The No. 4 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team scored three goals early Friday night at Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center in Mankato, Minn. en route to a 4-1 win over Minnesota State University, Mankato.
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The win also moves the Bulldogs into third place in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association with 15 points and a league record of 5-2. UMD trails Ohio State University by three points but has played one less game than the Buckeyes.
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The Bulldogs built a big lead early, netting three goals in the opening 12:12 of first period action. The first came from blueliner Nina Jobst-Smith, who walked into the Maverick offensive zone and ripped a shot from the point that beat MSU goaltender Jessie McPherson high for the early score just 2:58 into the game.Â
UMD doubled that advantage up a little over five minutes later when senior Olivia Mobley drove to the Maverick net from the left and popped the puck in for her fourth goal of the season, with assists from Hanna Baskin and Olivia Wallin. The Bulldogs went ahead 3-0 at 12:12 on a second effort from Caitlin Kraemer that the freshman forward banked off McPherson for her fourth tally of the young season – Wallin picked up her second assist on the goal.
The lone goal of the second period was scored by MSU's Sydney Langseth to cut UMD's edge to 3-1 at the 8:29 mark, but the Bulldogs got another goal in the third period that iced that game for good.Â
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For a second time this season, Kraemer netted two goals in a game, and her second tally Friday night came off a MSU turnover on its defensive blueline at 7:21 of the final frame. The rookie center walked in and casually put the puck off the pipe and in for her fifth of the season and kept UMD up front for good at 4-1.
Sophomore netminder Eve Gascon had 20 saves in her fifth win of the season, while MSU's Hailey Hansen, who took over the net for the Mavericks (2-5-0, 0-5-0) after their third goal against in the first period, made 18 stops. UMD outshot MSU 23-21, and neither team scored on its power play – the Bulldogs went 0-of-3 while the Mavericks went 0-of-2.
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The Bulldogs (6-3, 5-2) will skate for the series sweep tomorrow afternoon with a 3:00 p.m. puck drop.
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BULLDOG NOTES: UMD has now won three games in a row … Caitlin Kraemer has now had two, two-goal games just nine games into the season … she leads UMD with five goals and ranks third in total points (6) … Friday night was Oliva Wallin's second multiple-point game of the season … the senior ranks second in scoring on the Bulldogs with seven points on two goals and is tied for the most assists (5) … Wallin is now just five points away from reaching 100 over her college hockey career with 45 goals and 50 helpers … Eve Gascon picked up her 15th career win Friday night, which puts her one win back from breaking into a tie in the top-10 list at UMD.
