The University of Minnesota Duluth return to action this weekend after almost a month off for the Holiday break. The Bulldogs will travel to Columbus, Ohio for a Western Collegiate Hockey Association series with Ohio State University. The puck will drop at 7:05 p.m. on both Friday, Jan. 7 and Saturday, Jan. 8 at the OSU Ice Rink.

THE RECORDS:  UMD is 13-1-2 overall and 11-1-2 in the WCHA after the 2004 portion of the season. Before the break the Bulldogs completed a series sweep of St. Cloud State University (3-0, 4-0). UMD is currently on a seven game unbeaten streak, including two victories over the Buckeyes on Nov. 26-27. Ohio State is currently on a two game winning streak after improving their record to 10-7-1 overall and 9-7-0 in the WCHA with wins over the University of North Dakota on Dec. 11-12. The Fighting Sioux are the only team that the Buckeyes have played since the Nov. 26-27 series with the Bulldogs.

BUCKEYE NOTES: Ohio State is lead by junior forward Jana Harrigan who has complied 28 points, including a team high 19 assists. Leading in the goal column for the Buckeyes is Jeni Creary, a senior forward, who has tallied 14 goals and eight assists so far this campaign. Ohio State has split the goaltending duties between senior Melissa Glaser and sophomore Erika Vanderveer. Glaser has a 5-5-0 record, a .901 saves percentage and a 3.00 goals against average. Vanderveer is 5-2-1 on the season with a .894 saves percentage and a 3.09 goals against average.

THE SERIES: This will be the third and fourth meeting of the 2004-2005 season between the Bulldogs and the Buckeyes. UMD improved its all-time record against Ohio State to 22-2-3 with two wins earlier this campaign. When facing each other at the OSU Ice Rink the Bulldogs own a 8-1-1 advantage.

AGAINST OHIO STATE: During the Thanksgiving series earlier this season 11 of UMD's skaters garnered at least a single point. Leading the offensive charge for the Bulldogs was senior Caroline Ouellette and sophomore Noemie Marin, who each tallied six points in the series. Four of their fellow teammates recorded more than a single point, including three points from seniors Nora Tallus, Julianne Vasichek and sophomores Jessica Koizumi and Juliane Jubinville.

ROSTER REVISIONS: Several changes have occurred to the Bulldogs roster since the last series against the Huskies. UMD will be welcoming back junior defenseman Krista McArthur who sat out the first semester due to academic ineligibility. The Bulldogs will also welcome three new faces to the team as Karine Demeule and Melissa Roy were added to the roster as forwards. UMD will also add a new goaltender as Patricia Elsmore joins the team. Elsmore will be replacing Christina Thompson who left the team during the holiday break. Demeule, Roy and Elsmore will not travel with the team on Thursday as they are still awaiting clearance from the NCAA Clearinghouse.

COACHING CHANGES: UMD will also have a new goaltending coach on the roster. Former coach Tim Cortes resigned to pursue professional opportunities and Robb Stauber will be taking his place. Stauber is also a volunteer goalie coach for the University of Minnesota men's team. In 1988, while playing for the Gophers Stauber earned the Hobey Baker award. He was the first of two netminders to have received the award. Stauber was also part of the 1993 L.A. King's team advanced to the Stanley Cup Championship series.

INJURY UPDATES: Sophomore Jessica Koizumi will return to action for the Bulldogs after missing the St. Cloud State series with an ankle injury. Anna-Kaisa Piiroinen will miss this weekends series with an ankle injury of her own.

RANKINGS: The Bulldogs remained in the No. 3 position in both the USA Today/AHM Poll and the USCHO.com poll released this week. The Bulldogs have been in the No. 3 spot for the past six weeks.

ON THE AIR: For the sixth year, you can hear all the action for the Bulldogs home and away games live on WDSM (710 AM).  Tom Hansen will be handling the play-by-play duties for his fifth season, the longest of any women's hockey play-by-play announcer in the country.  The broadcast can be hard via the internet at: www.umdbulldogs.com. Click on the \"Bulldogs on the Air\" link. Follow the link to WARP radio and enter in the call letter \"WDSM,\" then hit \"Go.\" Finally, click the “Click Here to Listen” link.

BULLDOG BITS: The Bulldogs second line was strong again as they accounted for two of the three goals during the Dec. 11 game against the Huskies and two of the four on Dec. 12...netminder Riitta Schaublin earned to straight shut-outs, the third and fourth of the season and fifth and sixth of her career...Allison Lehkre garnered her first career game-winning tally during the Dec. 11 contest...Ashleigh Schols recorded her first career goal on Dec. 12 as she knocked in the game-winning mark during the first period...the Bulldogs are 5-1-2 so far this season when playing on the road...UMD is 10-1-0 when scoring the first goal.

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