For all of 3:27, the No. 4 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team led No. 8/9 St. Cloud State University in a massive Western Collegiate Hockey Association series, and it turns out, 3:27 is all that was needed to return to Duluth with five league points.

 

The Bulldogs stunned the Huskies inside the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, Minn. Saturday, scoring three unanswered goals in the third period to upend SCSU 3-1 and in the process, move into second place in the WCHA, passing Ohio State University by two points to head into the winter break.

"That was a hard fought series," said UMD head coach Laura Schuler. "We are proud of the team specifically regarding the confidence poise that they played with. We showed a ton of resiliency and belief in the third to secure the victory. It is a great way to close out the first half of the season and we're excited build off our progress thus far." 
 

Saturday's game was a mirror image of Friday's contest through two periods – UMD trailed the Huskies for the first two periods of play. An opening frame goal by SCSU midway through the period by Taylor Larson at the 11:17 mark gave the Huskies a 1-0 lead that would last just over 44 minutes of action.

 

MOBLEY WITH THE SHORTY!! pic.twitter.com/yEFFPSEQyJ

— UMD Women's Hockey (@UMDWHockey) December 7, 2024

Last night's hot handed Olivia Mobley extended that heat into Saturday, however, and the senior equalized with a shorthanded goal at 4:29 to put the belief back in the Bulldogs and a 1-1 tie on the board. Then, at 16:33, senior forward Clara Van Wieren put the maroon squad on her back, skating the puck across all three lines before unleashing a nasty wrist shot that beat SCSU Sami Ahola to take UMD's first lead of the entire series. 

THIS IS YOUR CAPTAIN SPEAKING!! VAN WIEREN, 2-1 DOGS! pic.twitter.com/BYNTxeYNIN

— UMD Women's Hockey (@UMDWHockey) December 7, 2024

A late penalty by the Huskies limited their extra skater attempt at 18:34 to a 5-on-5, and redshirt junior Mary Kate O'Brien made SCSU pay with an empty netter just under a minute later to seal the 3-1 win for the Bulldogs.

 

Outshot in the first two periods, UMD riddled Ahola in the third period, outshooting the Huskies 12-4 in the final frame alone to help secure the 29-28 shot chart of the entire game. Eve Gascon made 27 of the 28 shots she faced for her eighth win of the season. The Bulldogs also held the Huskies scoreless in three power play attempts for a total of six on the weekend. Ahola had 26 stops for SCSU, which falls to 10-6-4 overall and 5-6-3 in the WCHA.

 

The Bulldogs (11-5-2, 8-4-2-2), will be idle from outside competition until Jan. 2-3, 2025, when they will host Syracuse University at AMSOIL Arena in a matinee series.

 

BULLDOG NOTES: Olivia Mobley has now scored five goals over the past six games … the senior had two goals in the series – both equalized for UMD, and added a goal in the shootout Friday ... Clara Van Wieren now has a team-high three game-winning goals this season and is tied with Mobley for nine goals …Van Wieren tied her second most game-winning goals of three set over her sophomore season and is now just two from tying her collegiate career-high of five set just last season … UMD will begin 2025 in second place in the WCHA after moving ahead of Ohio State by two points … the Bulldogs are also currently fourth in the latest PairWise rankings ... the Bulldogs are now unbeaten in their last six meetings with St. Cloud State.