UMD Women’s Hockey to Rely on Defense Heading Into WCHA Tournament

The Bulldogs have enjoyed their time against the Huskies in recent years as they've taken the past six playoff meetings against SCSU.

DULUTH, Minn.- For the 3rd straight postseason, it’s deja vu for the UMD women’s hockey team as they’ll take on St. Cloud State in the first round of the WCHA tournament.

The Bulldogs have enjoyed their time against the Huskies in recent years as they’ve taken those past six playoff meetings.

A big reason for UMD’s success in the past and the present has been the play of their defense against SCSU.

Head Coach Laura Schuler says they will once again rely on their defense in hopes it drums up the offensive side.

“We want to be a team that makes our opponents play perimeter hockey. That’s really important, protecting the middle of the ice. I think we were able to do that. We’ve shown that we can do that against Wisconsin, we’re doing it against Minnesota, obviously really unlucky bounce that 2nd game with Eve and her glove potentially you know putting that in. When you can play teams that close, you’re doing the right things defensively. Now for us, the next step is we’ve just have to put pucks away,” said Schuler.

UMD goaltender Eve Gascon has seen firsthand how good the defense can be. She explained why her unit is doing so well as of late.

“I think they’re really following the gameplan of taking my post and just like blocking a lot of shots. They’re doing a really good job of limiting the entry by the middle and just leaving me the shot by angle which is easier,” said Gascon.

The winner of this weekend’s series will go on to play in the WCHA Final Faceoff next weekend in Duluth.