Behind a hat trick from Reece Hunt and a four goal second period, the No. 7 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team offensively overwhelmed Bemidji State University 7-0 at AMSOIL Arena Saturday afternoon.

 

Three players notched four points – in addition to Hunt, who had an assist with her three goals, graduate center Mannon McMahon had a goal and three assists, and junior defenseman Hanna Baskin, who had a goal in Friday's win, had four assists against the Beavers.

 

"I think it just reminds them that they can score goals, said UMD head coach Maura Crowell.  "It had been hard around here for a little while to find the back of the net, and I think that was a big relief and obviously with our goaltending being as strong as it was this weekend, it's very encouraging moving forward."

 

Hunt netted UMD's two goals in the first period just 1:40 a part, and her power play tally at the 10:30 mark made it a 2-0 contest. Both of Hunts first period scores were off feeds from McMahon and the secondary assists credited to Baskin.

 

Hunt's third – a natural hat trick which marks the second hat trick of her collegiate career – was again assisted by McMahon (and Danielle Burgen) and came at 12:53 of the second period. That goal set off three more goals in less than five minutes and three in under three, with rookie Grace Sadura burying her second of the series at 14:43, followed by McMahon 29 seconds later. Burgen got her own tally at the 17:49 mark, assisted by Hunt and Baskin, and the dust settled, UMD had opened up a 6-0 lead after 40 minutes of play.

 

Sophomore Danielle Brunette added UMD's seventh goal at 4:41 of the third period on Jenna Lawry's second assist of the weekend, and by then, the Bulldogs had turned in their biggest goal output so far of the current season, and biggest offensive haul in exactly a year.

 

Freshman goaltender Ève Gascon moved up to second for rookie shutouts with her fourth Saturday, a 18-save effort that also gave the Bulldogs their seventh clean sheet on the season.

The Bulldogs outshot BSU 35-18 and forced the Beavers to play both goaltenders – Abbie Thompson had 15 saves and five goals against in 35:26 of action, while Eva Fillppova had two goals against and 12 saves in 24:44 between the pipes for BSU, who fall to 3-17-1 overall and 2-13-0 in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.

 

UMD will hit the road next weekend to face No. 1 Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio in a Friday-Saturday series that will begin at 5:00 p.m. Friday.

BULLDOG NOTES: UMD stretched its current successful penalty kill run to 28 with two penalties killed Saturday and three on the weekend … the Bulldogs did not allow a goal all weekend, their second scoreless series of the season (UMD shutout Long Island University on Oct. 6-7 by scores of 6-0 and 4-0) … Reece Hunt's hat trick was the third by a Bulldog this season … eight players landed on the scoresheet Saturday – in addition to the three four point players, Danielle Burgern recorded a goal and an assist and Jenna Lawry added two assists … Ève Gascon now trails only Jennifer Harss for the most shutouts by a rookie goaltender … Harss had five in her first season as a Bulldog in 2009-10 ... UMD is now undefeated in its last 12 games against BSU ... the Bulldogs have put up five or more goals against the Beavers in seven of their last 10 games.