fightingsioux4life

PAT is good. 1:01 left in third quarter. UND 31 UMD 14

TOUCHDOWN NORTH DAKOTA!!! Chappell with an 11 yard touchdown run.

Josh Murray to the 11 yard line. 2nd and 8 coming up.

3rd and 5 coming up. Freund to Dressler. Dressler inside the 13 yard line. First down North Dakota!!!

Incomplete for Blair Grover. Second and 10 coming up.

Incomplete for Blair Grover. Second and 10 coming up.

Dressler takes it to the UND 44 yard line. Offsides on UMD. Sioux start on own 49. Time for Freund and company to go to work.

Offense has to respond. A nice kickoff return would be helpful here.

Touchdown Duluth.

Schlafke for about a yard on first down.

Another first down for the Dogs!

Dogs to North Dakota 33. Come on defense, don't let them establish rhythm on offense.

Sounds like a tough, hard-fought NCC road game so far. Let's use our depth and talent advantage and finish up strong.

TOUCHDOWN DANNY FREUND!!! 23-7 UND!!! 15 plays, 66 yard drive PAT good UND 24 UMD 7

Incomplete to Dressler at the 5. 3rd down coming up. We have to start finishing drives.

Gain of 1 on first down by Chappell

First down North Dakota!!! Let's punch it in.

Freund on the sneak for what appears to be a First Down. Measurement coming up.

Trenbeth to the UMD 12 yard line. Gain of 5. 3rd and 1

This is the problem. We get off to bad starts before Christmas and then have to win almost every game in January and February just to catch up in the standings. There are league points at stake this weekend, points that are going to count just as much in March as they do now. On paper, this is the most balanced and complete team we've had since the 2000-01 season. But games aren't played on paper and other teams aren't going to lay down for us. If we work hard and make the most of our talent, we should contend for the MacNaughton Cup, the Broadmoor Trophy and the National Championship. But if we don't figure out how to score on good goalies and good defensive teams, we'll be talking about fighting for and securing "the fifth and final home playoff spot in the first round of the WCHA playoffs". And that, ladies and gentlemen, would be a bigger farce than the Friday game in Boston last week. Is it too early to panic? Yes. Is is too early to feel a little concerned? No. Pencil me in as a concerned fan right now.

It's way too early to panic. It's just a road loss in October. But there are some reasons for concern. The offense hasn't been very efficient or effective so far. The Michigan State game was 6-0, but we had some nice bounces that helped out; the game was much closer than that. We struggled to score goals against Northeastern last week. And then we have tonight's loss. And enough carping about "running into a hot goaltender", because we had better be able to score on good goaltending if we are going to hang some banners this year. I don't think there is a team in this league that doesn't have good goaltending (and that includes us). If we don't learn how to score on good netminders, it's going to be tough sledding on the offensive side. Next week's opponent is Colorado College, who also has an excellent goaltender. We had better figure this thing out or we'll get the brooms put to us at home. Having said that, I think Hak and the rest of the coaching staff will keep working with the players in practice and I think the offense will come around. I just hope we don't leave too many league points behind in the process. Let's get a split on Saturday and get back home next weekend.

Note to Fighting Sioux Defensive Coaches: PLEASE, NO RUSHING THREE AND DROPPING EIGHT INTO COVERAGE!!! We tried that in Mankato and almost lost. If we do it again, we might not get away with it this time. Having said that, we are healthy again and Bubba just doesn't have the depth to keep up for 60 minutes. Prediction: UND 49 UMD 21

I wonder how Uncle Sid Hartman is going to spin this tomorrow on the Sports Huddle? I bet he and Dave Mona talk about Twins offseason crap instead (Who should we keep, Santana or Hunter?). Congratulations Bison, way to take it to the Rodents!

I am watching Gophers Suck Live on FSN; boy are they good at spinning a loss!

I am looking forward to seeing the mens team make some progress this year. It's been a long time since we had a good mens team in Grand Forks that wasn't a visiting team. GO SIOUX!