The No. 7 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team completed an all important comeback against Minnesota State University, Mankato, using overtime to power past the Mavericks 4-3 on Friday afternoon at the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center in Mankato, Minn. The Bulldogs, who clinched their 20th win of the season, also picked up two Western Collegiate Hockey Association points, leaving them just three shy of clinching a first round series in the WCHA's postseason tournament.

"Resilient would be the name of the game," said UMD head coach Maura Crowell, whose program has now posted 20 or more wins in back-to-back seasons. "I think we faced adversity right off the hop with them scoring early. it felt like we were chasing it the whole time. But I love the way we came into that third period in particular, with you know, a good amount of pressure, and we've been dealing with pressure for weeks now. When we push it to overtime on a late goal like we did tonight, and get it done after that, that's good, and it makes us better for the next time."

 

The Bulldogs found themselves down a goal early after the Mavericks finished a rebound at 4:50 of the first period. UMD responded on its power play at 9:01 when sophomore Gabby Krause popped in a rebound, but the Mavericks retook the lead with 59 seconds left in the frame, burying a breakaway to grab a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes.

 

UMD found themselves in double the deficit at 10:08 of the second period after a Maverick goal from Charlotte Akervik to make it a 3-1 game. Mary Kate O'Brien cut that lead in half after the sophomore walked into the zone, looked off the skater in the slot and beat MSU goaltender Lauren Barbo far post for her second goal of the season at 14:05.

The Bulldogs chased MSU's one goal lead until 16:07 of the third period, but that all changed off a Maverick turnover in UMD's offensive zone. That turnover was corralled and skated in by graduate senior Gabbie Hughes, who pulled Barbo out of the net and then tucked the puck into the net to finally draw the Bulldogs even for the first time since the opening stanza.

While UMD had played in seven overtime games favorably this season prior to Friday's clash, the Bulldogs had not gone to extra time since Dec. 10. There was no rust for UMD, who found the game-winner in the form of senior forward Mannon McMahon. After junior Clara Van Wieren had gained the zone and ripped a shot from the slot, McMahon tracked down the rebound on the far post for the Bulldog win, their fifth in overtime this season and 20th of the year.
 

Freshman goaltender Hailey MacLeod made 15 saves for UMD, who outshot the Mavericks 41-18 in the game and went 1-of-3 on the power play. For the first time this season, the Bulldogs didn't commit any penalties – the first time UMD has stayed out of the box for an entire game since Jan. 22, 2022 at Ohio State. 

 

Barbo had 37 saves for MSU, which fell to 13-16-2 overall and 7-15-0 in league play.

 

The two sides will meet again tomorrow in Mankato to finish off their regular season meetings at 2:00 p.m.

 

BULLDOG NOTES: UMD has now had 17 seasons with 20 or more wins in program history … this assures head coach Maura Crowell of her third 20-plus win season at the helm of the Bulldogs … the Bulldogs remain undefeated this seasons against MSU with a record of 3-0,and have outscored the Mavericks 8-4 in those three games … Gabbie Hughes led all scorers with three points on a goal and two assists, her 11th multiple point game of the season and fourth game with three or more points … with the game-winning assist, Hughes overtook Erika Holst as the sixth all-time scorer in program history with 205 points (79g, 126a), and is now just one point behind Haley Irwin in the fifth slot with 206 career points ( 79g, 127a) … Hughes is now tied with Irwin in career goals (79) in eighth all-time, and is just an assist shy of Irwin, currently in third, for career assists with 127 … Maggie Flaherty is now tied for ninth all-time in career points by a defenseman with 69 (15g, 54a), while her linemate Ashton Bell moves into a tie for eighth with 49 career assists … Bell is currently the seventh all-time scoring blueliner with 73 points in just 83 games – only Jessica Wong, also a forward to defense convert, played in as few games as Bell (Wong skated in 83 as a defenseman but logged the fourth most points in UMD history with 77 (29g, 48a).