The No. 8 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team showed up to AMSOIL Arena with a strong defensive game plan and arguably one of the best goaltenders in the country, and in game one Friday against the top-ranked University of Wisconsin, it worked.

Eve Gascon led the way with 38 saves and the Bulldogs offense did enough to tie up the Badgers 1-1 for the initial Western Collegiate Hockey Association point before Josie St. Martin and Gascon secured the second point in the mandated league shootout.

"I think right from the very get go, I thought our team was playing with confidence," said UMD head coach Laura Schuler. "Playing connected especially like we were not afraid to play in our defensive zone. ?That's obviously a really talented team, and our structure was awesome, right? Right from the drop of the pock from the beginning of the game, all the way through to the end. ?So that was a really fun game for me as a coach to watch them execute like that. I think that was like one of the most complete games that we've played so far."

UMD left little doubt it was ready to take on the nation's top team early, and it showcased that on the scoreboard just 1:33 into the contest. Freshman Madi Burr skated from her own endline through all three zones before ripping a shot in the high slot that beat Ava McNaughton blocker side for the 1-0 lead.

The Bulldogs defensive structure would hold that lead up until 3.7 seconds left in the second period when Caroline Harvey beat a heavily screened Gascon to knot the game up at 1-1.

After being outshot 29-14 by UW in the first 40 minutes, it was UMD that pushed that offensive pedal in third. Twice officials were forced to review potential goals by the Bulldogs – at 6:18 and again at 16:50 – and twice the official reviews were inconclusive enough to overturn the no goal calls on the ice. UMD outshot the Badgers 10-4 in the final frame, but after 60 minutes, both sides headed to 3-on-3 overtime.

Another five minutes failed to deliver either side a win, so the skate officially went into the books as a tie – UMD's first tie against a No. 1 team since the 2019-20 season.

The WCHA shootout followed, and it was all Gascon between the pipes defensively. St. Martin entered as the final shooter for the Bulldogs, and the sophomore made it count, slowing down and hitting the five hole on McNaughton to give UMD a 1-0 lead with one Badgers skater left. Gascon did the rest, and the Bulldogs earned their second WCHA point of the night.

The shootout was UMD's first of the season, and Gascon's three saves in the shootout outshined only her 38 saves for the Bulldogs overall. UMD helped the nation's top scoring squad way under its per game average of 5.8, and it held the Badger under its 47.5 shots per game average with 39. 

The Bulldogs defense also lined up for a season-high 22 blocks against the Badgers, who outshot UMD 39-26. Neither team was successful on the power play (UW 0-1, UMD 0-2).

Both teams will do it all over again tomorrow afternoon in UMD (12-8-1, 8-6-1) annual Sophie's Squad game that will get underway at 2:02 p.m.

BULLDOG NOTES: Friday's tie was UMD's first against a No. 1 team since it tied Minnesota 2-2 back on Nov. 22, 2019 … Gascon has now made 133 saves against the Badgers this season for a 44.3 saves per game average.