It might have been an early November Western Collegiate Hockey Association showdown, but it had all the markings of an NCAA postseason tilt.
On Friday night in Ridder Arena, the top-ranked University of Minnesota snuck out of game one of the series with a 3-2 overtime win over the No. 5 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team. While both teams picked up a league point, the Gophers will grab two after punching in a game-winner early in overtime.
In their first meeting since the Bulldogs knocked out the Gophers in the NCAA Regional Final last March, UMD fell behind 2-0 early in the first period. Minnesota's Ella Huber scored at 1:42 and then Lizi Norton struck at 6:02 to give the Gophers a 2-0 lead just over six minutes into the first frame.
But the nation's second-highest scoring offense would be chilled by UMD's defense, and the Bulldogs cut their deficit in half just 5:24 into the second period. Sophomore winger Gabby Krause netted her second goal in as many games and fifth on the season, swatting in a rebound off a Naomi Rogge shot to reawaken the Bulldogs offensive efforts.
Those efforts finally paid off when UMD's Nina Jobst-Smith – the hero in last Friday's overtime win against Wisconsin – scored the game-tying goal at 3:03 of the third period. The power play goal came as Minnesota's penalty expired, and extended Jobst-Smith's scoring streak to three games strong, while all the more importantly turning the third period into a nailbiter.
Neither team would score again in regulation, but Minnesota's Taylor Heise netted the eventual game-winner 15 seconds into overtime.
"It was amazing hockey, I think, on both sides, " said UMD head coach Maura Crowell. "The level that we've been playing at for the last three weeks is incredible this early in the season, and I just can't wait to see what's to come in February and March, and I think that's what I'm really encouraged by. I love the way our team played tonight, and I thought we were the better team for a large portion of that game, and that means, you know, we can be the best team in the country. We just have to put it together consistently, for you know, three periods and an overtime. But you know we have a lot of young kids that are getting big minutes, and they're only going to get better and better as the season goes on. So that's the really exciting part about the potential of our group."
Both goaltenders were at times brilliant for both sides, but UMD's Emma Soderberg had the slight edge in saves at 29. Gopher netminder Skylar Vetter had 27 stops to keep Minnesota unbeaten on the season at 8-0-1 overall and in league play. The Bulldogs scored their third power play goal in their last two games – they went 1-of-1 on the night.
UMD (7-4-0, 3-4-0) will hit the ice again with Minnesota Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. to put the wraps on the series.
BULLDOG NOTES: Nina Jobst-Smith is on a four-game scoring streak, the longest of her UMD career … over that span, she has piled up five points (2g, 3a) … super senior Naomi Rogge is now at 99 career points after assisting on Gabby Krause's goal … Rogge has 52 goals and 47 assists for 99 points in 139 games … with an assist on Krause's goal, fifth-year senior defenseman Ashton Bell now has 97 career points (37g, 60a) … Minnesota entered Friday's skate averaging 5.50 goals a game, trailing only Wisconsin (5.67), whom the Bulldogs limited to five for the entire series last weekend.
