After having declared La Bahn Arena a favorite place to play among Bulldog players earlier in the week, the No. 8 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team set that theory firmly in ice Saturday afternoon, knocking off the No. 2 University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisc. in front of a sold out crowd of 2,273. The win – the Bulldogs third against the Badgers over their last five games, and second in their last three games at La Bahn – marks UMD's 14th on the season, improving to 14-6-1 and 8-6-1 in Western Collegiate Hockey Association play.
While Wisconsin struck at 8:42 of the first period, the beneficiaries of a Casey O'Brien redirect in front of the net,, the Badgers never scored again. Goaltender Emma Soderberg set the tone for UMD immediately, making eight saves in the eight minutes prior to O'Brien's goal, and the cool under pressure approach of Soderberg paid huge dividends for the Bulldogs as the game progressed.
UMD found the equalizer early in the second period when Anneke Linser connected on a rebound outside the crease at 2:59. Linser's ninth goal of the season accounted for the only tally of the second period, but it capped off a slight ice tilt in favor of UMD that would culminate soon in the third period.
The Bulldogs grabbed the lead for good at 3:25 of the final frame on a brilliant backhanded rebound from Katie Davis, who had followed up a backhand shot by Mannon MaMahon that popped off Wisconsin goaltender Cami Kronish's left leg. The Bulldogs, who outshot the Badgers 12-11 in the third period, put that 2-1 lead to the test at the 17:39 mark after Wisconsin was given its second power play of the game. But UMD's defense never broke, and Soderberg did the rest to mute the Badger power play and keep it scoreless in two attempts on the day. After killing off the UW power play, the Bulldogs quieted the sea of Badger fans for good with a loose puck in the crease that Gabbie Hughes pounced on at 18:35. Hughes' goal, the sixth of the season and 77th of her career, gave the Bulldogs a 3-1 lead that kept the game out of reach for a Wisconsin comeback.
"I really loved our defensive play all day today, and in four minutes or so, under pressure, you know, in front of a sold out crowd with everything on the line there, I thought there were so many gutsy plays from so many different people," said head coach Maura Crowell. "I loved it. I thought it was really, really good, and it's really encouraging for the whole group."
Soderberg finished the game with 44 saves – just two shy from tying her career-best of 46 set last March in the NCAA Frozen Four semifinal win against Northeastern University. While the Badgers outshot UMD 45-31 in the contest, Kronish had 28 stops for Wisconsin, which suffered just the 17th ever setback at La Bahn Arena.
UMD will take a shot at the series sweep tomorrow in a matinee regular season finale against the Badgers at 12:00 p.m.
BULLDOG NOTES: The Bulldogs have now won two out of their last three games in Madison, dating back to last season, and in both games allowed just one goal to Wisconsin combined … UW entered the series averaging an NCAA-best 5.25 goals a game … UMD has now pocketed two wins against the Badgers over the regular season for the first time since 2012-13 … with a goal Saturday,
Gabbie Hughes inched closer to the 200 career point mark … the graduate student now has 194 points on 77 goals and 115 career assists … Saturday was the fifth time
Emma Soderberg has posted 40 or more saves in a game over her career … it marks the second time against Wisconsin over her career that Soderberg has had 44 or more saves (she had 45 against the Badgers on Feb. 27, 2021 in Duluth, Minn.) … all five of the teams Soderberg has racked up 44 or more saves against were ranked in the top-5 nationally.
