The No. 7/8 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team got Saturday what it traveled to Mankato, Minn. hoping for – a Western Collegiate Hockey Association series sweep.
The Bulldogs muted Minnesota State University, Mankato 4-1 in Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center to improve to 4-2-0 overall and 2-2-0 in the WCHA.
"It's hard to sweep here, this is a good team, a really tough physical team, said UMD head coach Maura Crowell. "They have players that can shoot the puck so you have to be locked in and tough defensively as well. So I thought it was a great test for us to get three points, it is really challenging to sweep in this league on the road, so this is a huge weekend for us, especially this early in the season."
Junior forward Gabby Krause scored the game's first goal on the power play in the most unconventional of ways after a Maverick clearance deflected off her leg and past MSU goaltender Suzette Faucher at 6:21 of the first period.
The Mavericks equalized at the 2:28 mark of the second period, but Mary Kate O'Brien took a feed in the slot from Mannon McMahon and buried it past Faucher less than 90 seconds later to retake a 2-1 lead – a lead UMD would never again relinquish. Jenna Lawry doubled that margin before the halfway point of the frame after poking the puck away from a skating MSU player and unloading it from the circle for her first goal of the season and a 3-1 Bulldog advantage.
Krause wasn't done scoring, however, and scooped up a rebound from a Brenna Fuhrman shot and batted it home at 13:06 of the third for her second of the game and deflating any Maverick hopes of a comeback.
UMD was a perfect 1-of-1 on its power play while holding MSU scoreless in two attempts. The Bulldogs also outshot the Mavericks 25-22, and got 21 saves from rookie goaltender Ève Gascon. Faucher had 21 stops for MSU, which fell to 2-4-0 overall and 0-4-0 in WCHA play.
The Bulldogs will stay on the road next weeknd when they head to Bemidji, Minn. to face Bemidji State University on Friday and Saturday. Friday's puck is scheduled to drop at 3:00 p.m.
BULLDOG NOTES: Gabby Krause and Mary Kate O'Brien both logged two points Saturday – Krause two goals and O'Brien a goal and an assist … O'Brien led all Bulldogs in scoring with three points on the weekend (2g, 1a) … UMD scored the most goals in a series against a MSU team since it put up nine back on Jan. 28-29, 2022, a 4-2 and 5-3 wins for the Bulldogs at AMSOIL Arena… while UMD is unbeaten against the Mavericks in seven games, the sweep on the road against MSU is the first since the Bulldogs did it back on Nov. 20-21, 2021 … all-time, UMD is now 87-9-10 against the Mavericks, the second most wins the Bulldogs have against any program over its 25 season history and just one shy of the 88 it currently has against BSU.
