EAST MEADOW, N.Y. — Tindra Holm and Paul Bergström displayed their potential on Saturday night. And that gave the LIU women's ice hockey team a late chance to steal a victory against fifth-ranked Minnesota Duluth in the season opener on Saturday night.

In the collegiate head coaching debut of Kelly Nash, Minnesota Duluth scored a pair of empty-net goals in the final 37.2 seconds to hand the Sharks a 4-1 defeat at Northwell Health Ice Center.

Trailing 1-0, LIU nearly scored the equalizer midway through the third period, but Bulldogs goaltender Emma Soderberg turned away Carrigan Umpherville, who skated down the right side untouched. Seconds later, Anneke Linser scored at the other end to give Minnesota Duluth a two-goal cushion.

It was Holm, LIU's goaltender, who kept the Sharks in contention. She made a remarkable 61 saves.

"A fantastic job," Nash said. "She definitely kept us in the game. It's so great when you're on the ice and you have that faith in your goaltender back there. It's a game-changer for us."

Said Holm: "I was actually really nervous before this game. I'm always like that the first game of the season. It's good to get a game like this. I didn't have one second to think out there. I just played."

LIU pulled within 2-1 when Bergström — fresh off an appearance with Team Sweden in the IIHF Women's World Championships — scored a power-play goal into the upper left corner with 3:24 remaining.

However, the Bulldogs answered with a pair of empty-net goals in the final minute. 

Minnesota Duluth had 65 shots on goal to LIU's six, but the Sharks nonetheless remained in the game.

The teams meet again on Sunday at 7:45 p.m. at Northwell Health Ice Center.

"I think it was a good start to our season, for sure," Nash said. "There was good pace and good energy. I think we got better as the game went on. I mentioned to the team before — we had 13 practices before this game, before playing the fifth-ranked team."