Lady Dogs fall to Gophers

NSO – NEWS RELEASE

 
Facing a highly rated opponent for the third time in as many outings, the University of Minnesota Duluth showed that it can play with any team in the country on Friday night. The top-ranked University of Minnesota clung to a one-goal lead for the majority of the contest, adding insurance markers in the third period en route to a 3-0 Western Collegiate Hockey Association victory at AMSOIL Arena.

After a tightly contested start, it was the visitors who struck first — on the power play at the 15:40 mark of the opening frame — before the Bulldogs took the opportunity to regroup during the first intermission. UMD responded by carrying the play in the middle frame, outshooting the visitors by an 11-9 margin and creating several solid scoring opportunities. The Bulldogs continued to apply pressure during the final 20 minutes of play, but could not pull even before Minnesota stretched its lead and held on until the final horn.

UMD goaltender Kayla Black stymied the Gopher offense for most of the evening, including a brilliant pad save on a penalty shot to hold a scoreless first-period tie. Black, a junior from Blyth, Ontario, finished with 36 stops in the losing effort. Gopher netminder Amanda Leveille turned aside all 26 shots she faced to record the shutout.

“We just spent a lot of time working on our defensive play, our forecheck, our backcheck and a lot of time in our d-zone so that we could help [Black] out,” Bulldog head coach Shannon Miller said of her club’s preparation during the week. “I thought we did a very good job defensively, until the very end there … it wasn’t a 3-0 game even though we did make a mistake at the very end.”

Special teams proved to have a significant impact on the final score. Following a perfect weekend on the penalty kill against the University of Wisconsin, UMD (1-3-1 overall and 0-3-0 in the WCHA) fell victim to a pair of power play goals against three chances. Minnesota (3-0-0: 1-0-0) kept the Bulldogs off the board on two opportunities with the player-advantage.

The Bulldogs will look to bounce back and salvage a weekend split when the rival squads square off again on Saturday night. The opening faceoff in the series finale is set for 6:07 p.m.