday. “All game, but especially in the first period. He made some key saves for us.”

Scott Sandelin broke up his top line Saturday. He jumbled all the forward lines, and it led to five goals by his forwards.

“We tried it,” Sandelin said. “It’s great when it works.”

Sophomore wing Harper Bentz played alongside the Plante brothers, Zam and Max, while Shaugabay and freshman Luke Bibby were centered by Arnott.

Freshman wing Hunter Anderson took Arnott’s spot on the wing alongside seniors Scout Truman and Kyle Gaffney — a trio UMD has used this season, at times. Freshman Daniel Shlaine returned to the lineup, but at wing with senior center Kyle Kovich.

Redshirt freshman wing Trevor Stachowiak dressed for just his fourth game of the season and sixth game in two years at UMD after missing most of last year to a leg injury.

Sandelin said he wanted to create more balance in the lineup — having a good idea who North Dakota would try and match up against the Plantes — and it’s possible he returns to the usual combinations next weekend.

Eric Hylden / Grand Forks Herald

“There’s always conversations,” Sandelin said about mixing up the lines, including breaking up the top line of Shaugabay and the Plantes. “How can we make our team better? I think we felt good with Cal in the middle. He played there last year, played there early. Not easy to take Shaugs off the top line — doesn’t mean he can’t go back with them.”

Sandelin broke up his top line one other time in 2025-26 in two losses at Denver, separating Shaugabay and Plantes for the third period of a 4-3 loss on Friday. They started Saturday’s 1-0 loss apart, but were back together by the 10-minute mark that night.

The changes stuck on Saturday, and considering the results, there were no complaints by UMD’s forwards.

“I don’t think it’s much of a change,” Bentz said. “We got a lot of good players who can play with anybody. Obviously that top line’s been special all year, so being able to go up there, is a big slot to fill.

“But Shaugs and that third line, they had a great night, too. Spread it out and get more lines going.”

Bibby got his first two college points and his line got rave reviews. Bibby sprung the attack that led to Shaugabay’s goal in the second period to make it 3-0, and made a pass to Gaffney for the fifth UMD goal of the night.

“I thought Bibby played really well tonight,” Bentz said.

Eric Hylden / Grand Forks Herald

Bibby, Shaugabay and Arnott finished a combined plus-6 in Saturday’s semifinal.

“Bibbs plays a physical game, it was nice to see him get a couple points there,” Arnott said. “Shaugs is skilled, so you just have to get open to shoot and it makes my life pretty easy.”

The Bulldogs jumped out to a 2-0 first period lead via goals by Arnott and Max Plante, with Arnott scoring just over two minutes into the game. Gajan said that lead was important after UMD spent both quarterfinal wins over St. Cloud State at Amsoil Arena chasing the Huskies and only leading at the very end of the OT wins.

“It was key to play with the lead the whole game,” Gajan said of Saturday’s win. “They made it 3-1, two goals is kind of tight, and then huge goal by Bentz. That helped us so much. It was a great game.”

Arnott cashed in a rebound created by senior captain and defenseman Joey Pierce, who recorded just his second assist and fifth point to give UMD a 1-0 lead.

Plante was sprung loose for a breakaway by sophomore defenseman Ty Hanson — he’s now got 34 points — to put UMD ahead by two 7:16 into the game. His goal came 13 seconds after the Bulldogs killed off a controversial minor penalty that had been reviewed for a major.

UMD dodged an early major penalty on Bibby for spearing. The referees called for a video review themselves after the blade of Bibby caught the groin region of North Dakota freshman Keaton Verhoeff. They came away with just a minor for slashing. The Bulldogs were able to kill off the penalty and Plante put UMD ahead by two off the kill.

“I was ready to kill Bibby after he took the penalty,” Sandelin said, “especially if it was a major. But he felt bad. As the guys talked about on the bench, we have to kill it off whether it is two or five (minutes). Just dig in and help him out. Our guys did that.”

Two-goal leads are the most dangerous leads in hockey, dontcha know? And that has been the case this season for the Bulldogs against North Dakota.

UMD has now scored the first goal in four of its five games against the Hawks and led by two goals in two of the four regular season contests, winning both, but only in 3-on-3 overtime after North Dakota rallied to tie and force OT.

Shaugabay, of nearby Warroad, gave UMD its first 3-0 lead over the Hawks just 86 seconds into the second period by coming from behind to put away a rebound off the scoring chance of Arnott.

“The tale of the tape was a little different than the first couple times we played them,” Max Plante said. “We got up early this time, so we had to learn to play with a lead. The biggest part of that was blocking shots. Gajan played big in between the pipes.”

It was a good day for Section 8. In addition to Warroad’s Shaugabay — from the current Class A state champion Warriors — Moorhead’s Bentz also gave the Bulldogs a three-goal lead on Saturday, making it a 4-1 lead with 11:51 left in regulation. He tipped through a shot by sophomore defenseman Adam Kleber after North Dakota had pulled within two early in the third period.

“Being an hour away from home, I had a lot of family here,” Bentz said. “Being able to put one in felt great, and it was in a big part of the game.”

Gaffney somehow snuck a puck through the smallest of holes with 7:11 left in the game to make it 5-1, and send the non-sellout crowd in green for the exit early in what wound up being the last game of 2025-26 at The Ralph. North Dakota would have hosted the championship next week with a win.

“It feels amazing,” Arnott said of the win. “They don’t like us, we don’t like them. It’s nice to do it in their home barn.”

Minnesota Duluth 2-1-2—5
North Dakota 0-0-1—1
First period
1. UMD, Callum Arnott (Joey Pierce), 2:14
2. UMD, Max Plante (Ty Hanson), 7:16
Second period
3. UMD, Jayson Shaugabay (Arnott, Luke Bibby), 1:26
Third period
4. ND, Dylan James (Cole Reschny, EJ Emery), 1:59
5. UMD, Harper Bentz (Adam Kleber, Zam Plante), 8:09
6. UMD, Kyle Gaffney (Bibby, Riley Bodnarchuk), 12:49
Saves — Adam Gajan, UMD, 33; Jan Spunar, ND, 17.
Power plays — UMD 0-1; ND 0-3. Penalties — UMD 3-6; ND 1-2.