In the midst of her best offensive season as a collegiate, Michela Cava picked the perfect time to ring up her first hat-trick.

Cava, who netted all three of the University of Minnesota Duluth's goals Friday afternoon, buried the game-winner in overtime to help the Bulldogs defeat Minnesota State University, Mankato 3-2 at the Verizon Wireless Center in Mankato, Minn.  The Western Collegiate Hockey Association triumph also pulls UMD to 25 points -- just two shy of St. Cloud State University, currently in fifth place with 27 points.

The senior out of Thunder Bay, Ontario bookended the scoring for the Bulldogs, opening her career day with a breakaway goal 3:01 into the first period.  Cava struck again at the 10:27 mark to put UMD up 2-0.  Cava's second goal was assited by Lara Stalder (who also found her on the first one) and Catherine Daoust.

After outshooting the Mavericks 12-3 in addition to their 2-0 lead after the first period, MSU pushed back with two goals of its own at 9:52 and 17:19 of the second period.  The Mavericks also outshot UMD 21-7 in the final two periods of play, but after 60 minutes, the Bulldogs were headed to their fifth overtime game of the season.

The extra 3:54 was all UMD, and the Bulldogs, who didn't surrender a Maverick shot in extra time, were finally rewarded after putting five pucks on the MSU net.  Cava's third goal (with assists to Ashleigh Brykaliuk and once again Stalder) put the Bulldogs into the win column in back-to-back skates and lands UMD 2-2-1 in overtime games this season.

Senior goaltender Kayla Black made 22 saves for the Bulldogs, while her counter part in the MSU net Brianna Quade made 21.  Both teams put 24 shots on net and were 0-of-1 on the power play.

UMD will skate for the sweep tomorrow afternoon when both teams hit the ice again at 2:07 p.m. to close out the series.

BULLDOG NOTES:  Michela Cava's hat-trick was the second by a Bulldog this season ... Lara Stalder netted three goals back on Dec. 12 against Ohio State ... Cava now leads UMD with 15 goals ... Cava, Ashleigh Brykaliuk and Lara Stalder are all currently on three-game scoring streaks ... Cava has posted five goals and an assist for six points, Stalder seven assists and Brykaliuk two goals and two assists over that span ... With three assists, Stalder has now posted three or more points in four games this season.