UND hockey past and future: Judd Caulfield thriving in San Diego — and more

Feb. 24—GRAND FORKS — Judd Caulfield participated in UND hockey's pro camp this fall.

"That helped a lot getting ready for the season," Caulfield said. "I came in, had a good camp at the start and was able to carry some momentum."

Caulfield, who played at Grand Forks Central and UND, scored a goal in the first game of the season for the San Diego Gulls in the American Hockey League. He scored again in the second game.

The 6-foot-3, 207-pound winger is in the midst of his best pro season yet.

He has 14 goals and 28 points in 49 games for the Gulls, the top affiliate of the NHL's Anaheim Ducks. Caulfield is tied for second on the team in goals and fourth in points.

"I'm definitely feeling a lot more comfortable in the league, being my third full season," Caulfield said. "It's a bit of an adjustment at first — a different pace and playing older players again. There are shutdown 'D' that have been in the league for six-to-eight years. Playing against those types of players, it's definitely tough. I'm re-finding my game, using my physicality. I've been more physical this year. I've been able to protect pucks and hold onto pucks more this year, not getting knocked off as easily."

Caulfield has eight points in his last nine games.

The Gulls are 23-16-6-4 and currently in position to make the Calder Cup Playoffs.

"The team this year is awesome," Caulfield said. "We have a lot of guys back from last year. We had a close group last year. This year, we're building on those bonds. It's been working out for us."

Caulfield, 24, signed a one-year contract with San Diego in the summer. This is his third year playing for the Gulls.

"It's been great out here," Caulfield said. "It's nice, because you can get away from the rink a little bit, walk along the beach and enjoy nice weather out here. It's always nice to get away and get a mental reset. It's so easy to do out here."

Caulfield is teammates with Tim Washe, who captained Western Michigan to an NCAA national championship last year. He said they've already discussed their excitement for this weekend's series between their alma maters.

"We'll definitely be following along," Caulfield said. "We were saying we might have to put a little bet on it. We both love following along with the college guys. It's great to see how UND has been doing this year. It's going to be exciting to see what happens this weekend and the rest of the playoffs."

*Former East Grand Forks standout Colton Poolman has three points and a plus-4 rating in the last four games for the Glasgow Clan of the top United Kingdom-based league. Poolman is an alternate captain for Glasgow.

*Winger Austin Poganski scored in back-to-back games for the Tucson Roadrunners in the AHL. Poganski, the team captain, has 34 points in 47 games. He's the third-leading scorer on the team.

*Winger Riese Gaber has four points in his last five games for the Charlotte Checkers in the AHL.

*Former Grand Forks Central defenseman Paul LaDue scored his fifth goal of the season for Rögle BK in Sweden's top league on Saturday. LaDue has 16 points in 40 games.

*Goaltender Cam Johnson started on three consecutive nights this weekend for the Florida Everblades in the ECHL. Johnson stopped 61 of 65 (.938 save percentage) in those games. He has a .912 save percentage this season.

*Defenseman Matt Kiersted was called up from the AHL's Iowa Wild to the NHL's Minnesota Wild on Tuesday. Kiersted has played four games with Minnesota this season.

*Two former UND players earned call-ups from the ECHL to the AHL: goalie T.J. Semptimphelter (Milwaukee Admirals) and forward Cameron Berg (Bridgeport Islanders). Semptimphelter earned his first start Saturday night against AHL-leading Grand Rapids. He stopped 26 of 30 shots.

*Semptimphelter signed a one-year contract extension with Milwaukee for the 2026-27 season.

*Four UND commits played in the Western Hockey League Prospects Game last Wednesday — forward Andrew O'Neill of Fargo, forward Cooper Williams, defenseman Ethan MacKenzie and defenseman Brayden Klimpke. Williams, who plays for the Saskatoon Blades, was a standout in the game, making two beautiful feeds to set up goals. All four players are eligible for the 2026 NHL Draft. Only MacKenzie is expected to come to UND in the fall.

*Defenseman commit Beck Thoreson returned to the ice Feb. 13 after suffering a longterm injury in November. Thoreson, of Moorhead, plays for the U.S. Under-17 Team.

*Forward commit Ashton Schultz has five points in four games since he was traded from the Chicago Steel to the Sioux City Musketeers in the United States Hockey League.

Vanity Project dethroned Dark State, albeit with the help of Tony D'Angelo, to become NXT Tag Team Champions during "WWE NXT."

The champions looked well on their way to retaining the titles, with Saquon Shugars taking an early advantage over both Brad Baylor and Ricky Smokes before getting stifled by the challengers' bait-and-maneuver style. Osiris Griffin pulled the tide back in Dark State's favor, dominating in the ring and chokeslamming Baylor, doubling up with a chokeslam to Smokes onto Baylor. 

He tagged back out to Shugars, who looked to be taking things home after a Doomsday Device Dropkick. Only for Jackson Drake to put Baylor's foot on the rope and break the fall from ringside. That prompted Cutler James and Dion Lennox, also stood at ringside, to get into things with Drake and distract officials. 

With that distraction, D'Angelo appeared in the ring and dropped Shugars onto the apron, rolling Baylor back into the ring. Baylor then made the cover on Shugars, winning the match and the titles, his and Smokes' first since joining "NXT" from "WWE Evolve."

Dark State were making the third defense of their titles after 123 days, having previously defeated Je'Von Evans and Leon Slater and OTM in November and January respectively. Vanity Project had earned their opportunity by beating OTM, Hank and Tank, and Shawn Spears and Niko Vance during last week's show. 

Read more: Meet The Real-Life Partners Of The NXT Roster

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Read the original article on Wrestling Inc.

Feb. 24—GRAND FORKS — The Grand Forks KnightRiders' girls hockey team used a strong defense and talented young scorers to tie the program's regular-season wins record from last season with 19 entering the state tournament.

In doing so, Grand Forks showed the competitive balance of the league — playing in seven one-goal games.

The KnightRiders were 5-2 in one-goal games this season, hoping that experience can be a weapon as the North Dakota state tournament begins Thursday in Fargo.

The KnightRiders, the No. 2 seed, face No. 7 Mandan at 5 p.m. in the opening round at Farmers Union Rink at Scheels Arena.

"All the games are close and all the teams are good," Grand Forks senior defender Bitty Balek said. "Seven seed or eight seed ... everyone is coming in to win. Do not look past any team you're going in against. For us, it's not who you play; it's how you play."

The KnightRiders have losses to the No. 3 and No. 5 seeds in the state bracket, yet have also played a 1-0 game with No. 1 Fargo North-South, the tournament's clear-cut favorite.

"The girls know what that feeling is like and know those situations," Grand Forks coach Kelly Kilgore said of one-goal games. "In those predicaments, we have that experience."

Kilgore credits the one-goal game success to a blue-collar style.

"It's a lunch-pail attitude," Kilgore said. "That's a staple for us, and I try to carry that each and every year. We have to outwork opponents and get to dirty areas to score goals. The way we've chose to build and attack is just hard work and being gritty, smart and good defensively. That's how we build to the way we're suited. We have good team speed and are able to buzz around the ice, which is good for the way we want to play."

As has been the case for most years in Grand Forks' recent history, the KnightRiders are strong in net with Kylie Schmaltz, who has a 1.76 goals-against average and a 92.4 save percentage.

The KnightRiders don't ask for a ton of scoring from the back end, but Grand Forks' success has been aided by a defensive corps that makes heady plays. That group is led by Balek, Elizabeth Kilgore, Keira Botnen, eighth-grader Hazel O'Connell and Kendra Kuznia.

"In my three years as head coach, we've always been really strong on the back end and that resonates out to the forwards," Kelly Kilgore said. "Kylie is having another really good year. She's tracking well. For the better part of any game, she's giving us a chance to win."

The KnightRiders are young up front with two of the top four scorers just freshmen. Freshman Alaina Marto leads the team with 19 goals and seven assists, while senior Chesney Sigdahl has 13 goals and 11 assists. Sophomore Ella Yahna has seven goals and 10 assists, while freshman Ella Bry has seven goals and nine assists.

"Seniority and age don't matter in our locker room," Balek said. "We're in it together. They're part of the program for a while, and we want them to enjoy it. I think us coming together and making sure our team chemistry stays up is one reason we can be playing on Saturday in that last game."

The KnightRiders took third two years ago and fifth last season at the state tournament.