Katerina Mrazova scored the deciding goal in the fourth round of a shootout to yield the extra point to Minnesota-Duluth after the Bulldogs and Minnesota played to a 3-3 overtime tie.
The two points were the first for UMD (1-3-2, 0-3-1-1 WCHA) over Minnesota since a win in Duluth in January 2012.
“It just seems like we play so well, but we’re never rewarded, and tonight, we were for sure,” senior captain Emma Stauber said.
Minnesota (3-0-1, 1-0-1-0 WCHA) rallied from two down to force overtime. Meghan Lorence netted a pass from Megan Wolfe on a rush, and Hannah Brandt scored her second deflection goal of the night with five minutes left.
“Proud of our kids coming back there, down two goals in the third, to tie it up and get a point out of it,” Brad Frost said. “We played a good last two minutes of the second period and a good third period, and that was about it.”
After Friday’s game, Shannon Miller said her team just needed a bounce, and 5:47 into Saturday’s game, the Bulldogs got one. Stauber’s shot from the left circle deflected off Minnesota defenseman Brook Garzone’s stick and went in off the far post.
“It’s obviously a lot easier playing with a lead, because you can calm down a little bit and just stick to the game plan,” Stauber said. “Whereas if you’re down, you’ve got to do something to get the magic going.”
UMD increased its lead to two when Mrazova found Jenna McParland alone on the back side with net looming during a delayed penalty on the Gophers.
Brandt got Minnesota back into the game with 17 seconds remaining in the second period, deflecting a Lee Stecklein shot for her third goal of the weekend.
“We never lost any confidence tonight at all,” Miller said. “We really didn’t. Our third line got caught in our zone. I almost didn’t put them out, because there were like two and a half minutes left, but our first two lines were gassed. Then they got caught out there, and that changed the game. That’s the only time I felt that we were in trouble.”
Michelle Lowenhielm scored on a power play at 3:46 of the third period to build the lead back to two.
The Gophers’ power play was shut down for the first time this year, going scoreless on three chances, and the one constant was Brandt’s production.
“She’s been our best player, and she’s hard to shut down when she’s playing like she is now,” Frost said.
The tie stopped Minnesota’s road winning streak at 45 games, in the same building where it began. The road gets tougher, as the Gophers head to Madison to square off with No. 2 Wisconsin.
“We played way, way better than we did against Wisconsin last week, and now hopefully, we can just keep building on the way we played this weekend,” Stauber said.
Next up for UMD is a trip to North Dakota.
“I would say we’re where we need to be,” Miller said. “We need to be damned good early, because of the opponents, and we need to be ready, and we are.”
