The University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey sent a clear message to all the college hockey pundits Saturday afternoon — if you didn't see the Bulldogs coming, you can't miss them now.
UMD pummeled No. 3 Boston College 5-2 at AMSOIL Arena, blowing open the game in the second period with four unanswered goals. With the win, the Bulldogs move to unbeaten on the weekend after posting a 3-3 overtime tie Friday night against the Eagles.
"A great win for our program today," said head coach Maura Crowell. "We controlled play from the get go, and we had a big second period. Our players came ready to play the No. 3 team in the country and we took it to them, so I am very proud of the team and the way they prepared, executed and played for that whole game."
The Bulldogs scored the lone goal of the first period when Demi Crossman tipped the puck down and past BC netminder Katie Burt off a shot from the point by Sidney Morin at 6:29.
UMD opened the second period with another goal less than two minutes into play when freshman Brooklyn Schugel deflected another Morin shot, this time from the right point, to double the Bulldogs lead. Senior forward Lara Stalder took matters in to her own hands on UMD's third goal, keeping the puck on a 2-on-1 and roofing it over Burt's right shoulder at the 7:14 mark. A mere 1:30 later, Ashleigh Brykaliuk banged home a puck that rebounded off boards for her fourth goal of the weekend to give the Bulldogs a 4-0 lead. Katherine McGovern finished off a perfect passing sequence with 1:57 remaining in the period to land UMD's first power play goal and extend the Bulldog advantage to a hefty 5-0 after 40 minutes of play.
BC finally got on the board, scoring two power play goals midway through the third period, but UMD's explosive second period was too much for the Eagles, who despite outshooting the Bulldogs 29-25 in the game, leave Duluth 0-1-1.
"We talk about what our expectations are and what we want to do as a team versus the what the national public or outside our locker room thinks," said Crowell. "I think this was a statement weekend for us to the rest of the country, but within our locker room, we know we have something special."
UMD will turn its attention to Western Collegiate Hockey Association play next weekend when Minnesota State University, Mankato visits AMSOIL. The Bulldogs and Mavericks open the series at 7:07 p.m. next Friday night.
BULLDOG NOTES: Ashleigh Brykaliuk compiled a total of five points on the weekend, picking up an assist Saturday to go with her four goals … four players recorded three or more points in the series, including Brykaliuk, Sidney Morin (four assists), Lara Stalder one goal, two assists), and Katerina Mrázová (three assists) … UMD improves to 6-4 all-time against the Eagles, and 24-10-2 in opening season series … in their last five games, the Bulldogs are 3-1-1 against teams ranked in the top-10 dating back to last season.
