Tova Henderson may be a senior defenseman for the No. 10 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team, but for the weekend, she was the heart and soul of the Bulldog offense.
Henderson repeated her overtime game-winning heroics of Friday night Saturday afternoon in Ridder Arena to push the Bulldogs past the No. 3 University of Minnesota in overtime to seal the series sweep – the first by a UMD team over the Gophers since 2017.
The Bulldogs end the regular season currently in the midst of a six-game winning streak, a span that UMD and its goaltender Eve Gascon have allowed just five goals over for a 0.81 goals against average. The Bulldogs have also outscored their opponents 19-5 over their current six-game victory span.
Despite just three shots landing on net in the first 10 minutes of the game, UMD took a 1-0 lead late in the first period, scoring its fifth power play goal in its last six games just 12 seconds into its first power play. Mary Kate O'Brien found Caitlin Kraemer skating across the crease for the game's first goal at 18:03 – Kraemer's 15 goal of the season.
The Gophers equalized 7:03 into the second period on a goal from Anabelle Fanale, but that would end the scoring of either side in regulation. Despite Minnesota tipping the ice 30-19 in shots in the final, Eve Gascon and the Bulldog defense stood tall, denying the Gophers on 34-of-35 shots in regulation.
As she had the night before, Henderson, who had the secondary assist on Kraemer's power play tally earlier and the game-winner Friday night, found herself with the puck once again skating into the Gophers defensive zone. Henderson split a pair of Gophers to get on to her forehand and ripped a shot far side past Minnesota rookie goaltender Layla Hemp for the stunning 3-2 overtime win.
Henderson posted a two-goal, two-assist weekend, figuring in four of UMD's five goals in the series and extended her current scoring streak to three games (2g, 3a). Kraemer had the lone assist on Henderson's game-winner, recording two points in the game in her own right.
But arguably the game's most valuable player was Gascon, who foiled the Gophers time and again Saturday, including 29 times in the final 40 minutes alone en route to her 17th win of the season – a collegiate single-season best for the junior. Saturday was also Gascon's third-straight game with 31 or more stops in a game – Gascon is also averaging a 0.81 GAA average over UMD's six-game winning streak.
The Bulldogs (19-12-3, 15-10-3) moved into ninth in the critical NPI ratings after the weekend, and will head back to AMSOIL Arena for one final series this weekend when the host a WCHA First Round skate Friday, Saturday and if needed, Sunday. Friday's game will get underway at 2:00 p.m., while Saturday and Sunday will get underway at 1:00 p.m. The Bulldogs will face either Minnesota State University of St. Cloud State University, but won't know until the Huskies finish their series with the University of Wisconsin Sunday afternoon.
BULLDOG NOTES: UMD pulls of its first series sweep over Minnesota since Jan. 13-14, 2017 in AMSOIL Arena … the road sweep is the first since in Minneapolis since Nov. 3-4, 2005 … UMD has had back-to-back wins against the Gophers but not in a series since 2017 … the Bulldogs split both their series against Minnesota over the 2021-22 series, including back-to-back games on Oct. 9, 2021 and Dec. 10, 2021, but neither was a series sweep … UMD has scored five power play goals in its last six games … UMD six-game winning streak is its second six-game winning streak of the season.
