Bulldogs cap sweep with shutout of Beavers

DULUTH — Minnesota Duluth senior goaltender Tindra Holm picked up her 19th collegiate shutout Saturday by making just 12 saves in a 2-0 win for the No. 4-ranked Bulldogs against Bemidji State in WCHA play at Amsoil Arena.

Junior defenseman Tova Henderson and fifth-year senior wing Olivia Mobley scored the Bulldogs' goals to complete the series sweep following an 8-1 win on Friday.

Beavers sophomore goaltender Eva Filippova, who came on in relief Friday, finished with 37 saves, but no offensive support from her teammates.

“I thought they did a really good job of blocking a lot of the shots that we were taking today,” Bulldogs coach Laura Schuler said. BSU was credited with 18 blocked shots on UMD’s 70 shot attempts. “We really had to work to get the two goals that we got.”

Schuler wasn’t willing to call Friday’s 8-1 win perfect because of some defensive lapses by the Bulldogs. UMD got away from “Bulldog hockey” at times on Friday, she said.

“That’s playing honest hockey and defense first, and staying true to our habits,” Schuler said.

Saturday was much closer to “Bulldog hockey,” according to Schuler, who is always thinking of the big picture instead of just the short-term joy an 8-1 dismantling might bring.

“It’s awesome to get another two wins under our belt,” Schuler said. “And for us it’s about cultivating good habits — good habits that are going to help carry us through every game we play.”

The Bulldogs were confident on Saturday. That was Schuler’s biggest positive from Saturday’s game. It’s easy to be confident when you’re leading by five, six or seven goals. It’s a different story when you’re up by one or two goals.

“They were still playing with that confidence and that poise versus panicking,” Schuler said. “I didn’t think we panicked at all today, even though it was a close game on the scoreboard. I was super, super happy with the girls and how they were playing.”

Henderson finishes with three goals in the series and now has five through 14 games in 2024-25 after scoring just two in her first 77 games as a Bulldogs freshman and sophomore.

Henderson gave the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead 12:47 into the game, scoring on UMD’s one and only power play of the game.

After scoring twice on Friday, Henderson heaped credit for the uptick in offense on her defensive partner, fifth-year senior Nina Jobst-Smith, in her postgame interview. Henderson said playing with Jobst-Smith gives her confidence, and Jobst-Smith said that’s exactly what has stood out to her about Henderson this year.

“She’s always had the skill set in college and I feel like her and I have taken similar paths in that sense, having a slower start to our careers,” Jobst-Smith said. “Once we get going, we’re hot. Tova is hitting that point in her career where she is going to be producing for us all night long.”

The Olivias lead the Bulldogs in goals scored through 14 games with Mobley getting her sixth on Saturday after fellow fifth-year senior Olivia Wallin got a hat trick on Friday. Wallin assisted on a snipe by Mobley in the second period to put the Bulldogs up by two.

Mobley credited her teammates, and good habits from the previous shift for setting up the score.

“(Wallin) gave me a nice breakout pass, we had speed coming through,” Mobley said of her goal, that came on a two-versus-one rush with senior center Jenna Lawry. Mobley kept the puck and took the shot herself. “Jenna drove back door, which was huge. It pushed the goalie back.

“It starts in the (defensive) zone, with those little habits. That was a whole play before, a shift before setting it up. I was just able to execute on that one and get it done.”

Holm picked up her second shutout as a Bulldog on Saturday after posting 16 in three seasons at Long Island University. Holm only had to make two saves in the opening 20 minutes before the Beavers started getting a few more pucks on her during a power play in the second period.

Saturday’s 12 saves were not the fewest Holm has had to make to get a shutout. She stopped 9-of-9 for the Sharks on Jan. 27, 2023, against St. Michael as a sophomore and 6-of-6 on Oct. 29, 2021 as a freshman, also against St. Michael.

The Bulldogs will host Vermont for a nonconference series at 6:01 p.m. on Friday and 3:01 p.m. Saturday over Thanksgiving weekend. It’s the second of three nonconference series on this year’s schedule.

Bemidji State 0-0-0—0
Minnesota Duluth 1-1-0—0
First period
1. UMD, Tova Henderson (Danielle Burgen, Mary Kate O’Brien), 12:47
Second period
2. UMD, Olivia Mobley (Olivia Wallin), 8:18
Third period
No scoring
Saves — Eva Filippova, BSU, 37; Tindra Holm, UMD, 12.
Power play — BSU 0-1; UMD 1-1. Penalties — BSU 2-4; UMD 2-4.