BEMIDJI — Zam and Max Plante clearly did not “fear the Beaver” as the public address announcer warned at the start of Friday’s game at Sanford Center.
The brothers from Hermantown both finished with a collegiate-high four points, registering two goals and two assists each to lead Minnesota Duluth to a 7-3 nonconference road victory over Bemidji State.
Their linemate, Jayson Shaugabay, also had a career night with four points against the Beavers (2-3), but via a goal and three assists.
Sophomore goaltender Adam Gajan finished with 17 saves on 20 shots for the Bulldogs (4-1).
The Beavers went through two goaltenders, Max Hildebrand and Trent Wiemken, who finished with nine saves each. Hildebrand surrendered six of the seven goals while Wiemken — making his first collegiate appearance — got beat by the seventh.
“That was probably our poorest defensive game of the year, especially structurally,” said Bulldogs coach Scott Sandelin, whose team did give up 50 shot attempts. “Offensively, obviously if was good. We buried some opportunities
that last week, if we would have done that Saturday,
maybe the result’s a little different.”
Madelyn Haasken / Bemidji Pioneer
Shaugabay and the Plante brothers had to dig UMD out of an early 2-0 hole. The Beavers scored two goals in the opening 4:50 on Friday, but the Bulldogs responded with a trio of goals before the first intermission. Shaugabay and Max Plante tied the game while senior defenseman and captain Joey Pierce of Hermantown gave UMD the lead tipping a feed by Max.
“I just kept my stick on the ice and he finds a way to hit it every time,” Pierce said. “That’s what you get when you play with players that good.”
Pierce said Friday was redemption for the team’s inability to come back last Saturday
in the 4-0 home loss to Augustana,
a game the Bulldogs fell behind 2-0 before giving up two empty-net goals.
“We didn’t try and get away from our game, we didn’t try and push,” Pierce said. “We just knew when we were playing the right way, we know what they feels like. We just worked for that instead of trying to push too hard or make plays individually. That was really good to see from a leadership standpoint that everyone on the bench was resilient in that way.”
Max Plante got his first shorthanded goal as a Bulldog, scoring unassisted on a breakaway just shy of eight minutes into the second period.
Max and his older brother, Zam, are on the Bulldogs’ No. 1 penalty kill unit this season
along with sophomore defensemen Ty Hanson and Adam Kleber. The foursome got beat on the kill later in the second period.
Zam Plante scored both of his goals on the power play, as UMD’s power play finished 2-for-4 on Friday. The Bulldogs started the season 1-for-15 on the power play. It was a marked area of improvement heading into this weekend’s series with the Beavers.
“The power play was a big thing,” Max Plante said. “Even in practice, we’ve been working on it. It’s still coming, still chugging along.”
Madelyn Haasken / Bemidji Pioneer
Max Plante is now averaging two points per game this season. He also has five goals in five games, plus five assists for 10 total points. He had nine goals and 19 assists in 23 games as a freshman.
“He can make a difference,” Sandelin said. “The group in there, we talked about, ‘You lost last week. Don’t make it two.’ He certainly didn’t want that to happen based on how he played. That whole line was good.”
UMD’s top line has 27 points total through five games. Zam Plante has eight points off three goals and five assists. Shaugabay has nine points off two goals and seven assists.
“Luckily I’m playing with Shaugs and Zam, who can make some nice plays,” Max Plante said. “I scored some goals, it was fun, but we got another one tomorrow night, so hopefully we can get it done.”
Pierce’s goal was just the second of his college career. His first goal came on Jan. 11, 2025, against St. Cloud State at Amsoil Arena. The Hermantown native came into the night with 13 career points, but none in the first four games of this season.
“Scoring always feels good,” Pierce said. “Obviously, I haven’t done it a whole lot, but it’s always going to feel great. Hopefully I can build off it.”
The Bulldogs defensemen combined for five points in the first four games of 2025-26, with three of the five points and the only two goals coming from Hanson, of Hermantown.
Madelyn Haasken / Bemidji Pioneer
Freshman center Daniel Shlaine scored his first college goal less than a minute after Max Plante got his second goal of the night, turning a still tight 3-2 UMD lead into a more comfortable 5-2 Bulldogs advantage 8:35 into the second. Shlaine had 24 goals last season in the USHL with Lincoln.
The Beavers’ power play goal came from a former UMD recruit. Sophomore defensemen Hudson Thornton had verbally committed to UMD, but then decided to play Canadian major junior in the Western Hockey League. He played pro last season in the ECHL and American Hockey League, but was able to gain NCAA eligibility this season.
The Bulldogs and Beavers are scheduled for a 6:07 p.m. rematch Saturday at Amsoil Arena in Duluth as part of a doubleheader with the women. They take on Minnesota State at 2 p.m.
Saturday is the last UMD men’s home game until Nov. 7-8 vs. St. Cloud State in NCHC play. The Bulldogs are on the road at Minnesota and North Dakota the next two weekends.
Madelyn Haasken / Bemidji Pioneer
Minnesota Duluth 3-3-1—7
Bemidji State 2-1-0—3
First period
1. BSU, Noah Quinn (Jake McLean, Max Namestnikov), 2:26
2. BSU, Vincent Labelle (Vince Corcoran, Kasper Magnussen), 4:50
3. UMD, Jayson Shaugabay (Zam Plante, Max Plante), 5:59
4. UMD, M. Plante (Shaugabay, Z. Plante), 12:00
5. UMD, Joey Pierce (M. Plante, Hunter Anderson), 17:31
Second period
6. UMD, M. Plante, 7:58 (sh)
7. UMD, Daniel Shlaine (Ryan Zaremba, Blake Bechen), 8:35
8. UMD, Z. Plante (Shaugabay, Ty Hanson), 10:08 (pp)
9. BSU, Hudson Thornton (Oliver Peer, Vann Yuhas), 18:55 (pp)
Third period
10. UMD, Z. Plante (Shaugabay), 1:36 (pp)
Saves — Adam Gajan, UMD, 17; Max Hildebrand, BSU, 9; Trent Wiemken, BSU, 9.
Power play — UMD 2-4; BSU 1-5. Penalties — UMD 5-10; BSU 4-8.
This story was updated at 4:55 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 18, to correct the dateline and to update Max Plante’s statistics to five assists in five games following an update by UMD Athletics. It was originally posted at 11:01 p.m. Friday, Oct. 17.