Headline: Callinan stonewalls Bulldogs Publish Date: 02/13/1995 Matthew Cross Staff Reporter A fire was extinguished when the Gophers hockey team swept a red-hot Minnesota-Duluth squad this weekend at Mariucci Arena. The sweep marked the second time this season that the Gophers earned the right to gather in a circle at center ice in Mariucci Arena, slap their sticks on the surface and raise them in the air. The ceremony is restricted to home sweeps, and this one couldn't have been more special. The Bulldogs were 6-1-2 in the previous nine games before they came to Minneapolis, but the Gophers' 4-1 win, preceded by their 3-0 shutout, stifled UMD's late-season comeback. Thus Minnesota built a foundation from which it will draw momentum going into next weekend's key series at Denver. ``The next series is a big one for us,'' Gophers coach Doug Woog said. ``As far as the NCAA's, we'll be sitting really healthy if we sweep Denver. ``We needed to have four points this weekend. That puts us in a different pack. I don't even know the possibilities it would take for us to fall out of the top five (in the WCHA), but I know they've been reduced significantly.'' Indeed, the Gophers have reason to feel good about their standing right now, and they're also happy with some key performances this weekend. Most noteworthy was goaltender Jeff Callinan, who recorded his first career shutout Friday and nearly got his second Saturday until Bulldogs winger Jeff Romfo scored with only 9:04 remaining in the third period. ``Jeff carried us tonight until we got in a position to win it,'' Woog said after Minnesota's 4-1 win. ``A lesser performance in goal could have changed the outcome of this game.'' With his two victories this weekend, Callinan improved his career record against UMD to 6-1-1, but a lot of the credit should go to the Gophers' defense. They held UMD to 20 shots on goal on Friday night and 26 on Saturday by executing near-perfect backchecking and cutting off angles. On the offensive side, the Gophers got production from unlikely heroes in defenseman Charlie Wasely and forward Jed Fiebelkorn. Wasely stuffed his second goal of the season on Saturday night when Dan Woog fed Fiebelkorn low in the defensive zone and Fiebelkorn carried the puck coast-to-coast and gave the puck to Wasley in front of the net. Coach Woog said his team has been doing a lot of work on shooting from the point on the offensive blue line, and that has opened up more opportunities for defensemen to score. Minnesota has also benefited from the emergence of Fiebelkorn from a nearly dormant offensive 1994-95 season. Fiebelkorn scored a goal and added an assist on Friday night to bring his season total to 10 points. The highlight goal of the series was by senior co-captain Scott Bell, who directed the puck across center ice and was forced low on the left side. He turned around and skated back toward the blue line when the center of the zone opened up. Bell skated in and unleashed a 15-foot wrist shot from the right side that squeaked past UMD goaltender Taras Lendzyk. The goal looked easy, and it typified the weekend for the Gophers. Everything looked easy. ``It was like the Red Sea,'' Bell said. ``Everything just parted for me.'' Minnesota's sweep moved the Gophers into a tie for second place with Denver. The Pioneers split their series with North Dakota. More important, however, is the fact that the Gophers have their first three-game winning streak since Thanksgiving. ``Coming down to the end of the season, that's what you're supposed to do,'' Bell said. ``We were down, and now we're headed back up. And that's where you want to be heading into the playoffs.'' Minnesota's last streak came when they took the second game of a series with Michigan Tech and won a pair at the College Hockey Showcase Ironically, that streak ended when the Gophers were swept at home by Denver after fall quarter finals week. ``They swept us here,'' Bell said. ``So we'll have to repay them for the embarrassment that they bestowed upon us.'' Carol S. White BITNET: c-whit@uminn1 University of Minnesota internet:[log in to unmask] Office of the Registrar (612) 625-8517 GO Gophers!!!