Maggie Flaherty has scored some brilliant game-winning goals over the tenure of her career, but Friday's snipe late in the third period might just have been her biggest yet.

The graduate senior's ninth goal of the year pushed the No. 7 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team soaring past No. 12 St. Cloud State University 1-0 in the opening game of the first round of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association postseason at AMSOIL Arena.

"Emma came out and played the puck and normally we do a drop pass coming up once we get to the red, but I kind of saw a kind of a tight lane, and then I was also going for the change," said Flaherty about her game-winner. "I was just thinking of getting a shot and going for the change. It seemed like she (SCSU goaltender Jojo Chobak) was standing pretty straight up at that moment. I think the defense was pretty tight, and I don't know if I just went right through them, and Jojo didn't see anything, or if she just wasn't ready for it."

Flaherty's power play goal started from Soderberg leaving the puck for her in the UMD defensive zone, and from there, Flaherty skated around the Bulldog and net and turned in an end-to-end rush before unloading the shot from high in the zone to beat Chobak high for the game-winner at 17:26 of the third period. Flaherty's monster full sheet rush also gave Soderberg the one thing her phenomenal career has been missing – her first career assist, as Soderberg was the only other player other than Flaherty to touch the puck in the sequence.
 

Prior to Flaherty's strike, the Bulldogs had battled through a third period that found them having to kill off three SCSU power plays over a 10 minute span and a Huskies squad that put up as many shots on Soderberg as UMD had on Chobak – 13. After shelling SCSU in the opening period 14-5, the Bulldogs' defense, anchored by Soderberg, was clutch when called upon, and the result was a program-record 13th shutout for the team and the Jarved, Sweden native's record-setting 11th shutout of the season – a single-season UMD record.

 

The Bulldogs were 1-of-2 on their power play, relying on it when needed most, while continuing to stand tall on their penalty kill by keeping the Huskies scoreless in three attempts. Chobak had 32 saves for SCSU, who fell to 18-17-1 with the setback.

 

UMD will attempt to close out the best-of-three league postseason series tomorrow at AMSOIL. Puck drop, barring any delays, is set for 5:00 p.m.

BULLDOG NOTES: UMD's 13 single season shutouts not only breaks a program record from 2010-11, but ties the Bulldogs for seventh in the WCHA … Soderberg is also now in a three-way tie for the eighth most shutouts in a single season in league history … Soderberg has not allowed a goal in her last three games (180 minutes), and just one over her last five games … in fact four of Soderberg's last five games have been shutouts, a 0.19 goals against average that has covered the entire month of February … Maggie Flaherty now has 76 points (16g, 60a) over her career, putting her in a tie for the seventh most by a defenseman.