Gophers win 100th career point to seal 3-2 overtime sweep
Minnesota defeated UMD twice at AMSOIL Arena, with Ava Lindsay scoring the decisive goal in the first game and Sloane Hartmetz finding her first collegiate goal in the second.
By Chloe Martin ·
Ava Lindsay scored the winning goal with 36.9 seconds left in overtime on Friday, marking her 100th career point and securing a 3-2 victory for the No. 2 Minnesota women’s hockey team.
The Gophers completed a series sweep against the University of Minnesota Duluth with two back-to-back wins at AMSOIL Arena. Friday’s game saw sophomore forward Bella Fanale score twice in the first period to give Minnesota a 2-0 lead. Duluth cut the deficit to one on a power play early in the second period. The Bulldogs tied the score with 34.5 seconds remaining in regulation after pulling their goaltender. Freshman forward Adrianna Milani assisted Lindsay, who fired a shot from the slot to win the game.
Minnesota faced an absence in the lineup as junior defenseman Chloe Primerano, junior forward Julia Schalin, and sophomore forward Tereza Plosova competed internationally. Head coach Greg “Boom” May noted that the team responded well after allowing the late tying goal. May stated, “I give our team a lot of credit. We could’ve felt bad about ourselves, but we didn’t. We dug in there, had a great overtime and finished it off.”
Saturday’s contest followed a similar trajectory, ending in another 3-2 loss for Duluth. The first fifteen minutes were scoreless until freshman forward Maddie McCullough opened the scoring at 15:39 of the first period. Duluth tied the game just over a minute later. Sienna D’Alessandro, a sophomore forward, restored Minnesota’s lead 55 seconds after Duluth’s goal.
Freshman defenseman Sloane Hartmetz scored her first collegiate goal in the second period to extend the Gopher lead. Hartmetz had been named Western Collegiate Hockey Association Defender of the Week the previous week for her four-assist performance against Lindenwood. Her goal against Duluth proved to be the game-winner.
Duluth cut the lead to one goal early in the third period, but Minnesota maintained its advantage for the remainder of the match. Junior goaltender Hannah Clark stopped 54 shots across the two-game series. May observed that both teams played with more speed and physicality on Saturday compared to Friday.
The coach acknowledged the difficulty of winning two road games against a strong opponent. “They’re a tough team to beat, especially to beat them twice on the road,” May said. “Overall, just proud of our group for persevering after they scored early enough in the third period to make us think about our game a little bit. We stuck with it and found a way to get the job done.”
Source: Minnesota Daily
