A program-record 61 saves from Maddie Rooney wasn't enough to slow the University of Minnesota down Friday night, as the third-ranked Gophers used three power-play goals to skate past the University of Minnesota Duluth 7-3 at AMSOIL Arena. Minnesota peppered the rookie goaltender from the get-go and racked up 68 shots on goal en route to the Western Collegiate Hockey Association win before a crowd of 1,301.
 
Minnesota took control in the opening frame, jumping ahead 1-0 on a deflected shot attempt from the point at the 2:26 mark. UMD would find a bit of a groove on the forecheck after spotting the Gophers the early lead -- and nearly broke even on a nifty one-time attempt from freshman winger Morgan Morse -- but Minnesota goaltender Amanda Leveille stood her ground to keep the Bulldogs off the scoresheet. Minnesota then doubled its advantage near the end of the period, going up 2-0 on a power-play goal that held up following a lengthy review.
 
UMD cut the Gopher lead in half 3:34 into the second period when junior center Katherine McGovern capitalized on a Minnesota turnover and quickly pulled the trigger to beat the outstretched blocker hand of Leveille and get the Bulldogs within striking distance at 2-1. Minnesota's vaunted special teams unit responded to snatch the momentum right back, however, bombarding Rooney with seven shots while on the player advantage before finally burying a rebound try from just outside the crease. The Gophers converted on the power-play once again less than two minutes later to give them a 4-1 advantage heading into the second intermission.
 
The third period started out well for UMD, as freshman winger Reagan Haley lit the lamp 1:54 into the final stanza, but Minnesota retaliated with an even-strength goal of their own just 19 seconds later. Junior captain Ashleigh Brykaliuk found the back of the net for her 15^th goal of the year (and team-leading 40th point this winter) before the Gophers tacked on a pair of insurance markers in the last five minutes of regulation.

"[Rooney] obviously saw a lot of rubber tonight. A little too much," said Bulldog head coach Maura Crowell, who was without her second-leading scorer in junior winger Lara Stalder. "The penalty kill has been our Achilles heel all year, and it showed up again today. It's just something we will continue to work on, but they have five vey skilled players out there, and it's hard to weather the storm for two minutes."

Minnesota (26-3-1 overall and 21-3-1 in the WCHA) connected on all three of its power-play opportunities, and got 13 saves from Leveille, who gave way to backup Sidney Peters for the final 20 minutes. UMD (12-18-1; 9-15-1) did not have any opportunities with the extra skater, and put 28 shots on net. McGovern finished with a goal and an assist as the only Bulldog to record a two-point night.

"They're going to be looking to score another seven tomorrow, so we need to be ready to go," Crowell said.  

The two teams wrap up the WCHA series tomorrow afternoon, with the opening faceoff set for 4:07 p.m. That game will be the last collegiate home appearance for UMD's trio of seniors (Kayla Black, Michela Cava and Karissa Grapp). 

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