Goaltender Maddie Rooney provided her Bulldog teammates exactly what they needed Friday night to overcome the top-ranked team in the country.

Rooney's incredible first and second period play allowed the No. 3 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team enough time to get its offense firing on all cylinders, and that it did, downing the nation's No. 1 team in the University of Wisconsin 4-1 at AMSOIL Arena.  The impressive win was the first by a UMD squad over a No. 1 team since Jan. 13, 2012.

"We weathered the storm and figured out what kind of game it was going to be and then settled in," said head coach Maura Crowell.  "Michelle's (Lowenhielm) goal on the power play was the turning point because they were peppering us again and we were having a hard time breaking it out.  Maddie made some big saves and when the opportunity came up for us to get a chance on the power play, we took advantage." 

After a scoreless first period which tilted in favor of the Badgers on the shot chart 20-3, the Bulldogs roared back in the second period and took the game's first — and only — lead.  UMD's break came at the 15:18 mark on a power play goal by junior Michelle Lowenhielm.  After the Bulldogs won the face-off to the right of UW goaltender Nicole Cece, Catherine Daoust played the puck across the slot to Sydney Brodt on the left doorstep.  Brodt's effort was rewarded by Lowenhielm crashing the net and redirecting the puck past traffic to give the Bulldogs the 1-0.

UMD offensively ignited in the third period, scoring three goals in a span of under seven minutes.  The Bulldogs went up 2-0 four minutes into the stanza after Katherine McGovern skated behind the Badger net and on a second effort, stuffed the puck past Cece for her eighth goal of the season.  Katerina Mrázová followed McGovern's lead, following her own shot on net for UMD's third goal at the 6:29 mark.  

Wisconsin's only lucky break against Rooney came with 7:59 remaining in the contest on a Maddie Rowe shot that deflected off the leg of a UMD player to finally end Rooney's shutout bid.  Ashleigh Brykaliuk answered a mere 1:11 later however, with an unassisted one-timer from the left circle to seal the biggest margin of victory over a Wisconsin squad since UMD humbled the Badgers 4-0 back on Jan. 10, 2009.

Rooney made 45 saves on Wisconsin's 46 shots, while Cece, who stepped in for UW's injured Ann-Renée Desbiens, made 26 saves on 30 UMD shots.  The Bulldogs were 1-of-3 on their power play while holding the Badgers scoreless in three attempts.

UMD (8-2-2, 7-2-2-1) will have a chance to rewrite even more history tomorrow afternoon when it attempts the series sweep of the Badgers (11-1-1, 9-1-1-1).  Game-time is set for 4:07 p.m.

BULLDOG NOTES:  Friday's win was the first by a UMD squad over Wisconsin since Oct. 14, 2012 … the Bulldogs last swept the Badgers on Oct. 13-14, 2012 … UMD previous defeat of a top-ranked team was Jan. 13, 2012, a 4-2 win over then Minnesota … with a goal in the third period, Ashleigh Brykaliuk has now recorded two goals and four assists in the last four games for six points.