The Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs and St. Cloud State Huskies locked up over the weekend in the WCHA opener for both teams. The Bulldogs were hoping to break their six-game losing streak at St. Cloud, while the Huskies were anxious to see how their young team would perform in a big conference series. UMD came out flat in the first game and the Huskies jumped all over them. Jason Stewart and Matt Cullen scored first period goals to give SCSU a 2-0 lead after one. Dave Paradise, Stewart, and Taj Melson scored for the Huskies in the second to increase the lead to 5-0. Sasha Molin added an early third period goal to increase the margin to 6-0 before the Bulldogs showed any signs of life. Jason Haakstad scored once and Jeff Romfo twice within 59 seconds to pull UMD within three, but the rally fell well short, and the Huskies easily closed out the game. The St. Cloud jinx continued once again for the 'Dogs......... Saturday's game saw the Bulldogs come out flying, but again St. Cloud jumped out in front. Kelly Reider and Molin netted early goals to give the Huskies an early 2-0 advantage. Brian Leitza played excellent in net to thwart many of UMD's good scoring chances. UMD rallied with two goals by Mike Peluso to tie the game, but St. Cloud stuck again with Paradise and Molin giving the Huskies another two goal advantage, 4-2 entering the third. Joe Ciccarello scored at 1:35 of the third to pull the 'Dogs within one, and then Ken Dzikowski at 5:11 tie the game. The remaining 15 minutes of the game was classic WCHA hockey - high intensity, excellent scoring chances, big hits, and a wild raucous crowd with two in-state rivals slugging it out. Finally with 3:15 left in the game, two UMD freshman hooked up on a brilliant play to give the Bulldogs the eventual game-winner. Max Wickman hit Jason Haakstad just outside the blue line, and Haakstad split two Husky defenseman to break in alone on Leitza and snap a shot into the upper corner. It was the fourth goal in three games for Haakstad, a speedy freshman winger. The game was far from over with 3:15 left though. The Huskies, despite being short-handed for two minutes, dominated the rest of the game. UMD goaltender Taras Lendzyk made six saves in the final 30 seconds in numerous wild flurries in front of the net to preserve the victory for the Bulldogs. The victory broke UMD's 7-game losing streak at the National Hockey Center. Being a UMD fan and having attended 4 of those losses, the win was especially enjoyable. Overall though, I was impressed with St. Cloud. Leitza was very sharp for most of the series and the Husky freshman such as Cullen, Parrish, and Molin were much more dominating than I had anticipated. Dave Paradise is certainly becoming one of the better forwards in the WCHA as well. UMD showed great determination rallying for the second game win and overcoming their history of poor performances at St. Cloud. This should give them a big lift for next weekend's home series against Tech. The UMD freshman also are proving to have much more of an impact than expected. Along with Haakstad and Wikman, Matt Taus and Bert Gilling have been solid on defense, and Curtis Bois solid up front. UMD must hope to improve defensively and get more scoring punch out of their upperclassman. Both were lacking over the weekend. Lendzyk must also become more consistent and avoid his hot-cold streaks of years past. The opening weekend was definitely a great one - should be an exciting season! Paul Thalacker Go Bulldogs!!!! HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to [log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.