Headline: UMD goalie assists with series split
Publish Date: 02/07/1994
 
David Jackson
 
<W0I>Staff Reporter
 
The Gopher hockey team took its nine-game winning streak on a Sunday
drive and collided head-on with a Ford.
 
Minnesota-Duluth goalie Taras Lendzyk (nicknamed ``Ford'' because his
first name sounds like ``Taurus'') made 32 saves and assisted on
Rusty Fitzgerald's insurance goal at 5:05 of the third period as the
Bulldogs beat the Gophers 5-1. It was the Gophers' first loss in 13
league games at Mariucci Arena.
 
Despite the loss, the Gophers remain in first place in the WCHA, one
point ahead of second-place Colorado College. The Gophers will play
five of their final eight games away from home, beginning with next
weekend's series at North Dakota.
 
Playing without defenseman Chris McAlpine, who was serving the latter
half of his two-game disqualification penalty, and top-line center
Tony Bianchi, who suffered a shoulder injury Saturday in Minnesota's
3-2 overtime win, Minnesota still managed 33 shots on goal to the
Bulldogs' 25. But Lendzyk, who made 39 saves in a valiant but
unsuccessful effort Saturday, had an answer for all but Jeff
Nielsen's power-play goal in the first period.
 
``That goal was one second out of the game,'' Gopher coach Doug Woog
said. ``There were 59 minutes and 59 seconds of other things that
could have happened. We didn't win many in that stretch when we only
scored one goal.''
 
Chris Marinucci opened the scoring for UMD by converting a rebound of
teammate Brad Federenko's shot at 4:07 of the first. Federenko nearly
converted Chris Sittlow's perfect pass at the goalmouth, but he was
robbed by Gopher goalie Jeff Moen. Moen, however, could not get up in
time as Marinucci pounced on the rebound.
 
Lendzyk could do nothing about Nielsen's goal at 13:54 of the period.
With Rod Aldoff in the penalty box for slashing, Brian LaFleur passed
to Joe Dziedzic at the end line. Dziedzic waited for what seemed like
an eternity for Nielsen to cut to the net before sliding a perfect
pass to his fellow senior at the left post. By the time Lendzyk saw
the puck, it was in the back of the net.
 
But the stubborn Bulldogs, who are 6-5-1 in their last 12 games in
Minneapolis, took the lead for good in the second period. With Dan
Woog in the box for hooking, defenseman Rod Miller's slap shot was
deflected into the net by Brian Caruso for his second power-play goal
in as many days.
 
But the game could have turned in the Gophers' favor at the end of
the second period, when UMD forward Brad Federenko was assessed a
major penalty for checking Jim Hillman from behind. Federenko
received a disqualification, and his team was forced to kill the
first five minutes of the third period without a fifth skater.
 
But the Bulldogs got help when Dave Larson took a hooking penalty
during that span, and then scored a back-breaking goal. After Lendzyk
made two big saves in the final seconds of the penalty, he outletted
the puck to Fitzgerald, who came down the ice on a one-on-one break.
Fitzgerald deked Dan Trebil to the left to create a screen and then
deposited the puck into the short side of the net to Moen's left.
 
``I've been told many times to just get the puck on the net,''
Fitzgerald said. ``They want me to take the shot and cut out all the
fancy stuff that only works in high school.''
 
Brett Larson and Chris Sittlow added goals later in the period to
create the final margin, but the day belonged to Lendzyk.
 
``We made him look good at times,'' Dziedzic said. ``We missed the
net so many times and there were a lot of shots where we couldn't get
to rebounds. But you have to give him credit.''
 
Lendzyk said of his performance: ``I just had to put yesterday behind
me. We were upset about the (penalty) call at the end of the period,
but there was nothing we could do. We had been killing penalties all
weekend.''
 
On Saturday Doug Woog was the proudest father in Mariucci Arena, as
son Dan's first-ever college goal at 1:59 of overtime lifted the
Gophers past the Bulldogs. With the play he made, it looked as if
Woog had scored 100 goals previously. With Bulldog forward Corey
Osmak all over him, Woog took Jed Fiebelkorn's centering pass in full
extension and, as goalie Lendzyk went down to try a poke check,
lifted the puck over Lendzyk's right shoulder into the upper corner
of the net.
 
``I thought my first college goal would come in a scramble off a
shinpad,'' Dan Woog said after the game. ``But I'm sure glad it
happened the way it did.''
 
Nielsen and Trebil added the other goals. For Trebil, it was also his
first of the season.