Nina Jobst-Smith picked one heck of a time to score her first goal of the season.

The sophomore defender snapped a shot 4:03 into 3-on-3 overtime to lift the No.5/6 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team over the No. 3 University of Wisconsin 2-1 at AMSOIL Arena Friday.  Jobst-Smith's goal punctuated a late comeback win for the Bulldogs, who fell behind 1-0 late in the first period, but built confidence as the contest continued.

"I loved our aggressiveness all over the ice," said UMD head coach Maura Crowell.  "I thought our defense kept it simple, and our forwards were really flying tonight, executing really well, so you knew that they could taste it. There was just a sense in the room like we can do this. It was exciting after the second, and then to see them go out there and do so well in the third and make it happen and get rewarded for everything that we've been talking about last weekend into this weekend. I'm really proud of them and happy for them".

The Badgers put a plethora of shots on goal in the first period – 16 to the Bulldogs six, but their first real break came off a UMD turnover in the neutral zone that Lacey Eden buried to give UW the lead at 18:18 of the first period.

From there, the Bulldogs started to push back offensively, outshooting the Badgers 8-7 in the second frame and 9-5 in the third to force the eventual game-tying goal.

At the 17:10 mark of the third period, Maggie Flaherty's shot from the left face-off dot was tipped by Naomi Rogge to Gabbie Hughes on the back post, and Hughes slammed it in for her second goal in as many games to knot the game up at 1-1.

As a result, another Western Collegiate Hockey Association 3-on-3 overtime awaited the Bulldogs, and this time, UMD delivered. After both sides had skated for 4:03 of extra time, Jobst-Smith took a feed from Clara Van Wieren, skated into zone and let it fly to beat Badger netminder Cami Kronish for the 2-1 win.

"Patience is always key, but I feel like It's easy when you know what you're doing is going to lead to a win, and I feel like that's what we did tonight," said Jobst-Smith. "We just worked, and you don't really have a doubt in your mind, even if you're trailing. You kind of just know that what we're doing is going to ultimately lead us to the win."
 

NINA JOBST-SMITH WITH THE GAME-WINNER IN OVERTIME, 2-1 Bulldogs over Wisconsin! pic.twitter.com/qJvSjhQIJZ

— UMD Women's Hockey (@UMDWHockey) October 28, 2022

UMD's defensive core, which along with goaltender Emma Soderberg now leads the WCHA with a .940 saves percentage, held the high-scoring Badgers to just a single goal on 29 attempts.  Soderberg had 28 stops in the game, and though UMD was outshot 29-25 in the final stats, the Bulldogs strung a shots on goal advantage of 19-13 in the final 44 minutes of action. Kronish had 23 saves for the Badgers, who dropped to 9-2-0 overall and 6-1-0 in the WCHA.
 

UMD – now 2-2 against ranked teams – improved to 7-2-0 overall and 3-2-0 in the WCHA and an impressive 3-1 in overtime skates. Both sides will hit the ice tomorrow afternoon in a 3:00 p.m. matinee game at AMSOIL Arena.

BULLDOG NOTES:  Nina Jobst-Smith now has two career goals with the Bulldogs -- both overtime game-winners ... Jobst-Smith's first career goal beat Bemidji State 3:23 into overtime back on Jan. 23, 2021, a 1-0 win for UMD ... Gabbie Hughes has now recorded points in eight of her first nine games (3g, 10a) and leads UMD with 13 points … The Bulldogs have held their opponents to a goal or less in six-of-nine skates so far this season for a 1.20 goals against average … with an assist Friday, Naomi Rogge now has 97 career points (52g, 44a), just three shy of the 100-point club … Emma Soderberg picked up her 40th career win in the contest, becoming the eighth Bulldog goaltender ever to reach the mark.