The No. 7/9 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team closed out the Western Collegiate Hockey Association portion of its 2021 schedule Saturday afternoon, forced to settle for a series split against the No. ¾ University of Minnesota at Ridder Arena.

The Bulldogs, who fell 2-1 to the Gophers, finished league play having earned splits with three of the four top-five teams they skated against after playing over half (eight) of their 16 games against teams ranked fifth or higher.

Minnesota landed the game's first punch Saturday at 4:10 of the opening frame on a tipped shot by Audrey Wethington.  The Gophers expanded that lead at the 11:00 mark when a puck popped off the back boards and right to Payton Hemp for the 2-0 Minnesota advantage.

UMD's response came later in the second period, after Taylor Anderson chipped the puck up the ice to Mannon McMahon.  McMahon's shot rocketed it off Gopher goaltender Makayla Pahl's pad, and rookie forward Gabby Krause buried it for her second goal of the season at 14:38.

Despite the Bulldogs slight edge on shots on goal in the final 40 minutes (19-18) and about as much offensive effort as UMD could muster, Pahl and Minnesota withstood the Bulldogs onslaught to tie the season series up at 2-2.

Senior goaltender Emma Soderberg made 33 saves in the contest, while Pahl turned away 24.  Neither team connected on the power play, with both sides going 0-of-2.

"You know, like I said, I like the way we played for the last 40 minutes and I feel like if we had another minute I think we would have gotten that," said UMD head Maura Crowell.  "I thought we had a lot of momentum, and I like the way we finished out the semester. I certainly wanted those three points, but I think a lot to hold our heads up for."

UMD (9-7-0, 8-6-0) still has one more game to play in 2021.  The Bulldogs will head to Cambridge, Mass. over the new year to face Harvard University on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1.  Both games will drop the puck at 1:00 p.m. CDT.