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GLENDALE, Ariz. - In seven and a half seasons at Minnesota Duluth, associate head coach Jason Herter has taken charge of the Bulldogs鈥� special teams.

So it was appropriate that with him at the helm Friday night, Dec. 28, the Bulldogs used a penalty kill and power play in the third period to rally past Minnesota State-Mankato for a 4-3 overtime victory in the opening game of the Desert Hockey Classic at Gila River Arena.

UMD killed off a five-minute major in the third period and followed it shortly afterward with a power-play goal by sophomore wing Kobe Roth to tie the game and force overtime. Sophomore wing Nick Swaney then scored 2:17 into the extra session.

The Bulldogs now play for the tournament title, taking on Clarkson at 5:30 p.m. or host Arizona State at 8:30 p.m. The Sun Devils and Golden Knights faced off in the late game Friday.

鈥淭he kill, in my opinion, was outstanding. It was better than our first ones in the game,鈥� Herter said of his special teams in the third. 鈥淲hen stuff like that happens late in the game, the guys rally around it. The guys beared down and it gave us life leading into a power play.鈥�

Down 3-2 in the third period, UMD sophomore defenseman Louie Roehl was given a cross-checking major - but was not ejected - for a high hit on Mavericks junior wing Nick Rivera as the two left the Mavs鈥� zone. The Bulldogs not only held Mankato to just four shots during the five-minute advantage, they generated two of their own.

That momentum carried over into a UMD power play that came from a Mavericks tripping penalty issued less than a minute after Roehl was released. Swaney put an initial shot on goal 44 seconds into the UMD advantage and Roth put away the rebound, tying the game at 3-3 with 6:05 left in regulation.

鈥淚 just saw Swaney get the puck, he had a lot of open ice,鈥� Roth said of the game-tying goal. 鈥淗onestly, that was all him. That was a great play. He shot it right away. I just tried to get a stick on it. I just whacked it in for that rebound. It was just a great play by Swaney.鈥�

Friday was the first game for Swaney - and senior captain Parker Mackay - in 26 days after he suffered a lower-body injury in the Dec. 1 home loss to North Dakota. That forced him - and Mackay - to miss the last series before the Christmas break, a last-second 3-2 loss and 1-1 shootout loss at Western Michigan.

Swaney finished with two big points in his return after posting a modest four goals and five assists in his first 14 games of 2018-19. His game-winner Saturday - which was assisted by another player returning from injury, senior center Peter Krieger - came in a similar fashion to  the Roth goal, only this time Swaney fired a change-up that found the back of the net clean.

鈥淲hen you don鈥檛 play a few games, you miss out. Watching on TV is just not the same,鈥� Swaney said of not playing for 26 days. 鈥淚 just wanted to get out there and make an impact right away.鈥�

Roehl and sophomore center Justin Richards scored 54 seconds apart early in the first period to stake the Bulldogs to a 2-0 lead. The Mavericks went on to score three straight after that with sophomore wing Dallas Gerads cutting UMD鈥檚 lead in half before the midway point of the first period.

Minnesota State used a couple quick releases by junior center Marc Michaelis 1:20 into the second and by junior center Josh French 7:23 into the period to take a 3-2 lead going into the third.

鈥淚t鈥檚 nice to see us come back, but we put ourselves in that position,鈥� Herter said of not holding the initial 2-0 advantage. 鈥淢ankato is a heck of a hockey team. We knew it was going to be a close game. It鈥檚 going to be tight, it鈥檚 going to be hard. So whether we are up a goal or down a goal, we got to keep with it.鈥�

Both teams entered this weekend鈥檚 tournament shorthanded.

The Bulldogs are minus the sophomore defensive pairing of Mikey Anderson and Dylan Samberg. They are playing with the U.S. National Junior Team in the 2019 World Junior Championship in British Columbia, as is UMD sophomore wing Noah Cates.

Injuries have knocked out Mavs sophomore forward Jake Jaremko and junior forward Parker Tuomie, who at Christmas had the team lead in points with 22 off nine goals and 13 assists. Michaelis tied his point total Friday.

In addition to missing key players, both teams are without their head coach. Minnesota State鈥檚 Mike Hastings is serving as head coach of Team USA at the World Juniors and UMD鈥檚 Scott Sandelin is one of his assistants.

Associate head coaches are leading both teams - Herter for UMD and Todd Knott for the Mavs.

Bulldogs add goalie With redshirt freshman Benjamin Patt done for the season due to a shoulder injury, the Bulldogs have added 19-year-old true freshman Andrew Dietrich of Eden Prairie, Minn. Dietrich had been working as the team鈥檚 practice goaltender during the first half when Patt was out injured. He backstopped Blake for two seasons from 2014-16 before playing at Eden Prairie as a junior and senior from 2016-18.

Minn. Duluth 2-0-1-1-4
MS-Mankato 1-2-0-0-3First period - 1. UMD, Louie Roehl 1 (Kobe Roth, Tanner Laderoute), 5:39; 2. Justin Richards 5 (Cole Koepke), 6:33; 3. MSUM, Dallas Gerads 5 (Walker Duehr), 8:39. Penalties - Jake Rosenbaum, UMD (hooking), 9:02; Jared Spooner, MSUM (tripping), 10:56; Billy Exell, UMD (holding), 14:18; Charlie Gerard, MSUM (holding), 14:18; Gerads, MSUM (hooking), 14:53; Riley Tufte, UMD (interference), 15:08.
Second period - 4. MSUM, Marc Michaelis 12 (Chris Van Os-Shaw, Gerard), 1:20; 5. MSUM, Josh French 6 (Nick Rivera, Jack McNeely), 7:23. Penalties - Walker Duehr, MSUM (roughing), 2:06; Nick Wolff, UMD (roughing), 2:06; Connor Mackey, MSUM (interference), 15:57; McNeely, MSUM (roughing), 19:29.
Third period - 6. UMD, Kobe Roth 5 (Nick Swaney, Peter Krieger), 13:55 (pp). Penalties - Louie Roehl, UMD (cross checking major), 7:37; Max Coatta, MSUM (tripping), 13:11; Edwin Hookenson, MSUM (checking from behind), 15:40.
Overtime - 7. UMD, Swaney 5 (Krieger), 2:17. Penalties - None.
Shots on goal - UMD 11-12-14-3-40; MSUM 10-8-11-2-31. Goalies - Hunter Shepard, UMD (31 shots-28 saves); Dryden McKay, MSUM (40-36). Power plays - UMD 1-of-6; MSUM 0-of-3. Referees - Brady Johnson, Bobby Lukkason. Linesmen - Chris Zorza, Mike Sarter. Att. - N/A.