Pierce, Kleber step up for shorthanded UMD to sweep Huskies

DULUTH — Minnesota Duluth lost two players to injury on Saturday, saw two score their first goal as Bulldogs and beat No. 10 St. Cloud State for the second time in two days, winning 5-2 over the Huskies to sweep the NCHC series at Amsoil Arena.

Three of UMD’s goals came from freshmen — defensemen Adam Kleber and wingers Jayson Shaugabay and Max Plante. Senior center Dominic James and junior defenseman Joey Pierce also scored.

“The sweep here feels unbelievable at home,” Pierce said. “A conference sweep in front of our fans, it doesn’t get much better than that. That’s why we put on that sweater. That’s what we strive to do every weekend. It was awesome to deliver that to not only us mentally, but also the fans that keep coming out for us.”

Bulldogs freshman goaltender Klayton Knapp stopped 20 of the 22 shots he faced in his fifth consecutive start while Huskies fifth-year senior goalie Gavin Enright — a former Bemidji State Beaver — made 21 saves.

“I’m happy for our guys,” UMD coach Scott Sandelin said. “It’s good for them to get that feeling, to win two hard games in this league to start the second half.”

UMD got a standing ovation over the final 20 seconds from the 5,512 in attendance for the sweep of St. Cloud State. Coming into the weekend the Bulldogs were 2-8-1 at Amsoil Arena, with the only regular season home wins coming Oct. 25-26 against Stonehill.

“It was tough in the first half (of the season) to see people leave early. That feeling hurts us all,” Kleber said. “To see them staying and cheering and clapping, that really feels great. The hard work is paying off. We want to keep that feeling going.”

Kleber got his first goal as a Bulldog in his 17th college game, blasting a shot from the point that popped up and over Enright seven minutes into the second period. The goal came shortly after a UMD power play expired to put his team up 2-0.

The 6-foot-5, 210-pound Chaska native later blasted a Husky in the neutral zone late in the third period, generating roar from a crowd that was still upset because the Huskies' Ethan Aucoin avoided a major penalty on a crosscheck to the head of Callum Arnott, even after a video review.

“I didn’t even know I scored, I thought it was tipped,” Kleber said. “Probably the hit (was more exciting) because I knew I hit the guy.”

Kleber, along with Plante, won a gold medal last Sunday with the U.S. National Junior Team at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship in Ottawa. Kleber had one assist in the tournament and one assist in his first 16 games at UMD.

Pierce got his first goal as a Bulldog in his 83rd college game, putting away a rebound shortly after emerging from the penalty box for boarding. Pierce, of Hermantown, had 10 assists in his first 82 games, including two assists this season.

The Huskies challenged the goal for goaltender interference, but lost after a lengthy review to fall behind 5-2 to UMD.

“It’s really special,” Pierce said of his first goal since playing for the Lincoln Stars in the USHL in 2021-22. “Every emotion went through my body in that moment. The review was a little nervous couple of minutes on the bench, but it worked out in the end. I couldn’t be happier.”

Senior wing Carter Loney returned to the lineup Saturday, but didn’t finish the game. Loney missed Friday’s game due to an illness and then left after 15 minutes Saturday because of an upper body injury following two big hits he initiated on the ice.

Loney was slotted on the fourth line — taking the place of sophomore Matthew Perkins — with freshman center Callum Arnott and freshman wing Harper Bentz. Only Arnott finished the game, playing with 13th forward Braden Fischer and Pierce, who once again spend time moonlighting as a forward.

Pierce actually scored his goal as a forward.

“He’s a heart and soul guy,” Sandelin said of Pierce.

Bentz and Loney both left the game around the same time and never returned. Senior center Dominic James also went back to the locker room with them in the first period after blocking a shot with his hand or wrist, but the captain returned to finish the game and even score a goal.

Plante now has points in six of his seven games at UMD thanks to a power play goal in the second period and an assist to Shaugabay in the first. Plante has nine points (four goals, five assists) in seven games so far.

Plante’s power play goal came with three seconds remaining in the advantage after the Bulldogs squandered a two-man advantage it held for 1:42.

“He’s a factor in every game that he’s played,” Sandelin said of Plante, who had two goals and an assist in his first two games back from the World Juniors. “It’s tough to miss him for 13 games. He’s back and it’s nice to have Kleber here, too.”

Shaugabay scored an unofficial power play goal in the first period to give UMD a 1-0 lead. The Warroad native got his seventh goal of the season via some tic-tac-toe passes by Plante and sophomore defenseman Aaron Pionk, both of Hermantown.

Two goals in 12 seconds nearly turned the course of Saturday’s game, as James gave the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead just 1:28 after Kleber’s goal. The Huskies scored 12 seconds later, and then pulled within a goal 12:52 into the second period via a power play goal by Tyson Gross.

Plante scored on the power play 4:08 after to get UMD back up a goal.

St. Cloud State finally snapped its scoreless streak 8:40 into the second period. Sophomore wing Daimon Gardner became the first Husky — man or woman — to score a goal at Amsoil Arena since Zach Okabe at 19:23 of the second period on March 9, 2024.

The Huskies men and women went a combined 11 consecutive periods without scoring a goal, including 10 straight periods this weekend. The SCSU women were shut out in back-to-back games Friday and Saturday in Duluth.

Saturday’s women’s and men’s doubleheader featured Sophie's Squad, the organization co-founded by former Bulldog Gabbie Hughes that advocates for mental health awareness in youth, high school and college athletics. It was the third season in a row the men’s team got involved at Amsoil Arena for a Hockey Hits Back doubleheader.

Hughes co-founded Sophie’s Squad in the summer of 2021 after the death of 14-year-old Sophie Wieland. Hughes was honored with the Hockey Humanitarian Award in 2023.

The Bulldogs hit the road next week after four straight games at home. UMD takes on Colorado College at 9 p.m. Friday and 7 p.m. Saturday at Ed Robson Arena in Colorado Springs.

“Everyone is pumped,” Kleber said. “It gives us a lot of confidence, especially going to CC, which is another really good team. We’re playing a lot of really good teams down the stretch. To get these wins early in the second half is really big for us to get on a roll.”

St. Cloud State 0-2-0—2
Minnesota Duluth 1-3-1—5
First period
1. UMD, Jayson Shaugabay (Max Plante, Aaron Pionk), 12:57
Second period
2. UMD, Adam Kleber (Aiden Dubinsky, Kyle Bettens), 7:00
3. UMD, Dominic James (Anthony Menghini, Ty Hanson), 8:28
4. SCSU, Daimon Gardner (Tyson Gross), 8:40
5. SCSU, Gross (Austin Burnevik, Josh Luedtke), 12:52 (pp)
6. UMD, Plante (Pionk, Shaugabay), 17:00 (pp)
Third period
7. UMD, Joey Pierce (Joe Molenaar, Jack Smith), 4:36
Saves — Gavin Enright, SCSU, 21; Klayton Knapp, UMD, 20
Power play — SCSU 1-4; UMD 1-6. Penalties — SCSU 6-12; UMD 4-8.