Steeves Hat Trick Powers Bulldogs Past Miami 6-2 In Weekend Series Opener
The University of Minnesota Duluth men’s hockey team plowed past Miami University in their third game of the season against one another. The Bulldogs’ 6-2 performance was highlighted by Ben Steeves’ hat trick, newfound chemistry, and odd-man rushes.
UMD’s Hobey Baker Award Nominee continued his campaign by scoring his third career hat trick. It was the Bulldogs’ first hat trick of the season and included Steeves’ 20th goal of the season. He opened the scoring tonight with his 17th, with some help from Quinn Olson.
“I was assuming he was going to shoot it,” Steeves said postgame. “But I just kept driving the lane and no one stayed with me, so it opened me up.”
Steeves’ second was a gritty goal, scored while tangled with an opposing skater, shooting through their stick. To finish out his three-goal night, he took a shot from his signature spot, at the top of the circle.
“I don’t know how that went in,” Steeves admitted. “I just shot it as hard as I could. I think the goalie thought it was going right in his chest and it just dove right.”
Steeves ended the game with four points, picking up a primary assist on Luke Loheit’s second period goal. The captain recently moved to the center position and found chemistry tonight with his new linemates, Steeves and Quinn Olson.
Less than 30 seconds into the second period, Steeves sent the puck up the ice to Loheit. He cut in one-on-one and beat both the defender and the goaltender.
“We know where each other’s going to be and we can just sense each other,” Loheit said. “When we’ve played together, whether it be in practice or in past years, we had that chemistry and obviously it showed out there tonight.”
The red-hot first line weren’t the only ones with multipoint games. Blake Biondi scored the Bulldogs’ sixth and final goal of the night thanks to a two-on-one chance. Earlier, on another odd-man opportunity, Biondi passed to a flying Kyle Bettens on the wing, who skated around his defender and turned the three-on-two into a breakaway. Their linemate, Connor McMenamin, tallied two assists.
Tonight, UMD killed all three penalties. The team has successfully killed its last 21 consecutive penalties, a streak that began against Air Force on December 29, 2023.
After all of tonight’s National Collegiate Hockey Conference play, UMD remains sixth. However, with only three points separating the Bulldogs from both Western Michigan and Colorado College, another win could move them into a tie for fourth or fifth place.
UMD takes on MU one last time in the regular season tomorrow, January 27, at 7:07 p.m
