Behind five points and the first collegiate hat trick of Caitlin Kraemer, the No. 4 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team skated right through the University of Vermont Saturday afternoon at AMSOIL Arena in Duluth, Minn. by a score of 9-1.

The win gives the Bulldogs a sweep of the non conference series and a four-game winning streak where UMD has now outscored its opponents a whopping 23-2, including a 13-1 advantage of the Catamounts.

"I really liked our offensive game," said head coach Laura Schuler. "I thought our poise on the offensive zone, we had them really going there for a bit in the second period. Those are the things you want to continue to see, as a coach, those things are really, really important. They played a better game tonight, they had some really good chances, and you know for us, we're going to really dial in on those chances against us because we have to be better in our defensive zone."

The Bulldogs wasted no time popping the lid off its offense, and it took just 3:57 for Zoey Krock to net the first goal of her collegiate career. Krock pressured Vermont all the way to its net, and poked the puck past Catamount goaltender Jane Gervais for the early score. Just 17 seconds later, Clara Van Wieren doubled the UMD goal count after tracking down a Tova Henderson rebound. 

Far from done, the Bulldogs took a 3-0 lead when Payton Holloway sniped a shot over the shoulder of Gervais from the circle for the first goal of her college career at the 17:00 mark. Van Wieren then atoned from an initial miss and secured her netfront presence to bury a pass from Olivia Wallin to stretch UMD's goal total to four with four seconds until the first intermission.

A power play goal by the Catamounts 45 seconds into the second period broke a 171:54 shutout streak dating back to Nov. 22 for the Bulldogs, but UMD rebuilt its four-goal lead at 6:43 on a shorthanded goal from Kraemer, who intercepted a breakout pass from Vermont. Danielle Burgen made it 6-1 game at 13:43 when she tipped Nina Jobst-Smith from the point into the twine.

Kraemer and the Bulldogs were far from satisfied, however, and the freshman center cleanly wristed a pass from Krock in the slot past second Catamount goaltender Ellie Simmons for a 7-1 lead at 16:03 – the second straight four-goal period for UMD in the game.

Red-hot junior defenseman Tova Henderson took missed Catamount clear on a Bulldog power play 14:21 into the third period to score her sixth goal of the season, and it was Kraemer again with just 2:04 left in the game who took a feed from Burgen in the exact same spot in the slot she scored her previous goal to turn in her first hat trick as a Bulldog, and the first UMD rookie to notch a hat trick in a decade and a half.

"I think it goes to show how special this team is," said Kraemer, when asked about her hat trick. "Those goals were all team goals. The first goal Mobs (Olivia Mobley) had an incredible forecheck, second goal, Grace (Sadure) again, incredible forecheck and Zoey had an incredible pass. And then on the third one, Burgs (Burgen), just so unselfish, she could have totally buried that herself but decided to pass it along, which just shows how great these teammates are."

The first nine goal game for UMD since it defeated Harvard 9-0 back on Nov. 19, 2022, the Bulldogs outshot Vermont 48-28. UMD was a blistering 2-of-4 on its power play, and had six players record two or more points on the day. Tindra Holm pocketed the win in net for UMD, her third of the season behind 27 saves. Vermont's Gervais took the loss in just 20 minutes of action and eight saves, while Simmons had 31 stops and five goals against for the Catamounts, who fell to 3-13-2.

The Bulldogs, 10-5-1 overall, will head to St. Cloud, Minn. next weekend to wrap up the 2024 season against St. Cloud State University. The Friday-Saturday series gets underway at 3:00 p.m. Friday.

BULLDOG NOTES: Caitlin Kraemer is the first UMD rookie since Katie Wilson did it on Nov. 28, 2009 to register a hat trick … six Bulldogs recorded multiple point games … in addition to Kraemer, who logged a five point night (3g, 2a), Zoey Krock and Danielle Burgen each had a goal and two assists for three points … Tova Henderson (1g, 1a), Clara Van Wieren (2g), and Nna Jobst-Smith (2a) each had two points in the skate … all but one UMD skater has now logged at least a point for the Bulldogs so far this season.