There was no upset to be had Friday afternoon at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center, where the No. 7/8 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team shutout St. Cloud State University.
The Bulldogs, who lengthened their current unbeaten streak against the Huskies to 13 games recorded their fourth team shutout on the season.
"I loved our first period, the bench was just feeling really good," said UMD head coach Maura Crowell. "I feel like everybody that went out there was doing what we expected her to do. Good start. Obviously we talked about that a lot throughout the week. I think they executed, and we had some really good looking plays at the net. Would've liked to see it continue throughout the game, but you know, the game flexes in different directions. We lost (Gabbie) Hughes after the first and had to jumble our lines, but we recovered well in the third period."
UMD cut right to the offensive chase to find the net at 6:19 on a goal by Clara Van Wieren that was created by Mannon McMahon. McMahon's move across the goal pulled SCSU goaltender Jojo Chobak with her, and her shot around Chobak found a wide open Van Wieren at the top of the crease to take the 1-0 lead.
The Bulldogs doubled down at the 11:54 mark when Gabbie Hughes' pass from behind the net hit off Danielle Burgen's skate and directed right to Anneke Linser open on the far side of the slot. Linser ripped it in for her fourth goal of the season, and gave UMD a 2-0 lead midway though the opening frame.
Neither team found the twine in the second or third periods, with the Bulldogs having a shots on goal advantage of 25-14 for the entire skate. St. Cloud State pulled Chobak with just over three minutes remaining in the game, but the Bulldogs defense lived up to its national billing, holding the Huskies scoreless on the day.
Senior goaltender Emma Soderberg earned her third shutout of the season and 14th of her career with 10 saves. Chobak had 23 stops for SCSU, who fell to 7-7 overall and 4-7 in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.
The Bulldogs improve to 8-5-0 and 4-5-0 in league play, and will wrap up against St. Cloud State tomorrow afternoon in St. Cloud at 2:00 p.m.