The No. 6 University of Minnesota Duluth women’s hockey team came close to knocking off the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers but would ultimately fall in both series games on February 21st and 22nd. The Bulldogs now prepare to enter the Western Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs, where they will begin by battling No. 11 St. Cloud State.

“They’re an opportunistic team. So, just making sure that we’re taking every player and just staying in the present moment, and, like, doing one shift at a time, one shot at a time,” said sophomore goaltender Eve Gascon.

The last time the Bulldogs faced the St. Cloud State Huskies on the ice was their series on January 10th and 11th, where UMD swept both games 3-0. Now, they’ll have to win a best of three game series to advance to the WCHA Final Faceoff, hosted at AMSOIL Arena in Duluth.

“We have to be on. They’re a team that comes at you, and they’re also a team that never gives up. And that’s something where we’ve seen, you know, where they’ve pulled their goalie with a lot of time left to go. Their head coach is not afraid to do that, you know, and take risks. And so, we have to be on our defensive game for sure in order to, you know, take care of business,” said UMD women’s hockey head coach Laura Schuler.

UMD will face off against St. Cloud in their best of three series beginning Friday, February 28th at 2pm at AMSOIL arena, click here to view the Bulldog’s full season schedule.