In a gritty top-five showdown at AMSOIL Arena Saturday afternoon, the third-ranked University of Wisconsin used a little bit of fortune to sneak by the No. 5 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team 4-3 in another thriller right until the final buzzer.
The Bulldogs dominated the Badgers over the course of the game everywhere but on the final scoresheet, and outshot UW in every period for a 38-26 final statline. UMD was forced to settle for a series split in the end, despite scoring the game-tying goal that was eventually challenged by the Badgers and called offsides.
"I like the way we played in the second, and you know we're working our tails off to try to find the back of the net, and it'll continue to get better." said Bulldog head coach Maura Crowell. "I think, you know we want to get pucks on net and then it's a matter of getting them through. We had way too many shots blocked all night long. But I I love the fight in our team, and I think I think we're a really good team. And I think that showed this weekend, and we're going to have a lot of fun hockey ahead of us. This is just not one of those days."
There was plenty of fun to be had in the first period, which provided a power play goal for each side. Badger defenseman Caroline Harvery connected early to get UW on the board first at 3:30. Five minutes later, UMD cashed in its first power play in the most unexpected of ways – sophomore blueliner Hanna Baskin ripped a shot from the top of the left circle to knot the game at 1-1 at 8:32. The goal was the first-ever collegiate goal from the Excelsior, Minn. native, but it came with impeccable timing.
UMD then took its first lead 5:30 into the second period on Gabby Krause's fourth tally of the year. The sophomore received a feed from Gabbie Hughes from the back boards, and after struggling to get off the initial shot, the sophomore tracked down her rebound and backhanded it past UW goaltender Jane Gervais to go ahead 2-1.
Wisconsin responded with two goals, both even strength scores that came at 8:45 and 16:40 – Harvey's second goal of the game – to make it a 3-2 contest heading into the second intermission.
The Badgers tacked on another goal and went up 4-2 at 3:44 in the third period, but the Bulldogs pulled within a single goal midway through the frame. After UW center Jesse Compher was ejected from the game with a game misconduct for slashing the goaltender at 6:30, UMD found its second power goal in the form of power play goal guru Ashton Bell. Bell snuck down into the slot after Naomi Rogge picked up a rebound and skated around the net to find Bell, and the super senior finished off the pass to make it a 4-3 game at 10:59.
UMD thought it had found an equalizer from Rogge with 1:52 remaining, but a Wisconsin challenge on the Bulldogs just offsides on the play stood, and UMD was stripped of its extra skater goal, handing Wisconsin the wild win in the process.
Emma Soderberg had 22 saves for the Bulldogs, while her counterpart, Gervais, had 35 for the Badgers. UMD was 2-of-5 on its power play, while Wisconsin, outshot 38-26 in the skate, went 1-of-1. UW improves to 10-2-0 overall and 7-1 in Western Collegiate Hockey Association play.
The Bulldogs (7-3-0, 3-3-9) continue one of their strongest portions of their schedule next weekend when the head to the No. 2 University of Minnesota for a Friday-Saturday series weekend. Friday's puck will drop at 6:00 p.m.
BULLDOG NOTES: This is the second-straight series split for the Bulldogs and Badgers ... Eight different players logged a point for UMD, including four players that recorded a point in each game on the weekend … Gabbie Hughes (1g,1a), Nina Jobst-Smith (1g,1a), Clara Van Wieren (2a) and Naomi Rogge (2a) all had two points against the Badgers … Rogge inched up to 98 career points with her assist on Saturday (52g, 46a), while Ashton Bell also crept up the career chart to 96 (37g, 59a) … Hughes is in the midst of a four-game scoring streak … the center has put up five points (2g, 3a) over her last four games … three blueliners scored in the series, including two Saturday … Hanna Baskin's first career goal was bookended by Bell's 36th career tally (and 17th has a defenseman), while Jobst-Smith scored Friday … three of UMD's five goals in the series came from defensemen … Bell has now scored 20 career power play goals.
