The University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) men’s hockey team is roaring into 2025. They closed out 2024 with a New Year’s Eve victory, defeating Bemidji State University 4-2 on the road Tuesday night, which also helped highlight areas for growth in this second half.

“We’ve shown some signs of getting a little bit better, but we still make some of those mistakes, just managing the game, and it’s not just the puck. It’s managing the game and understanding situations, right? Like we had one last night. It was an offensive zone face-off right at the end of the period and puck came to one of our guy’s stick. Instead of just holding it, understanding there’s four or five seconds left, we just slap it back to the point and they get a point shot. It’s getting there, but we still got teaching to do,” head coach Scott Sandelin said.

The Bulldogs will have just Wednesday and Thursday off before they host the University of Alaska Fairbanks Friday and Saturday for their first series of the New Year. This will also mark just their second-ever meeting, with UMD having swept the Nanooks in Duluth back in 2021.

This Nanooks squad however has showed up big this season, earning wins over ranked squads including Notre Dame, Union College, and even the Gophers in a shootoud.

UMD enters 2025 with a 6-10 overall record, and a 2-6 record in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC). Game one between UMD and Alaska Fairbanks is Friday at 7:07pm, then Saturday at 6:07pm at AMSOIL Arena.