By Virg Foss

GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- Brad Miller might be the most-watched college hockey player in the country with just two goals if he keeps this up.

The junior right wing from Alpharetta, Ga., scored as bizarre of a goal tonight as you'll ever see while he was sitting on the bench as the University of North Dakota rolled to an 8-3 Western Collegiate Hockey Association victory over Minnesota Duluth.

He didn't see the puck go in the net and didn't even know he had scored until teammate Ryan Duncan (Jr., Calgary, Alberta) nudged him and said, "that's your goal.''

Miller had dumped the puck softly into the Bulldog zone along the right wall before heading off the ice on a line change.

Duluth goalie Alex Stalock came out past the faceoff circle to the side wall to play the puck, but Bulldog defenseman Jay Cascalenda took it instead.

Cascalenda cut across the ice and tried to duck behind defensive partner Chase Ryan when Sioux junior forward Andrew Kozek (Sicamous, British Columbia) threatened him with forechecking pressure.

But as Ryan was backpeddling toward the net, the two players collided. The puck hit Ryan's skate and slid slowly into the open net at 9:01 of the first period for UND's third goal in 73 seconds and a 3-0 lead.

Miller was credited with the goal even though he was on the bench since he was the last Sioux player to touch the puck.

It's a goal that had to be a candidate for ESPN's Play of the Day.

Two weeks ago, an unbelievable play by Wisconsin goalie Shane Connelly to knock the puck out of the air and rob Miller of a goal was a big attraction on YouTube.

"I had one on YouTube with Connelly saving me and maybe I'll have another one,'' Miller said. "One should have been a goal, and one shouldn't have. Just the opposite.''

Miller's goal capped three goals in 73 seconds by UND with Matt Watkins (Jr., Aylesbury, Saskatchewan) tipping a Taylor Chorney (Jr., Hastings, Minn.) point shot out of the air at 7:48 followed by freshman defenseman Derrick LaPoint's (Eau Claire, Wis.) rebound on Duncan's initial rush at 8:11.

Miller's goal made it 3-0, but Duluth scored the next three goals to tie it at 3-3 and take some of the buzz of excitement out of the sellout crowd of 11,791 at Ralph Engelstad Arena.

Freshman forward Evan Trupp (Anchorage, Alaska) scored his first college goal at 9:41 of the second period to put the Sioux ahead to stay.

It turned out to be the game-winning goal and came off a strong rush down left wing by Trupp. He fought through a couple of Bulldog players, but was stopped behind the net. He then reversed directions, darted in front of the net and slipped a backhander through Stalock's pads for a 4-3 Sioux lead.

UND then raced away with a four-goal third period with scores by Chris VandeVelde (So., Moorhead, Minn.) at 3:46, by freshman Matt Frattin (Edmonton, Alberta) at 11:44, by junior T.J. Oshie (Warroad, Minn.) at 13:37 and by senior captain Rylan Kaip (Radville, Saskatchewan) at 16:08.

Duluth coach Scott Sandelin pulled Stalock from the game after Frattin's goal. Former UND goalie Nate Ziegelmann gave up the last two goals, neither one of which he had a chance of stopping.

The Sioux, coming off a bye week, showed it at times.

"I think we were very sluggish for the first two periods,'' UND coach Dave Hakstol said. ""To come out of the second period with a one-goal lead on Trupp's goal was very important to us.''

The eight goals is UND's best offensive showing of the season and the most the Sioux have scored since an 8-4 win against Minnesota State on Feb. 9 of last season.

Once again balance was a key for the Sioux.

Eight different players had goals and 12 of the 18 skaters collected points, paced by VandeVelde, Oshie, Watkins, Frattin, Miller, Duncan, Chorney and senior defenseman Robbie Bina (Grand Forks, N.D.), all with two-point games.

Bina's two assists give him 11 assists in 10 games. His 1.10 assist per game average leads the nation through games of Friday. That includes both forwards and defensemen.

Despite the eight-goal outburst, UND had to work for the win.

"We didn't really get our legs under us until the third period,'' Hakstol said. "The effort to work through it was there. In the end, we got through it.''

UND's rust also showed on the power play. The Sioux were 0-for-3 with the man advantage, and mustered just one shot on goal in six minutes of power-play time.

In contrast, Duluth had 14 shots on its six power plays, scoring once. For the game, the Sioux outshot the Bulldogs 28-26 with UND senior goalie Jean-Philippe Lamoureux (Grand Forks, N.D.) finishing with 23 saves.

Trupp's effort on his goal was singled out by Hakstol at his post-game press conference. "I thought Evan was one guy who had a pretty solid 60 minutes,'' Hakstol said. "He was pretty good all night. It was maybe fitting that he was able to score a huge goal for us.''

Miller's goal reflected how the game flowed UND's way early on, turned against them on the Bulldog rally, then swung back to the Sioux.

"If you're looking for positives, that's certainly one of them,'' Hakstol said. "We made the most of our opportunities.''

Trupp's couldn't even remember a whole lot about his goal. "The only thing I remember is coming around the net and that (Andrew) Kozek kind of drew the defenseman away from the net, so I was able to cut in front,'' Trupp said. "Luckily, it slipped through. It's definitely good to get the monkey off my back. Someone grabbed the puck for me. It's pretty exciting, especially to do it in the home arena.''

Trupp said he compared Miller's strange goal to one he saw on film last year of Bina's 185-foot score against the University of Minnesota.

"It was nice to have the bounces go our way,'' Trupp said. "I think we got pretty lucky on a couple of them.''

Trupp, too, thought the Sioux were a bit sluggish early on.

"We were a bit rusty coming off a week with no games,'' he said. "That showed in the first period, but we were able to come back and play really well in the third.''

SIOUX NOTES: UND lost sophomore forward Chay Genoway (Morden, Manitoba) with a lower body injury early in the second period. He didn't return to the game, and Hakstol said Genoway's injury is being evaluated . . . Frattin and junior defenseman Joe Finley (Edina, Minn.) led the Sioux with three shots on goal each, while Finley and Bina were leaders in both being plus-four on the plus/minus rating system for the game.. . UND improved to 4-3-1 in the WCHA and 6-3-1 overall. Minnesota Duluth fell to 5-4-2 overall and 4-4-1 in the WCHA.

Virg Foss covered UND hockey for 35 years for the Grand Forks Herald before retiring in 2005. Foss can be reached at virgfoss@yahoo.com.