The No. 6 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team extended its current unbeaten streak to nine games Sunday afternoon after the Bulldogs rolled over St. Thomas University 5-1 at the St. Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Heights, Minn. The Bulldogs, now 19-6-1 and 13-6-1 in Western Collegiate Hockey Association action, are 8-0-1 in their last nine skates, just the fourth time UMD has run an unbeaten streak this past decade to nine or more games.
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"I thought today was better," said UMD head coach Maura Crowell, whose program also remains unbeaten against the Tommies in eight meetings (7-0-1). " I really liked our first period, not only the goals, but the pace that we are playing at and sticking to the game plan, getting pucks deep and going hard and using all five in the ozone. We did a good job on the special teams for sure, and coming away with six points is great."
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UMD's core of fifth year players again carried the day, and a pair of them did the scoring damage in the first period that set the tone for the rest of the game. Graduate student Naomi Rogge put the finish on a brilliant passing sequence to start UMD's three goal opening period, burying a pass from Gabby Krause from the left face-off circle for the 1-0 lead at 4:58 of the frame. Anneke Linser stretched her current goal streak to six games at 8:23 with a wrist shot from a Nina Jobst-Smith pass from the corner, and just like that, the Bulldogs jumped up on the Tommies 2-0. Two and a half minutes later, Rogge gave UMD a three goal lead with a one-time shovel shot off a dish from Ashton Bell, and in less than six minutes, the Bulldogs had blown open the matinee.
The Bulldogs fourth and fifth goals came at almost identical marks of the second and third frames.
Clara Van Wieren tied her single-season best of nine goals at 7:13 of the second period after the junior forward corralled a rebound off the pipe, the lone non-fifth year senior to find the net Sunday. One period later,
Taylor Anderson put the finishing touches on UMD's offense for the afternoon, and lifted a perfect pass from
Kylie Hanley over Saskia Maurer's outstretched glove to bring the Bulldogs goal total to five in the game and eight in the series in all.
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UST finally broke through at 15:48 of the third period, ending goaltender Emma Soderberg's 286:59 shutout streak that started back on Jan. 7 against Wisconsin after a Badger goal and through Sunday. Over Soderberg's streak, the graduate student made more than 87 saves for UMD, which helped the Bulldogs hold UST scoreless in 10 power play attempts over the weekend.Â
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The Tommies, who were held to just three goals against UMD in four games on the season, got 46 stops from Maurer. Outscored 8-1 on the weekend and 17-3 on the season by the Bulldogs, UST dropped to 7-18-1 overall and 2-17-1 in the WCHA.
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UMD will host the No. 3 University of Minnesota at AMSOIL Arena this weekend in a playoff implications Friday-Saturday afternoon series. Game times for both Friday and Saturday are set for 3:00 p.m.
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BULLDOG NOTES: After settling for a 1-1 tie against St. Thomas back on Dec. 10, the Bulldogs have outscored their opponents a blistering 25-3 through six games … UMD's nine-game unbeaten streak equalizes the previous long by a Crowell squad from Jan. 13, 2017 to Feb. 11, 2017 -- a nine-game unbeaten span … the Bulldog program has run up unbeaten streaks of nine or more games just four times in the last decade, Sunday marking the third time a team has reached nine, while one team hit 10 in 2012-13 … three players had two points Sunday … in addition to Naomi Rogge's two goals, Ashton Bell and Nina Jobst-Smith each added two assists … Bell jumps into the seventh spot among blueliners in career scoring with 71 points (24g, 47a) … Anneke Linser, who is currently on a seven game scoring streak, has recorded eight goals over that span, which have come over her last six games consecutively … Linser's career-best season has also pushed her towards 100 career points – the fifth-year now has 90 through 152 games played (41g, 49a).
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