The No. ¾ University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team fell Saturday to the No. 1 University of Wisconsin 5-1 at LaBahn Arena in Madison, Wis.
The Western Collegiate Hockey Association showdown was the Bulldogs fifth-straight game against a top-7 opponent, third against a No. 1 squad and fifth-straight game on the road.
UMD outshot the Badgers in the first period, but it was the Badgers who struck first on a goal at the 8:59 mark from Laila Edwards on the power play.
Wisconsin went up 2-0 4:45 into the second period on a tally from Kelly Gorbatenko, but UMD cut into that lead midway through the frame. Sophomore Danielle Burgen's hustle into the slot ahead of four Badgers skaters resulted in a pass across the front of a sprawled Ava McNaughton to sophomore Grace Sadura. Sadura redirected the puck off her backhand and in for her first goal of the season and effectively cut UMD's deficit to 2-1 at 11:12.
But the Badgers offense answered and then some, scoring their third of the day just over two minutes later. UW extended their goal total again at 13:17 of the third and one final time with just 15 seconds left in the game to take game one of the series 5-1.
UMD outshot the Badgers 34-30, but went 0-of-2 on its power play, while UW went 1-of-4. Both teams blocked plenty of shots – the Bulldogs blocked 10 while the Badgers got in front of 12. Sophomore netminder Eve Gascon had 25 saves in her fifth start of the season – her counterpart, McNaughton, had 33 for UW, who remains undefeated on the season at 5-0 overall and 1-0 in the WCHA.
The Bulldogs (3-2, 2-1) will do it all over again tomorrow afternoon with a Sunday matinee scheduled at LaBahn. The puck is scheduled to drop at 2:00 p.m.
