Box Score Surrounded by a hockey hungry crowd and playing mere feet from the sport's most coveted trophy, the University of Minnesota Duluth did not disappoint in its season opener Friday night at AMSOIL Arena. The Bulldogs grabbed a lead on the opening shift and never let up, displaying stellar puck movement and piling up shot after shot en route to a 7-0, non-conference thrashing of the University of Connecticut.
 
With most of the 2,055 fans still searching for seats, junior right-winger Jenna McParland took the puck down the left side and jammed a backhander through Husky goaltender Elaine Chuli just 13 seconds into regulation – marking the fastest goal to start a game in program history. The quick strike and eventual game-winner (the seventh such marker of McParland's carer) seemed to shock UConn, setting the tone for a one-sided affair throughout. 

"We were pretty pumped up at the start of the game. The team had a lot of energy and we won the faceoff, dropped it back and then I just kind of crashed the net." said McParland, who paced UMD in scoring with 28 points (11 goals, 17 assists) last winter. "And it went in."

The Bulldogs jumped on their shell-shocked opponents from there, burying twice more (on a short-handeder from junior Zoe Hickel and an even-strength tally by Meghan Huertas) before the first intermission. Another short-handed goal in the middle stanza (the first of defender Lara Stalder's career) afforded UMD a giant cushion on the scoreboard for the final 20 minutes of play. The Bulldogs went on to push three more into the back of the UConn net over that span, creating the 7-0 result.

The shot totals told the whole story, with UMD holding a 59-22 edge in that department. Kayla Black made 22 saves to record the shutout for the Bulldogs, who had six different players end up in the goal column. McParland added a third-period score to take the early lead in that category, and was credited with the lone assist on Hickel's short-handed blast for a three-point effort. Stalder posted three points of her own, as she came away with a pair of third-period helpers to cap off an impressive debut. Fellow rookie Ashleigh Brykaliuk also turned heads, continually creating chances and ultimately collecting two assists on the night. 

Huertas, a junior transfer, continued the list of UMD newcomers to make an immediate impact. On top of scoring her first Bulldog goal, Huertas dished out an assist and finished plus-two with four shots on goal. UMD saw two more individuals light the lamp for the first time as collegians, as sophomore defender Jordan Krause cashed in on a one-timer before rookie winger Bailey Wright rounded out the scoring with 9:52 to play.

Neither team capitalized on the player-advantage. The Huskies came up empty on six tries, and UMD did not convert on any of its three chances. By notching two short-handed goals in the contest, the Bulldogs matched their entire output for such situations from a year ago. 

"Our power-play could have been better, but we moved the puck well and we had good chances," said a satisfied Shannon Miller, who lauded her team's effort otherwise. The longtime UMD head coach now sits just one win shy of 350 in her career. 
 
The two-game set ends tomorrow night at AMSOIL Arena, with the opening faceoff slated for 6:07 p.m

Scoring Summary