The No. 6 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team pushed the nation's top team to the limit Friday night, but the University of Wisconsin snuck out of AMSOIL Arena with a 2-1 win after scoring with just 37 seconds left in overtime.

 

The Bulldogs played arguably one of their best games of the season against a Badgers squad that entered Friday averaging 5.60 goals a game. UMD had almost played out of the 3-on-3 overtime when Wisconsin was finally able to beat UMD netminder Eve Gascon, who had 40 saves in the game.

 

"So proud of our team, I mean, they really played well tonight," said UMD head coach Laura Schuler. "I thought our systems were really, really good tonight, and we had a lot of grade A chances. Overall, every single person that played tonight, I'm so proud of their efforts. We're right there, we are right there; we're gunning for them tomorrow."

 

The Bulldogs third line –  who was a problem for the Badgers all night – opened the game's scoring at 7:48 of the first period. Brenna Fuhrman's shot from the left point was tipped down and past Wisconsin goaltender Ava McNaughton by Grace Sadura – Sadura's second of the season. 

 

Wisconsin's Marianne Picard equalized off a screen of Gascon at the 13:29 mark to knot the game at 1-1, a score that would hold for the following 46:31 minutes of regulation.

 

Needing overtime to settle their stalemate, that 1-1 score held until 4:23 of the five minute, 3-on-3 additional time when Kirsten Simms finally found a way past Gascon.

 

Gascon had 40 saves in the game, her fourth 40 or more save game this season. McNaughton had 27 saves for the Badgers, who outshot the Bulldogs 42-28, including 5-0 in the overtime. Wisconsin improves to 26-1-2 overall and 20-1-2 in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.

"I think our whole team was playing to the game plan, I mean we were disciplined, we were playing as a unit," said Sadura. "I think we had a really good game, just a disappointing end there."

 

UMD (15-10-2, 10-9-2) will regroup for game two tomorrow afternoon, with puck drop scheduled for 3:00 p.m.

 

BULLDOG NOTES: Friday night was Danielle Burgen's 100th career game as a Bulldog … UMD is now 0-2-1 in overtime games, and both overtime losses have come in their last two games (St. Thomas was the other setback) … Grace Sadura and Caitlin Kraemer both led the Bulldogs with six shots … Mary Kate O'Brien and Kamdyn Davis each had two blocked shots for the Bulldogs.