No. 3 Bulldogs Season Ends at the Hands of No. 5 Minnesota in NCAA Quarterfinals

For 60 hard fought minutes, the University of Minnesota Duluth women’s hockey team battled the Gophers of the University of Minnesota in Saturdays National Collegiate Athletic Association quarterfinal playoff game.

The Bulldogs season came to an end after Saturday's 1-0 loss. The loss comes just seven days after both teams met in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association semi-final match that saw UMD topping the Gophers in double overtime.

A goalie battle that will not soon be forgotten saw the games lone goal come 7:54 into the final period by freshman defenseman Patti Marshall who buried a back-door onetime feed from junior forward Kelly Pannek.

(Crowell Quote) “I think it was a great game, obviously, it came down to one goal and our players gave it everything they had,” UMD head Coach Maura Crowell said Saturday following the loss, “its obviously not the way we wanted our season to end but congratulations to Minnesota on advancing to the Frozen Four.”

UMD had their chances to score in the contest. Peppering Gopher goaltender Sidney Peters with 25 shots and three hit posts.

“We came in after the second period and had just rang one off the crossbar but that’s hockey for you, it comes down to those inches,” said senior captain Ashleigh Brykaliuk, “In a game like that, bounces can go either way.”

The Bulldogs finished their season 25-7-5 with wins coming against the nation’s best like Wisconsin and Minnesota along with Boston College. All three of which will be featured in this year’s Frozen Four.

Photo courtesy of Dave Harwig