After pushing the No. 1 University of Minnesota into overtime Friday night, the fifth-ranked University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team had no immediate answer for consecutive goals against in the second period that helped the Gophers past the Bulldogs 5-3 Saturday afternoon at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis, Minn.

 

"You know, we just can't give up that many goals  to them and think we're going to be able to climb back every time," said Bulldog head coach Maura Crowell. "I think those two lapses were really the difference makers today. Just disappointing, you know, effort across the board for today and they were the better team, so you gotta give it to them."

Minnesota jumped on UMD early, notching two goals in the opening 35 seconds of the first period before UMD slashed the lead with a power play goal from Maggie Flaherty at 5:51. Flaherty's snipe, her third of the season, left UMD with just a 2-1 deficit after the first 20 minutes of play.


 

Flaherty makes it a 2-1 game with UMD's fourth power play goal in three games ?? pic.twitter.com/HvIZsMMTDa

— UMD Women's Hockey (@UMDWHockey) November 5, 2022

The Gophers, unable to flex any of its offensive firepower in game one Friday night, struck on their own power play at 7:24 of the second period, a goal that led the way to two more tallies in the following four minutes.  By the time the ice settled after Abigail Boreen's goal at 11:24, Minnesota owned a 5-1 advantage heading into the second intermission.

Typical of the Bulldogs so far in the young season, UMD clawed back.  Mannon McMahon corralled a loose puck into the net to make it a 5-2 game at 6:26 of the third period, and UMD scored its second power play goal of the game on a  6-on-4 at 19:30, the effort of junior Clara Van Wieren to smack in a loose rebound on the right post. Van Wieren's goal made it a 5-3 game, but time simply ran out on UMD offensive attempts.

Both teams found success with extra skaters – UMD went 2-of-4 on the day, while Minnesota was 1-of-2 attempts.  The Bulldogs have now notched at least one power play goal in their last three games, including three on the weekend, and have scored five power plays in all over those past three skates.

Two UMD goaltenders manned the pipes, making a total of 27 saves.  Senior Emma Soderberg started and had 12 stops but had five goals against on the first 17 Gopher shots on net.  Freshman Hailey Macleod made 15 saves in 27:54 of ice time, and didn't allow any goals over that span.  Skylar Vetter had 23 stops for the Gophers on 26 shots – Minnesota outshot the Bulldogs 32-26 in the game and stayed unbeaten in the season at 9-0-1 overall and in league play.

UMD will stay on the road next weekend when it travels to St. Cloud State University to meet the Huskies for the first time this season. The puck will drop Friday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. and  the Saturday game will get underway at 2:00 p.m.