The University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team just won its twentieth game this season — and they still have four regular season games left to play.

The No. 2 Bulldogs joined just seven other NCAA teams that have hit the 20-win mark this year with a 2-1 thrilling triumph over the University of North Dakota Saturday at AMSOIL Arena.  The victory runs UMD's overall record to 20-4-4 (.786). 17-4-3 in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, and extends its current unbeaten streak to eight games (7-0-1).

"Saturday's are tough, but we figured it out," said UMD head coach Maura Crowell.  "Our games lately have been tight, especially in the third period.  We figure out ways to win, we play smart and we are drawing other teams into penalties at bad times for them.  So I think it's pretty impressive how far we've come."

Rookie forward Sydney Brodt capped off a 3-on-2 rush early in the first period to register her fourth goal of the season.  Brodt's hustle to the slot was rewarded by a behind the goal pass from linemate Brooklynn Schugel, and Brodt buried it for UMD's first lead at the 3:46 mark.

For the first time in seven games, the Bulldogs were up against an opponent that managed to outshoot them, and the Fighting Hawks finally did what no other team had done in UMD's previous 207:11 minutes of action — North Dakota got a puck past goaltender Maddie Rooney.  The Fighting Hawks scored at 2:36 of the third period, and Marissa Salo's second goal of the season drew the game even at 1-1.

The contest stayed knotted for a mere 1:10 before Lara Stalder did what she currently has done better than anyone else in the country — Stalder netted her NCAA-best seventh game-winning goal for the Bulldogs.  With an improbable angle from the extended goal line, Stalder beat Lexie Shaw, and subsequently the Fighting Hawks, with one quick shot.

"We had a good odd-man rush and I stopped and I had the puck," said Stalder about goal.  "I just saw the light going off so I started celebrating."

Stalder's goal was assisted by Ashleigh Brykaliuk and Katherine McGovern, and the assist keeps alive Brykaliuk's incredible scoring streak at 19 games (10-16=26).  Brykaliuk is just the second UMD player in program history to have scored a point in 19 consecutive games.

Rooney made 28 saves for the Bulldogs in her 28th-straight appearance, which marks the seventh most games by a UMD netminder in a season.  While both teams were perfect on the penalty kill — UMD 3-of-3 and North Dakota 4-of-4, Shaw had 20 saves for the Fighting Hawks, who fall to 13-11-6 overall and 10-9-5-3 in the WCHA.  The series sweep also highlights the first time since the 2009-10 season that the Bulldogs were unbeaten by North Dakota over the regular season, having gone 3-0-1.

UMD will face-off next weekend against the only team in the nation that owns a higher ranking than the Bulldogs — the No. 1 University of Wisconsin.  The puck will drop next Friday at 2:07 p.m. and at 12:07 p.m. on Sunday in Madison, Wisc.

BULLDOG NOTES:  This is UMD's 15th season over its 18-year program history with 20 or more wins ... after Ashleigh Brykaliuk, Lara Stalder has the second-longest Bulldog scoring streak at nine games and 11 goals and eight assists for 19 points.