DULUTH, MN -- The No. 10 ranked UMD women’s hockey team (7-3-0, 4-2-0 WCHA) used solid play on both ends of the ice to skate to a 6-0 victory over the visiting St. Cloud State Huskies (2-8-0, 0-8-0 WCHA) Saturday afternoon at Amsoil Arena. With the victory, the Bulldogs completed their first sweep of St. Cloud State since November of 2017.  They also defeated the Huskies 3-2 in Friday night’s series opener. 

Leading the way for UMD with three points each were sophomore forwards Anneke Linser (2G 1A) and Kylie Hanley (1G 2A). A total of ten different Bulldogs added their names to the scoresheet, with Gabbie Hughes (1G 1A), Ryleigh Houston (2A), and Jalyn Elmes (2A) joining Linser and Hanley with multi-point nights.

In net senior goaltender Maddie Rooney was spectacular, posting 30 saves in two shutout periods of work before being lifted in the third in favor of sophomore Emma Soderberg. St. Cloud State netminder Emma Polusny finished with 35 saves on 41 shots against after being peppered by the UMD offense for most of the night. 

The Bulldogs got off and running quickly on Kylie Hanley’s first goal of the season just a 1:18 into the first period. Senior captain Jalyn Elmes carried the puck into the offensive zone with speed and ripped off a shot that Hanley was able to redirect past Polusny to give the Bulldogs the 1-0 lead early. 

UMD continued to pressure for much of the next eight minutes until the team’s leading goal scorer, Gabbie Hughes, doubled the lead on her eighth goal of the season. Hughes played a little give and go with linemate Anna Klein, receiving the return feed on the goal line before shoveling a backhander on net. Although her initial shot was stopped by the netminder, Hughes got her stick on the rebound and snuck the puck in. The play was blown dead by the officials, but was not initially indicated as a goal. It wasn’t until a three minute official review determined the puck entered the net that the Bulldogs were able to celebrate taking a 2-0 lead. 

UMD started the second period on the powerplay thanks to a Huskies delay of game penalty at the end of the first, and they didn’t wait long to convert. Junior defenseman Ashton Bell did the honors, putting the puck past Polusny to give the Dogs a 3-0 lead just 37 seconds into the period. 

From there on out it was time for the Anneke Linser show. The sophomore forward tallied her fourth goal of the season with just over twelve minutes left in the period. She drove to the net, getting open in the slot where linemate Hanley fed her a slick pass that she quickly one-timed past the goaltender to give the Bulldogs a 4-0 lead. Linser would add her fifth goal of the season and second of the game on a breakaway with just six seconds left in the period to make it 5-0 UMD. 

Freshman forward Mannon McMahon rounded out the scoring for the Bulldogs in the third, scoring her first collegiate goal on a backhander about halfway through the period. The goal gave UMD a 6-0 lead which would stand for the rest of the game. 

Up next for the Bulldogs is a well deserved week off before they travel to Columbus, Ohio to take on WCHA foe Ohio State Nov. 15 and 16. The games, and all WCHA conference contests can be viewed live for $29.99 a month on FloHockey.