The No. 3 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team secured a 3-0 start against top-10 ranked teams Friday with a 3-2 win over No. 7 Colgate University inside of the Class of 1965 Arena in Hamilton, N.Y.
For a second-straight game the Bulldogs trailed after 40 minutes of play, and for a second-straight game it was no problem for UMD, who has now scored four goals – including two game-winners – in the final period of play in back-to-back games.
"Super excited for a team today, that was an awesome win for us," said UMD head coach Laura Schuler, now 3-0 at the helm of the Bulldogs. "Colgate is a terrific team, they are fast and talented. I am really happy with our performance, especially in the third period, I thought it was a huge character moment for us, to come back from being down 2-1 to tie it up and then put that game-winning goal in. Really happy overall and excited to come back and compete again tomorrow."
Despite having outshelled the Raiders 16-6 in the opening period, UMD's first goal of the game came at the 5:58 mark of the second period on Colgate's power play. Redshirt junior forward Mary Kate O'Brien jumped on a Raider miscommunication at their own blueline and the result was O'Brien skating in from the Bulldogs blueline before going to her backhand to beat Colgate goaltender Hannah Murphy five-hole for the 1-0 lead.
But the Raiders didn't stay rattled for long, connecting for their own power play goal just 52 seconds later. Colgate then pushed out to a 2-1 lead at 10:39 on a tally from Kristýna Kaltounkova, and after 40 minutes of play, UMD trailed the Raiders with one frame left.
After an early Colgate penalty put the Bulldogs on the power play in the third, junior defenseman Tova Henderson hammered home a rebound from O'Brien on the back post to knot the game at 2-2. Then at 12:43 of the stanza, graduate forward Clara Van Wieren shoveled in a blocked shot from Nina Jobst-Smith to break the game 3-2 in favor of the Bulldogs – the eventual game-winner and Van Wieren's second tally of the season.
Despite late power plays by the Raiders, and a 6-on-4 effort, UMD's blueline stood strong. On the night, the Bulldogs held Colgate scoreless in 5-of-6 of their extra skater attempts, and sophomore goaltender Eve Gascon had 25 saves, including eight in the third period to earn her third win of the season and keep the Bulldogs perfect against top-10 teams.
Colgate (1-2) got 29 saves from Murphy, while Elyssa Biederman had a goal and assist for the Raiders. UMD outshot Colgate 32-27 in the skate – the first time it has outshot an opponent so far this season.
The Bulldogs (3-0, 2-0) will tussle again with the Raiders tomorrow afternoon when they drop the puck on game two of the series at 2:00 p.m. CT.
BULLDOG NOTES: Mary Kate O'Brien's shorthanded goal was the first by a Bulldog since Mannon McMahon buried one last season against LIU on Oct. 6, 2023 … O'Brien had two points in the game, including an assist on Tova Henderson's power play tally … Jenna Lawry has now posted a point in her last two games after also adding an assist on Henderson's goal … UMD has now defeated three top-10 teams in a row for the first time since it rolled over No 10 Harvard, No. 2 Minnesota and No. 3 Northeastern on its way to the 2022 NCAA title tilt.
