A humbling 9-2 loss to Minnesota-Duluth in the first game of its Western Collegiate Hockey Association weekend series Saturday night didn't totally deflate the UND women's hockey team.
The Sioux actually elevated their play Sunday in Ralph Engelstad Arena, but the Bulldogs did enough to pull out a 3-2 victory.
"We actually took a step forward," UND goalie Brittany Kirkham said. "Duluth is absolutely stacked, and we played them really close. The score didn't reflect that we played well."
"I think (Saturday) they got more bounces. Today we were more aggressive and didn't give them as many opportunities."
UND coach Brian Idalski said: "(Duluth) is one of the top teams in the country, easy. I think that we took a bit of a step and understood what it is to play at that level."
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Duluth, coming off two losses to Minnesota last weekend, went up 1-0 in the first period when Laura Fridfinnson scored on a quick wrist shot in front of the net.
It extended the lead to 2-0 less than six minutes later when Haley Irwin put one through a crowd of players and past Kirkham.
"Any time a team loses two in a row, the next game is going to be very intense," Duluth coach Shannon Miller said. "I'd say if we would have swept Minnesota last weekend, we may not have prepared ourselves as seriously as we did for Saturday's game."
Jodi Holland scored for UND at 9:11 of the second period when she picked up a rebound off a shot that was fired in from the left wing. Holland put one behind the left shoulder of Duluth goalie Johanna Ellison.
About seven minutes later, the Bulldogs scored for a 3-1 lead. On a power play, Heidi Pelttari fired one by Kirkham's left side.
UND answered one minute later with another goal by Holland on a helper from Stephanie Roy. Roy, from behind the net, hit Holland next to the left post, and Holland kicked it in past Ellison to the far corner of the net.
Kirkham, who was named the USCHO.com national defensive player of the week on Wednesday, finished with 39 saves Saturday and 25 on Sunday.
"Brittany's our kid, clearly our No. 1 goalie," Idalski said.
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Duluth had 50 shots on goal in Saturday's game and 28 on Sunday.
"They came in here with a chip on their shoulder," Idalski said of the Bulldogs. "We got them at their best on the first day, for sure. They had tons of shots on the power play (Saturday). Today we did a better job with our penalty kill.
"I thought we competed much better (Sunday). We were better in the defensive zone, we stayed out of the box and competed for three periods."
Duluth (6-2-0 WCHA, 7-2-1 overall) has defeated UND nine straight times and leads the all-time series 18-1.
The Sioux (2-3-1, 2-5-3) play at St. Cloud State at 7:07 p.m. Friday.
"We have a long way to go, but we improved, and that's part of the process for us in building this program," Idalski said.
