The No. 6 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team outshot the No. 4 University of Minnesota Friday night at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis, Minn., but it was the Gophers that outscored the Bulldogs 3-2 in game one of a critical Western Collegiate Hockey Association series.
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Fifth-year forward Olivia Wallin scored both of the UMD's goals, her second two-goal game in three outings and third multiple point effort over her last four skates. But it was the Gophers, against the grain early in the first two frames, that scored a goal in each period to hold the Bulldogs off for a third time this season.
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Minnesota had been skating uphill and outshot by a 3-to-1 margin when Emma Kreisz of the Gophers struck for the game's first lead at 14:52. Wallin had the answer at the 17:12 mark, however, and buried a rebound from a Brenna Fuhrman shot to equalize at 1-1.
The Gophers retook the lead 6:40 into the second period, and then went up 3-1 on Natalie Mlynkova's strike at 14:09. That 3-1 deficit would haunt the Bulldogs until Wallin was sprung on breakaway mid-ice from Clara Van Wieren. Wallin beat Gopher goaltender Hannah Clark to pull UMD within a single goal at 16:52.
UMD struggled to get goaltender Eve Gascon off the ice, however, and unfortunately for the Bulldogs, game one of the series, and the shot at third place in the WCHA, went to the Gophers.
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The Bulldogs outshot Minnesota 30-27 in the skate, and Gascon had 24 stops for UMD. Neither team scored on the power play – the Bulldogs went 0-of-2, while the Gophers were scoreless in one attempt.
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UMD (19-12-2, 14-11-2) and Minnesota (24-9-1, 18-8-1) will do it all over again Saturday. The puck is set to drop at 2:00 pm.
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BULLDOG NOTES: UMD outshot the Gophers for the first time this season and for the first time in six games (The Bulldogs did tie in SOG against Minnesota on Feb. 23, 2024, a 3-3 overtime tie … Olivia Wallin now leads UMD in scoring with 35 points (15g, 20a).
