It was a frenzied finish to a contest that simply did not go the University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team's way Friday afternoon.

St. Cloud State capitalized late and left the Bulldogs with a 3-2 loss at Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, Minn. — the first setback for the Bulldog program against the Huskies since Feb. 20, 2016.  More immediately, it freezes UMD in fifth place in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association — at least for the time being.  The Bulldogs trail Bemidji State University, currently in fourth and with a game in hand, by just three points.

UMD had to battle the Huskies uphill on the scoreboard from shortly after the opening face-off after St. Cloud got on the board just 37 seconds into the first period.  The Bulldogs outshot the SCSU in every period, but didn't equalize until the15:49 mark of the second period.  From behind the SCSU extended goal line, sophomore forward Ryleigh Houston found senior forward Katerina Mrázová, who corralled the puck and lofted it over the Huskies goaltender Janine Alder to knot the game at 1-1.

It took 4:03 off the clock in the third period for SCSU to regain the lead on its power play, the first of two goals by Hallie Theodosopoulos.  In dramatic fashion, UMD, which outshot the Huskies 15-8 in the third period, got its reward at 16:35 of the third stanza to draw the skate even.  It came in the form of a second effort scrum in the crease, courtesy of rookie forward Naomi Rogge, her team-high (along with Ashton Bell) 11th goal of the season.

The Huskies had other plans, however, and 53 seconds later, SCSU took the lead for good, when Theodospoulos knocked in a rebound to snap UMD's eight-game winning streak against St. Cloud State.

Alder had 36 saves for the Huskies, who improve to 6-15-2 overall and 4-11-2 in the WCHA.  Senior goaltender Jessica Convery had 23 stops for the Bulldogs, who were 0-of-2 on the power play after scoring five power play tallies last weekend against the Beavers.  UMD outshot SCSU 38-26 in the game.

Both teams will step out of league play to meet again tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. on the ice of Lake George in St. Cloud, Minn.  The much hyped outside skate, part of Hockey Day Minnesota, will mark the first NCAA women's game that has ever been featured in the 12-year history of Minnesota's official celebration of its favorite sport.  Bulldog fans can tune into Fox Sports North Saturday to catch the game.