For a second time this season, Eve Gascon posted a shutout series, and Saturday the junior goaltender helped the No. 9 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team secure five Western Collegiate Hockey Association points on the weekend with a 3-0 win over No. 13 Minnesota State University, Mankato. The triumph came on the road in Mankato, Minn. inside the the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center.
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Gascon finished with 24 saves to stay perfect on the weekend – a weekend that included overtime and shootout the night before.
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Saturday, the Bulldogs had three different goal scorers, and it started with soon-to-be Swedish Olympian Thea Johansson burying a feed from Caitlin Kraemer for the 1-0 lead at 18:24 of the first period.
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UMD went back to offensive work in the second stanza with Zoey Krock finishing a pass off from Rae Mayer at 4:40 for her first goal of the year – and the second on the Mavericks in the game.Â
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Madi Burr put the Bulldogs up 3-0 at the 13:09 mark of the frame, taking a backhanded pass from Grace Sadura at the MSU blueliner and cutting into the slot past Maverick defenders for her fourth goal in a UMD sweater.Â
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It would be all the offense Gascon would need in front of her to earn her sixth shutout of the season – tying her for the WCHA lead and moving her into a tie for third in the NCAA.
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Gascon also moved on up into a tie for 17th all-time in career shutouts at UMD with Riitta Schaublin, who had 17 stops. Hailey Hason made 27 saves for the Mavericks, who like UMD was 0-of-2 on the power play and outshot 30-24 in the contest.
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The Bulldogs (13-10-3, 9-8-3) will head to Ohio State University next weekend to face the No. 2 Buckeyes in league play. The Friday-Saturday series will get underway at 5:00 p.m. on Friday in Columbus, Ohio.
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BULLDOG NOTES: UMD shuts out a series for the second time this season … the last time was against Syracuse back on Sept. 25-26 … Thea Johansson now leads UMD with 15 goals this season … Johansson and Ida Karlsson leave for Swedish Olympic duties Sunday.