The No. 7/8 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team suffered a 3-1 loss Friday night to No. 7 Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio at the OSU Ice Rink.  The Western Collegiate Hockey Association match-up was the first for the Bulldogs in two weeks, and UMD's first outside competition since getting junior forward Sydney Brodt and junior goaltender Maddie Rooney back from a Four Nations Cup win with the U.S. National Team last weekend.

Things looked up for the Bulldogs early, and their NCAA-best power play delivered just 6:22 into the opening period.  Sophomore forward Anna Klein skated the puck around the net and found sophomore defenseman Jalyn Elmes in the slot for the 1-0 lead.  But 1:24 later, OSU capitalized on a scrum in front of the net for the game's equalizer.

The Buckeyes scored their lone power play goal (OSU went 1-of-4 overall) of the contest 11:00 into the second period.  OSU took a 3-1 lead at 18:14 of the same stanza after outshooting the Bulldogs 17-9 in the frame. Overall, OSU put 45 shots on goal, while UMD, which came into the game having outshot its last four opponents 150-89, put just 28 on net Friday night.

Rooney had 42 saves  for the Bulldogs, who fall to 5-5-1 overall and 3-5-1-1 in the WCHA with the loss, while Andrea Braendli stopped 27 UMD attempts for OSU (10-5-0, 5-3).  The Bulldogs went 1-of-2 on their power play, which now leads the nation with a 27.6 conversion rate.

The two squads will hit the ice for the second game of the series tomorrow afternoon at 12:00 p.m. CDT.