The University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team will hit the ice early Saturday morning, but for the Bulldogs, it won't feel early at all.
 
That's because UMD will be trading in its 6 a.m. workouts with strength and conditioning coach Julianne Vasichek for the first official practice of the 2014-15 season, ditching the sand of Park Point for the ice of AMSOIL Arena.
 
The Bulldogs are coming off a year that set the record for ties in a season (six), and there's no question head coach Shannon Miller wants to recapture the edge to push those games back into the win column.  UMD graduated two seniors this past May, including second leading scorer Jamie Kenyon (17-14=31) but turned over nine players in all.  Miller reloaded with seven freshmen, which boasts two 2014 Swedish Olympians in Michelle Lowenhielm and Marie Lindh, and a solid defenseman in Jessica Healey from Canada's U-18 squad.  In addition to the seven rookies, UMD added two transfers, including forward Michela Cava, and of course will welcome back senior blueliner Brigette Lacquette, who spent most of the 2013-14 season centralized with the Canadian Olympic Team. 
 
What the Bulldogs have returning is contender talent.  That includes their leading scorer from last season, senior winger Jenna McParland (11-22=33), as well as sophomore center Ashleigh Brykaliuk, who came on strong in the second half of her rookie season to turn in 23 points.  Lara Stalder literally bronzed her freshman season in Sochi, but the Swiss defenseman — a All-WCHA Third Team selection — added serious firepower to the Bulldogs backline with 22 points and 18 assists in just 28 games.  Kayla Black had the third most saves by a UMD netminder in a single-season with 874, and a comfortable junior goaltender in between the pipes will only bolster the Bulldogs defensive core. The result for UMD is what Miller hopes will be the perfect blend of young talent mixed with returning pedigree and leadership, which appears abundant in both seniors captains Zoe Hickel and Emma Stauber.
 
"The 2014-15 Bulldogs are poised to have an exciting and successful season," said Miller earlier in the week.  "We have made several changes to our roster, bringing in new student athletes that share the same goals as our program. We feel we have the right people on staff and on our roster to make a National Championship run. 10 newcomers change the energy of the team, increase our talent and provide depth for competition. We come together from six countries for a common goal and are excited to get started."
 
UMD will head to Storrs, Connecticut to face the University of Connecticut for its first two games of the season on Sept. 26-27 before returning home to AMSOIL on Oct. 3-4 against the University of Wisconsin.  Both games will start at 6:07 p.m.

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