The No. 11/12 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team rolled to a 5-0 win over Bemidji State University Saturday afternoon inside the Sanford Center in Bemidji, Minn. Th Western Collegiate Hockey Association win completes a shutout sweep for the Bulldogs, who have now secured to shutout series so far this season.
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The shutout also is the fourth of the year for senior goaltender Eve Gascon, who set the program career shutout record Friday night with 24 and leaves Bemidji with 25.
UMD's offense was led by Cailtin Kraemer and Molly Cole, who each netted two goals a piece, including two by Kraemer in the second period alone.
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Cole opened the scoring late in the first, shoveling through a feed from Zoey Krock with 58 seconds left in the first for the 1-0 lead.
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Kraemer opened it up in the second period, scoring two unassisted goals less than two minutes a part. The junior center went end-to-end for her first shorthanded goal of the year at the 5:40 mark before driving to the net less than 90 seconds later from the redline to make it a 3-0 game.
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Cole collected her second of the game late in the frame with a deke on BSU netminder Sophia Villanueva to stretch UMD's lead to 4-0 at 14:35, her third of the season.
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Sophomore winger Rae Mayer put the afternoon on ice 17:03 into the third period, putting the finish another end-to-end goal that started with a puck flip from Kraemer in the Bulldog defensive zone.
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UMD outshot the Beavers 34-18 and got 18 saves from Gascon in her second shutout series of the season. The Bulldogs were 0-of-4 on the power play but chased Villanueva out of the net after 16 saves and four goals against and 40 minutes of work. Ashlyn Hazlett had 13 stops for BSU in 20 minutes of action for BSU, who falls to 1-5-0 and 0-4-0 in WCHA play.
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The Bulldogs (6-2-0, 3-1-0) will have a week off from outside competition before returning to AMSOIL Arena on Oct. 30-31 to host the No. 3 University of Minnesota.Â
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BULLDOG NOTES: Caitlin Kraemer now has seven goals on the season – tying her for the fourth-most in the NCAA…Kraemer has played two less games than three players ahead of her or tied with her… Kraemer also ranks fifth in +/- with a +10…among goaltenders that have played three or more games, Eve Gascon ranks first in GAA (0.40), saves percentage (.982) and wins (5) and leads the NCAA outright in shutouts with four – double the netminders in second.
