The No. 9 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team dropped its first game of the Nutmeg Classic Friday afternoon 4-2 to Quinnipiac University at the Frank Perrotti Jr. Arena in Hamden, Conn.

The Bulldogs -- who have now outshot their opponents in their last three games -- fell behind on a Bobcat power play goal 7:10 into the first period.  UMD equalized 2:37 later on Jalyn Elmes' second goal of the year, and took that 1-1 tie into the first intermission despite owning a 10-4 shots on goal advantage.

Quinnipiac then scored three-straight goals, beginning with one from Renee Saltness at 2:53 of the second period and another 38 seconds later by Sarah Coutu-Godbout to take a 3-1 lead on the Bulldogs.  The Bobcats Lexie Adzija added another tally at 11:15 of the third period before UMD's Ashton Bell finally broke through to put another Bulldog goal on the board.  Bell's fifth goal of the year came on the power play, and was assisted by sophomore Gabbie Hughes.  The assist extends Hughes' current scoring streak to six games and nine points (2-7=9).

UMD outshot Quinnipiac in every frame and finished the game with a 44-21 shots on goal advantage, but Abbie Ives made a career-high whopping 42 saves between the pipes for the Bobcats, who improve to 7-6-3 overall.  Maddie Rooney had 17 stops for the Bulldogs, who went 1-of-3 on their power play, while the Bobcats went 1-of-4.

UMD (7-5-2) will play the University of Connecticut Saturday at noon CDT.  The Huskies suffered a 6-2 setback to Yale University in the opening game of the Nutmeg Classic.