The No. 6 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team finally had its nine game unbeaten streak come to an end Friday afternoon against the No. 3 University of Minnesota in 3-1 loss at AMSOIL Arena in Duluth, Minn. The loss is the first for the Bulldogs since Dec. 2, and it marks the first setback against a top-10 team in four games.

 

"I think we need to play better in general,' said UMD head coach Maura Crowell. "I thought we had a spark at the beginning of the game, and then it went away, and Sods (Soderberg) was amazing to keep it close, but they had a barrage of shots on her throughout the game, especially in the second, and we just need to be better. Our energy needs to be better. Better responding to goals, responding to the pace, better physicality. I know our team has more to give and we can put more pressure on those guys, so that's our goal for tomorrow."

 

Neither team found the goal in the opening period, and Minnesota scored the lone goal of the second period at 10:46 to take the 1-0 lead, Catie Skaja's eight game of the year.

 

The Bulldogs – who outshot the Gophers 10-9 in the first period – fell behind in the shot count in the second 25-19, but rallied to open the third period with a goal just 37 ticks of the clock in. Graduate student Taylor Anderson spun along the boards to avoid Minnesota pressure and slid the puck over to senior Taylor Stewart, who entered the zone and wristed the shot over Gopher goaltender Skylar Vetter's glove for her second goal of the season. Stewart's goal drew the Bulldogs even at 1-1.
 

Minnesota retook the lead at 7:56, striking off a UMD turnover in the defensive zone to go ahead 2-1 in what ended up the game-winner for the visiting team. The Gophers added an empty net tally at 18:39, Abbey Murphy's second goal of the matinee.

 

Despite the outcome, UMD goaltender Emma Soderberg was electric at times with her 35 saves, the second most the graduate student has made this season. In all, Minnesota outshot UMD 38-32 in the game, while both teams were held scoreless in two power play attempts. Gopher netminder Vetter made 19 for the Gophers, who stay unbeaten in their last 11 games and own a record of 21-3-2 and 18-2-2- in Western Collegiate Hockey Association play.

 

The Bulldogs (19-7-1, 13-7-1) will get a rematch tomorrow afternoon at AMSOIL Arena in the final regular season action between two of the NCAA's best teams. The puck is scheduled to drop at 3:00 p.m.

BULLDOG NOTES:  While Anneke Linser was finally held without a goal Friday, the fifth-year did have the second assist on Taylor Stewart's goal for her seventh-straight game with at least one point … over that span, Linser has recorded nine goals and six assists for 11 points, a 1.57 points per game average over her last eight games … UMD's three goals allowed Friday was just the fourth time this season a team has put three or more goals on the board … UMD still owns 1.40 goals against average so far this season.