Sometimes the final box score can be deceiving.
The No. 10 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team was outshot and late in the game outscored, but the Bulldogs were far from outplayed. The No. 2 University of Wisconsin defeated UMD 4-1 in front of 1,405 fans at AMSOIL Arena Friday night, but the contest was a one goal game until final 40 seconds.
"I thought we had a good performance tonight, and we were very strong for the last 40 minutes of the game," said head coach Shannon Miller. "It was a 2-1 game with a couple minutes left on the clock and we pulled our goalie trying to be aggressive at the end. But the reality is, it's a 2-1 loss to the No. 2 team in the country, and I am proud of our performance."
Despite holding the Badgers scoreless in six power plays through two stanzas, Wisconsin finally snuck on the board 15:38 into the second period. Emily Clark banged in a rebound underneath UMD netminder Kayla Black to break the stalemate, giving UW a 1-0 lead.
The Badgers doubled their lead 7:27 into the third period, a shorthanded tally by Clark. Black made the initial save, but the puck trickled out to her left and Clark smacked it top-shelf to give Wisconsin the 2-0 advantage.
UMD pushed back late and came within a single goal with 3:45 remaining in the game. Sophomore Lara Stalder drove on the outside of a 3-on-2, taking the initial shot on Ann-Renee Desbiens, but senior winger Zoe Hickel was there to shovel the rebound past the line and cut the score to 2-1. The Bulldogs pressed and pulled Black with 1:24 remaining in the game, but unfortunately for UMD, Wisconsin would finish in the empty net 42 seconds later and again seven seconds after that off a face-off to ice the contest.
Black was at times spectacular for the Bulldogs between the pipes, turning away 31 of the 33 shots she faced. UMD was a perfect 6-of-6 on the penalty kill and improves to a 93.8 success rate on the season, having now killed 15-of-16 of their opponents power plays. UW's Desbien's made 14 saves on night, and held the Bulldogs, who came into Friday night's skate having averaged 46.5 shots a game to just 15.
UMD (1-1-1, 0-1-0) and Wisconsin (3-0-0, 1-0-0) teams will tangle again tomorrow night at AMSOIL, with the puck set to drop at 6:07 p.m.
Box Score
Post Game Interview
