Despite jumping out to a two-goal lead, the University of Minnesota Duluth fell 4-2 to the No. 1 team in nation, the University of Minnesota at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis Friday night.

Senior Nora Tallus opened the scoring at 2:21 in the first period when she ripped a shot over the glove of Gopher goalie Jody Horak. Noemie Marin doubled the score at 8:08 on the power play when she dived and slapped in a lose puck. Julianne Vasichek and Ashly Waggoner added assists.

Minnesota responded quickly in the second on route to four unanswered goals. Natalie Darwitz, from Lyndsay Wall, needed only 36 seconds to get on the board capitalizing on a scramble in front of the net. Freshman Bobbi Ross tied it up on the power play at 3:08 from Krissy Wendell and Darwitz.

UMD netminder Riitta Schaublin stopped Wendell four times point-blank in the first two periods before Wendell finally found the net in the third at 2:51 with a nifty deke. Kelly Stephens added an insurance marker at 8:44 when she used her body to redirect a flip pass from Wendell.

The Bulldogs killed seven of eight power plays on the night. Schaublin had 33 saves and Horak turned aside 21. The Bulldogs are now 7-1-1 overall and in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. The WCHA rivalry continues tomorrow night, at 7:05pm in Ridder Arena.

Three Stars:

1. Krissy Wendell

2. Natalie Darwitz

3. Jody Horak