Box Score

DULUTH, Minn. – Northern State stayed with the seventh-ranked Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs for the vast majority of the first half, but a late second-quarter touchdown pass from UMD's Chase Vogler to Zach Zweifel with just eight seconds remaining on the clock stretched the Bulldog lead from three to ten and a shutout defensive effort in the second half gave the Bulldogs a 37-6 victory over NSU Saturday afternoon in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference football action.
 
The Wolves slipped to 2-6 overall and 1-6 in NSIC play, while the Bulldogs moved to 7-1 on the season and 6-1 in the loop.
 
NSU held the high-powered UMD offense to just one first-quarter touchdown to open the game before responding with a 19-yard strike from senior quarterback Nick Wanner to wideout Jordan Piatz.  Felipe Alfaia's PAT attempt was blocked, leaving the Bulldogs with a slim 7-6 advantage.
 
That would be as close as the Wolves would get, as the UMD defense scored a safety on the Wolves' next possession followed by Vogler's find of Zweifel in the corner of the end zone just ahead of halftime.  UMD added two touchdown runs from Zach Hulce and one from Steve Ierulli in the second half to cap the scoring.
 
UMD's defense, ranked 14^th in the nation heading into the weekend, held the Wolves to just 175 yards of total offense, 128 of which came on the ground.  Wanner finished with 68 yards on the ground and 47 through the air.  Junior tailback Kristin James tallied 18 carries for 45 yards.
 
The Bulldogs ran for 299 total yards.  All but 46 of those yards came on the legs of Brian Lucas (100 yards, 1 TD), Hulce (84 yards, 2 TD) and Ierulli (68 yards, 1 TD).
 
NSU returns home next weekend to face Bemidji State, who suffered its second loss of the season at the hands of the University of Mary on Saturday.  Kick-off for the game is set for 2:30 p.m. at Clark Swisher Field.