As we head into the winter break and gear up for the Spring semester, it’s time to look back at the first half of the 2025-26 campaign. While our 1-5 record doesn’t reflect the talent in the locker room, the box scores fail to capture the grit, resilience, and rapid improvement this team demonstrated week in and week out.

We opened the season against UND facing an immediate roster challenge. Due to limited availability, we had to look to our bench, asking a skater to step between the pipes for game one.

We faced immediate adversity and top-tier competition, but the Dragons proved they belong in the conversation. Here is the breakdown of the action from this fall.

The UND Series: Battling Through Adversity

While the final score read 14-2, the box score was deceiving. The Dragons actually carried the play for long stretches, controlling the zone and out-chancing UND 5-on-5. Unfortunately, the difficult situation in net made for a lopsided scoreboard despite a dominant effort from the skaters.

That frustration fueled a massive turnaround in game two. With a more standard lineup, the team tightened up and played a disciplined, gritty game. We fell 5-2, but the drastic swing in goals allowed proved that Friday’s result was a fluke of circumstance, not a lack of skill.

The UMC Series: Going Toe-to-Toe with the Best

Next up was a litmus test against the University of Minnesota Crookston (UMC), a regionally ranked powerhouse.

After dropping the opener 5-2, the Dragons responded with our best defensive performance of the season on Saturday. We took the fight to UMC, holding a potent offense in check for 60 minutes. It was a 2-1 grinder late in the third period, with MSUM pushing hard for the equalizer. UMC eventually sealed it 3-1 with an empty-net goal, but the message was sent: even at 1-3, we can hang with the top teams in the region.

Saint Mary’s of Winona: Breaking Through

We closed out the fall stretch against Saint Mary’s of Winona, finally getting the reward for our hard work.

We came out firing in game one, dominating possession and securing a convincing win to get into the win column. It was a complete team effort that showcased what this squad looks like when we are clicking. The weekend finale was a barn burner—a back-and-forth affair that came down to the final buzzer. While we dropped the second game in a heartbreaker, coming away with a split series was a crucial step forward for the program.

Eyes on the Spring

We are taking the lessons learned from this start and using them as fuel. We’ve seen that we can compete with regionally ranked opponents and that we have the firepower to dominate when we execute our game plan.

Rest up, Dragons fans. We’ll see you at the rink this spring!