In their first match of the year April 7, the Bulldogs took on one of the top teams in the state at home in St. Louis Park. Behind sparkling goaltending and Tyler Kruse’s five points, the Bulldogs pulled off a major upset and downed the Orioles by four.

 

SLP got off to a fast start while the Bulldogs sputtered in the first period. The Orioles scored three goals to Becker’s one, but Becker reversed that trend by scoring three of their own in the second while only giving up one to SLP in the second.

 

The two teams tied in the third by scoring two goals apiece, but the Bulldogs stymied the Orioles in the fourth — shutting them out the rest of the way while notching four goals to pull out the victory.

 

Becker finished with 35 shots on goal compared to 24 for SLP. Goalkeeper Dana Slominski had 18 saves.

 

 

April 24, the Bulldogs hosted St. Cloud North and came away with their second straight win to start the season.

 

Kruse again led all Bulldog scorers with nine points (four goals and five assists) while Slominski had 12 saves. Milan Kent finished with seven points (four goals, three assists) on 11 shots.

 

 

Kruse and the Bulldogs dominated their third match of the year, swamping the Knights of St. Michael-Albertville by 18 at home.

 

Kruse finished with 10 points (seven goals and three assists on nine shots. Slominski needed just six saves to secure the win in goal.

 

Cole Neu scored four goals and had three assists and Ethan Boutin had one goal and four assists for the ‘Dawgs.

 

 

Becker wasted little time in flexing their muscle as they drowned the Wildcats with eight goals in the first period to cruise to an easy win.

 

Kruse scored seven points (four goals, three assists) in the win while goalie Slominski had two saves on four shots.

 

Neu took 10 shots on goal and scored twice while assisting on three others. Kent had four points (two goals, two assists) on nine shots.

 

 

In their first road test of the year, the Bulldogs trounced the Ponies in a one-sided shutout.

 

Kruse kept up his all-star performance by scoring five goals and assisting on four others. Goalie Slominski stopped three shots for the win in goal.

The Bulldogs scored 11 goals in the first period, five in the second, six in the third and four in the fourth.

 

Besides Kruse, 10 different players scored for the Bulldogs including Cortland Martin (4 goals), Vieau (3), Kent (3), Boutin (3), Alec Green (2), Neu (2), Ben Gilchrist (1), Nicolas Valerius (1), Cale MacMillan (1) and Brandon McAllister (1).

 

 

The Bulldogs hosted New Century at home Friday night (full report on match in next week’s Citizen), then travel to Wayzata Monday, St. Paul Wednesday and St. Cloud Friday.