Amidst brilliant goaltending and fourth place in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association on the line, the No. 6 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team defeated No. 8 St. Cloud State University 2-1 in overtime inside the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, Minn. Friday night.

 

The win – which runs the Bulldogs current unbeaten streak against the Huskies to 19 games – turns over fourth place in the WCHA and improves UMD's overall record to 11-5-1 and 8-5 in league play.

 

On display early Friday night was the Bulldogs ironclad penalty kill, which after silencing one SCSU power play in the first period, thwarted two early in the second period to run the Bulldogs consecutive penalty kills tab to 20. A big part of that streak has been UMD's superb goaltending, and rookie netminder Ève Gascon fended off 26 shots by the Huskies in the first 40 minutes to highlight it.

 

But UMD's offense broke through at the 15:33 mark of the second period when defenseman Nina Jobst-Smith let the puck fly from outside SCSU's blueline and beat Huskies goaltender Jojo Chobak high for the 1-0 lead. 

 

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Jobst-Smith mails it in and the Bulldogs take the first lead of the game! pic.twitter.com/wOXgyCAMlX

— UMD Women's Hockey (@UMDWHockey) December 9, 2023

 

SCSU equalized 13:50 into the third period, and after three periods of play, the dogfight would need more time to find its winner.

 

That game-winner came from sophomore blueliner Tova Henderson 2:53 into overtime. After a SCSU penalty gave UMD a 4-on-3 advantage, Henderson, who floated just left of the slot, one-timed a Mary Kate O'Brien rebound past Chobak for the power play score to propel the Bulldogs past the Huskies 2-1.  

 

TOVA HENDERSON CALLS GAME!! pic.twitter.com/DOcIafcrJ4

— UMD Women's Hockey (@UMDWHockey) December 9, 2023

 

Gascon made 37 saves on 38 shots, and while the Huskies outshot UMD 38-27 overall, UMD kept SCSU scoreless on three power play attempts. Chobak had 25 stops for SCSU, who falls to 12-6-1 overall and 7-5-1 in the WCHA.

 

"I thought we were up and down quite a bit, and I think just about everybody can be better tomorrow, and that's the exciting part, I don't think anyone's walking out of here saying I just had my best game," said Bulldog head coach Maura Crowell.  "Let's go out with a bang tomorrow, let's have our best game across the board, because when everybody's rolling in our locker room, that's when we're really good, that's what you need to win in this league. That's what we're looking for tomorrow."

 

UMD will put the wraps on 2023 in St. Cloud tomorrow afternoon with a 3:00 p.m. puck drop against the Huskies.

BULLDOG NOTES: NIna Jobst-Smith led all scorers with a two points on a goal and an assist in the game … UMD is now 17-0-2 against the Huskies since Nov. 1, 2019, and is 82-14-9 all-time … the Bulldogs are 1-0-1 in overtime games this season …  Ève Gascon is now 5-5-0 on the season.