The No. 8 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team pulled within a single goal twice Saturday afternoon at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis, Minn., but ultimately couldn't get past the Gophers, whose empty net goal with six seconds remaining sealed a 4-2 win for the No. 4 University of Minnesota.
The loss is the first by the Bulldogs in eight games, who at 18-12-4 overall, conclude regular season Western Collegiate Hockey Association play 15-11-2 and in fourth place.
"I liked our battle, I thought maybe we could have had a a more aggressive second period," said UMD head coach Maura Crowell. "I feel like we maybe took our foot off the gas a little bit there, and could have generated more quality opportunities. But great to see the puck going in the net, and great to see us battle back. Again, I think these moments in these lessons just continue to help us get better for next weekend and playoff time."
The Gophers used a power play at 9:39 into the first period to get on the board, and then doubled that goal when Peyton Hemp scored at 13:04 of the second period to make it 2-0.
Trailing by two goals to begin the third period, Mannon McMahon pulled the Bulldogs back within a single goal after the graduate center swatted in a rebound from a Mary Kate O'Brien redirect at 1:18 to make it a 2-1 game. Minnesota retook a two-goal lead on its third power play goal of the series and second of the game at the 14:38 mark, but UMD again struck to make it a one goal contest.
At 18:45, with an empty net behind her and an extra attacker with her, O'Brien unfurled another nasty shot from the top of the right circle that deflected off a Gopher player and past Lucy Morgan to cut Minnesota's lead to 3-2. The Gophers finally iced the game with an empty net goal with 5.5 seconds remaining to give the game its 4-2 final score.
Rookie goaltender Ève Gascon made 26 saves for the Bulldogs in her third-ever start against Minnesota. UMD was 0–of-1 on its lone power play chance, while the Gophers were 2-of-4. Morgan made 23 stops for Minnesota, who improved to 25-7-2 overall and finished 19-7-2 and one place ahead of the Bulldogs in third place in the WCHA.
The Bulldogs will push right into the WCHA postseason with a best-of-three series against No. 10 St. Cloud State University on the docket for next Friday, Saturday and if needed, Sunday. Friday's game is scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m., while both Saturday and a possible Sunday game would get undereay at 3:00 p.m.
BULLDOG NOTES: Mary Kate O'Brien figured in all three of UMD's points on the weekend, scoring two goals and adding an assist, including two points (1g, 1a) Saturday … the redshirt sophomore has more than doubled her offensive output from her previous two seasons (11 points) and has now scored a collegiate season career-high five goals in 2023-24 (her previous best was four).
