UM-Duluth - Been There Before
UM-Duluth - Been There Before
Could it be that the University of Minnesota-Duluth appears in three DII college finals in the space of 19 months? Maybe.
Last year there were two finals, as the DII championship season was shifted from spring to fall. As a result, Duluth had two shots at it, and they lost to Salisbury in the final in May, 2013, and followed that up with a victory over Salisbury in December.
Now, after cutting a swath through the Northern Lights Conference and destroying two very capable teams in the national playoffs by a combined score of 138-5, they are back for another shot.
The team got back from Thanksgiving Break early and trained Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, before getting a day off on Wednesday.
“We had a lot of guys getting time at different positions,” said prop Lars Anderson. “We want that because we’ve got a tough weekend ahead of us. We’re as deep as we’ve ever been and we want to be able to have fresh legs on, or just feel comfortable if we have to put subs in early in a close game.”
The key for the Fighting Penguins, added Anderson, is that they need to stick to their plan.
“”We just need to make the other teams stop us,” he said. “We just keep on going war we’ve been doing and make adjustments based on what’s working.”
Throughout the week, the coaching staff has been throwing various game situations at the players and getting them to make a decision based on the circumstances. The coaches aren’t the ones directing the decision-making at this point, said Anderson, and that’s good.
“There’s more of a consensus for the options we have and how we deal with a situation,” said Anderson. “We’re ready now to put whatever we decide into action”
Anderson had praise for players who have raised their game of late, including wing Zach Schwartz at wing, who stepped into a key role at playoff time and impressed, and loose forward Luc Desroches, who continues to play better and better.
Meanwhile the halfback combination of Cody Christensen and Trace Bolstad, freshmen in those roles last year, are a year older and very solid.
“They’re ready to play,” added Coach Jeramy Katchuba. “They are doing what we’re asking them to do. Their minds are on Saturday’s match and they’re not looking ahead. We’ve got a squad that has played in two championship games before. They are more mature now. Our halfback combo can play a slow tempo or a higher tempo, depending on what we need.
“We know James Madison was a good team last year and they’ve only gotten better. The level of competition in DII has definitely gone up. That’s why we’re not looking past anyone.”
