It wasn't the result the No. 4 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team wanted Friday night at AMSOIL Arena in Duluth, Minn. against the the third-ranked University of Minnesota, but it wasn't for a lack of effort. 

The Gophers defeated the Bulldogs 4-1 after scoring a empty net goal with five seconds left in the final frame and holding off a late and consistent push from the fiesty UMD.

"I there was momentum both ways, I thought our team managed the team much better than we had two weekends prior, but we definitely made some mistakes," said UMD head coach Laura Schuler. "They're a good team, so when you make mistakes, they can potentially cost you. I thought Eve (Gascon) was absolutely outstanding for us, she was really, really good. But you know, we need to be better. There were many 50/50 pucks where we were playing defensively first, we were cheating offensively and you can't do that against a good team."

Gascon was indeed impressive and impressive early, and turned away 21 shots in the opening period alone. The Gophers took the game's first lead off a power play goal by Sydney Morrow at the 16:18 mark, but the Bulldogs responded just 1:25 later.

Clara Van Wieren fed Hanna Baskin the puck at the point, and the senior defenseman walked into the top of the slot and ripped it past Gopher netminder Hannah Clark to pull UMD even at 17:43.

That score would hold until midway through the second period when Abbey Murphy struck to put Minnesota back on top 2-1. The Gophers extended that lead at 18:42 on a shorthanded tally from Ella Huber – a deficit the Bulldogs would never recover from.

Gascon tied her UMD career save mark with 48 stops against 52 Minnesota shots (one was an empty net goal), The Gophers (9-3-1, 5-3-1) had 27 saves from Clark, who faced 28 shots.

The two sides will drop the puck against Saturday afternoon at AMSOIL Arena at 3:00 p.m.

BULLDOG NOTES: UMD is 6-4-1, 5-3-1 on the season after Friday night … sophomore goaltender Eve Gascon tied her career save haul (48) set last season against Wisconsin on Dec. 2, 2023 … the Bulldogs are now just two points ahead of the Gophers in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association standings.