UMD was close to losing its first home opener of its seven-year history before two power-play goals just 42 seconds apart led the Bulldogs to a 3-2 victory over St. Cloud State.
UMD pulled out an early lead when Erin Olson garnered her first collegiate goal at 2:51 in the first period. The puck found the back of the net despite a cluster of bodies in front. Olson was assisted by Erin Holznagel, which was her first of the season and only the second of her career.
St. Cloud State tied the game 1-1 at the 16:28 mark of the second period. Senior forward Rachel Solgon scored her first career goal and first career point on a crossing feed from sophomore forward Abby Krause. SCSU took the lead, its first of the season, with 41 seconds remaining in the second period on a goal by junior forward Denelle Maguet.
From there it looked like St. Cloud would pull off another upset similar to the final meeting between the Bulldogs and the Huskies during the 2004-05 campaign, but the Bulldogs’ power play turned the game around.
At 15:25 freshman forward Tawni Mattila slipped a shot past SCSU goalie Lauri St. Jacques. Michaela Lanzl fed the puck to Mattila after picking up the rebound of Jessica Koizumi’s shot from the right circle.
Just 42 seconds later Koizumi earned her second goal of the season with a helper from Lanzl.
UMD was plagued early on by penalties as senior defeseman Krista McArthur tallied a hat-trick of penalties in the first period to put the Bulldogs on the defensive. UMD was able to hold off the attack by the Huskies with the man-advantage though, keeping them to 0-for-8 on the power-play, while going 2-for-6 themselves.
The Bulldogs, now 2-1-0 overall and in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, and St. Cloud will battle again tomorrow night at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center at 7:07 p.m. for the conclusion of the WCHA series.
