Gophers women’s hockey team completes sweep of Minnesota Duluth

DULUTH – The Gophers women’s hockey team contained longtime WCHA rival Minnesota Duluth, winning 3-2 Saturday afternoon in a physical matchup that found the Gophers holding off the Bulldogs’ 5-on-3 advantage in the closing minutes.

With the victory, the No. 3 Gophers (10-3-1, 6-3-1 WCHA) swept the No. 4 Bulldogs (6-5-1, 5-4-1 WCHA) at Amsoil Arena. The two teams won’t see each other again until the final series of the regular season.

The Gophers’ Peyton Hemp, Gracie Graham and Emma Conner scored goals and Abbey Murphy got two assists. UMD’s Kamdyn Davis and Nina Jobst-Smith scored for the Bulldogs.

Gophers freshman goalie Hannah Clark had 31 saves; UMD’s Éve Gascon had 35.

The Gophers eased past the Bulldogs 4-1 in Friday’s opener, helped by two goals by Ella Huber, one shorthanded the other an empty-netter, and two assists by Natalie Mlynkova.

“I think it was our first real weekend that we can be really, really proud of how we played,” Gophers coach Brad Frost said. “Obviously, Duluth is No. 4 in the country, they’re a tough out, especially at home, and so to be able to play with that pace and compete the whole 120 minutes, that was really good for us.”

Frost gave a nod to Conner’s third-period goal that gave the Gophers a bit of breathing room.

“It was really a team effort,” he said. “We really had to compete in battle out there.”

UMD freshman defender Davis scored her first career goal off a backhanded pass from sophomore winger Grace Sadura. Davis skated in from Clark’s left side and lofted it to the right corner in the first five minutes of the opening period. Gophers freshman defender Graham whipped the puck past Gascon midway through the period to tie the game. Gophers senior winger Hemp scored a power-play goal in the final two minutes of the first period.

The Gophers closed the period with a 2-1 advantage.

UMD’s Sadura left the game near the end of the second period after taking a major misconduct penalty for making contact with an opponent’s head. The Bulldogs were able to kill the penalty to close the scoreless period.

Gophers junior winger Connor scored her first goal of the season midway through the final period, putting a rebound past Gascon. The Bulldogs had a 5-3 power-play advantage when Jobst-Smith sent the puck sailing high past Clark in the final five minutes. UMD pulled Gascon in the final minute but didn’t score.

“Obviously, it’s not the outcome we want, but our goal every time we step on the ice is to be better than we were the day before,” said UMD coach Laura Schuler. “I thought we were better today than yesterday. We definitely had the chances. Luck didn’t go our way, but I really liked how we pressed.”

The Gophers last lost to the Bulldogs in an NCAA regional final in March 2022.

The Gophers host No. 8 St. Cloud State for a home-and-home series next weekend. The Bulldogs host unranked Bemidji State.