UMD Women Sweep Gophers

George Bailey – NSO

Saturday night’s win for the Bulldogs was more than 10 years in the making, but was it ever worth the wait.

The No. 4 University of Minnesota Duluth once again toppled the No. 2 University of Minnesota 5-3 in front of 2,024 fans at AMSOIL Arena, earning the first sweep of the Gophers by a Bulldog squad since Oct. 29-30, 2010.  More importantly, it drew UMD within one point of Minnesota in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association race for second place and energized the Bulldogs post season aspirations with the second best record in the NCAA against nationally ranked teams at 6-3-3.

“We expected to win this game, and I can’t say I’ve been here where we expected to win against a top one-two team in the country for 60 minutes,” said head coach Maura Crowell.  “We’ve obviously hit a new level and the historical side of it is a whole other thing, but credit to our senior class.  I always go back to them because they have been here through the good times and the bad and are now they’re reaping the benefits of sticking through things and putting their experience to good work.”

Minnesota jump started the offensive first period at 6:47 when Kelly Pannek drove home a rebound for the early 1-0 lead.  UMD answered 3:10 later on Katherine McGovern‘s second goal of the series.  McGovern corralled a wide rebound off Lara Stalder‘s shot from the top of the right circle, and from the extended goal line, managed to beat Gopher goaltender Sidney Peters over her shoulder.

Junior winger Maria Lindh doubled UMD’s goal count at the 9:37 mark, beating Peters over her glove to give the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead.  The Gophers responded at 16:17, on what appeared to be a deflected shot from the point by Sophie Skarzynski to draw Minnesota even at 2-2 and closeout the first period.

After besting her own career-long scoring streak Friday, Ashleigh Brykaliuk stretched her current spree to 13 games with a backhanded shot that snuck through Peters shoulder and the right pipe to put the Bulldogs back on top 4:54 into the second period.  Stalder then showcased one of the more impressive goals of her already robust career.  After tracking down a puck along the boards, Stalder skated at the Minnesota goal, stopped in front of the crease and sent Peters moving in the opposite direction with a first shot.  Stalder’s second shot hit the net and with it,  UMD gained its biggest lead of the game at the 14:11 mark.

The Gophers cut their deficit down to 4-3 with 2:28 left in the second period on a tally by Kate Schipper, but the lone goal of third period belonged to the Bulldogs.

In the midst of arguably one of the best two-game series of her career, Stalder registered her sixth point of the weekend (3g, 3a) with an exclamation point. Brykaliuk sprung the Switzerland native at the top of the slot, and Stalder one-timed her second goal of the game at 8:18 to run UMD’s tab on the Gophers up at 5-3.

All told, UMD’s feisty senior class had a hand in all five goals, and four of the five seniors notched two or more points in the contest.  Stalder led the way for both teams with two goals and an assist.

Maddie Rooney had 29 saves for UMD, who were outshot by Minnesota 32-26.  Peters made 21 stops for the Gophers, who fall to 16-5-2 and 12-4-2 in the WCHA.

“It’s a process, but we keep climbing and climbing,” said Brykaliuk.  “A lot of teams hit walls and they can’t recover, but we’re going forward and we are excited.  This is just one step along the way and we have a lot of confidence going into next weekend and the rest of the season.”

Next up for the Bulldogs is a trip to Bemidji, Minn., where UMD will play Bemidji State University next weekend at the Sanford Center.  Game time for the Friday-Saturday series is set for 3:07 p.m.

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