The University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team will host the No. 4/5 University of North Dakota this Saturday and Sunday at AMSOIL Arena in the last regular season action of the 2013-14 season in Duluth, Minn. The Bulldogs need just one win or an Ohio State University loss to secure first round home Western Collegiate Hockey Assocation playoff ice. Both games over the weekend will get underway at 3:07 p.m., and both days feature some special events.
Saturday UMD will "Celebrate 15 Years of UMD Women's Hockey" with an alumni event. In addition, the Bulldogs will be recognizing the 2001 NCAA Championship team and its impact on women's athletics in conjunction with the 28th Annual National Girl and Women in Sports Day. A ceremonial puck drop before the game will feature 2000-01 team captain Brittny Ralph. Sunday is UMD Faculty and Staff Day and Senior Day. Both seniors will be honored at the conclusion of the game.
UMD NOTES VS NORTH DAKOTA (FULL PDF)
THE SERIES: All-time the Bulldogs are 35-9-3 against UND but have gone just 1-5-2 against North Dakota in their last eight meetings. UMD and UND have gone into overtime in three of the past six games, two of which went into the WCHA mandated shootout.
UMD dropped a 4-3 decision back on Oct. 12 before earning a 3-3 draw against then No. 5 North Dakota in Grand Forks on Oct. 13. Jenna McParland had two goals in the first skate, but the Bulldogs, despite leading 3-1 after two periods of play surrendered three third period tallies.
UMD erased a two-goal deficit the second day (Oct. 13) after trailing UND 2-0, benefitting from junior winger Meghan Huertas' two scores to earn the tie. The Bulldogs lost the WCHA shootout for the extra point 1-0.
UMD netminder Kayla Black made 71 saves over the weekend on 78 shots.
Six players had two or more points a game in the series, including McParland (2g, 1a), Lara Stalder (1g, 2a) and Jamie Kenyon (2a) on Oct. 12. Oct. 13 featured four players that doubled up, with Stalder (2a), Huertas (2g), Zoe Hickel (1g, 1a) and Tea Villila (2a) recording more than a point.
ABOUT NORTH DAKOTA: UND sits directly in front of the Bulldogs in third place in the WCHA with 44 points in 22 games compared to UMD's 41 in 24. Like UMD, no other team in the WCHA has been challenged by the departure of two Olympians in the middle of the season. UND, like the Bulldogs, lost its two Olympians four games ago. Second leading scorer Michelle Karvinen (13-8=21) and fourth-leading scorer Susanna Tapani (7-12=19) joined UMD junior blueliner Tea Villia on the Finnish Olympic Team two weeks ago. North Dakota retains the services of Josefine Jakobsen, who leads UND with 26 points on 11 goals and 15 assists. Brian Idalski is in his sixth season at North Dakota with a 109-111-24 overall record.
LAST TIME OUT: The Bulldogs swept Bemidji State 5-3 and 2-1 over the weekend in Bemidji, Minn.
UMD built up a 3-0 lead over the Beavers with two first period goals Friday night, including a power-play tally by defenseman convert Jenna McParland and Meghan Huertas' seventh goal of the season in less than 13 minutes. Rookie forward Ashleigh Brykaliuk made it a three goal game 7:40 into the second period, and after the Bulldogs allowed a power play goal a little under two minutes later, Brykaliuk netted a short-handed score to give UMD a 4-1 advantage into the second intermission. BSU scored two unanswered third period goals before Huertas recorded the empty-netter with just 36 seconds remaining to seal the UMD triumph.
Saturday afternoon UMD was outshot 18-12 in the first two periods and 27-22 in the game but still managed to secure a 2-1 win over the Beavers. Brykaliuk opened the games limited scoring with just 2:01 left in the second period, while Zoe Hickel netted her 10th goal of the year with a power-play goal and eventual game-winner 11:17 into the third stanza.
NOTES FROM THE BEMIDJI STATE SERIES: UMD is now 59-4-2 all-time against the Beavers and 3-1-0 this season. In four games, the Bulldogs outscored BSU 10-5
--A Bulldog win or Ohio State loss this weekend will secure home ice for the UMD in the first round of the WCHA playoffs.
--Three players had three point weekends for UMD, including Ashleigh Brykaliuk (3g), Zoe Hickel (1g, 2a) and Jenna McParland (1g, 2a).
--McParland continues to lead UMD in scoring with 28 points on 10 goals and a now-high 18 assists. She has compiled two or more points in seven games this season, a feat seconding leading scorer senior Jamie Kenyon (12g, 13) has also achieved seven times. Kenyon's 12 goals are currently a Bulldog high. Hickel has moved into third place over absent Olympic blueliner Lara Stalder with 22 points on 10 goals and 12 assists. Both Hickel and Stalder have each had two or more points in six outings, although Stalder has now played four less games.
--With three points last weekend (1g, 2a), McParland is now just 12 points away from UMD's 100-point club with 88 career points on 42 goals and 46 assists. In fifteen seasons of the program, the Bulldogs own a whopping 18 players who reached the 100-point mark, including six (all current or former Olympians), who compiled 200 or more in their UMD career.
--UMD ranks sixth in the NCAA with a 18.8 success rate on the power-play and sits eighth with a penalty-kill percentage of 87.2. Stalder continues to rank in multiple catergories in the national picture, ranking 16th for assists (0.71 a game), fifth among all defenseman in scoring (0.88 points per game) with 21 points in 24 skaters, and fourth among all freshman in points. She ranks second in the WCHA among all freshmen with 14 points (3g, 11a) in league play. Keynon and Brykaliuk are tied for seventh in the NCAA with five power-play goals, while Kenyon also ranks fifth with four game-winning goals.
MISSING BULLDOGS: Besides Olympians Lara Stalder and Tea Villila off to Sochi for the Olympics, it should be noted UMD is still without senior center Brienna Gillanders, who has missed the season due to injury and Brigette Lacquette, who will not rejoin the Bulldogs until August because of a medical situation. Lacquette was centralized with Team Canada for the first half of the current season.
BULLDOG NOTES: Rookie defenseman Lara Stalder has now netted 21 points (4g, 17a) in 24 skates, the most points by a rookie defenseman since Jocelyne Larocque contributed 26 points (4g, 22a) during the 2007-08 season.
--With five ties so far this season, the Bulldogs set a program record, surpassing the previous high of four. UMD's fifth WCHA shootout of the season, also a program record. The Bulldogs have won three of their five shootouts this year.
--Kayla Black is securely in the fourth slot for career saves and now owns 1,463 in 58 games. Black settled into the seventh spot for most saves in a season with 688 stops in 27 games so far this year. Black also owns the sixth slot after making 775 in 2012-13 as a freshman.
THE BULLDOG OLYMPICS: 11 current and former UMD players and one former assistant coach will suit up in Sochi for the 2014 Winter Olympics. The Bulldogs have players on six of the eight teams competing and have UMD connections on the ice for seven of the eight teams.
Two alums, Caroline Ouellette (Canada) and Kim Martin (Sweden) will be making their fourth Olympic appearances. Ouellette is a three-time gold medalist, while Martin owns a silver and bronze medal.
Eight of UMD's 11 current or fomer players in the Olympics will be making at least their second appearance in the Games. Four of those players have earned medals -- Ouellette (three gold), Haley Irwin (Canada, gold), Martin (silver and bronze) and Pernilla Winberg (Sweden, silver).
Notably, UMD two-time All-American Ouellette will captain team Canada. In addition to Ouellette, the Bulldogs have two other former All-Americans in Sochi -- Canada defenseman Jocelyne Larocque (2010-11, 2008-09) and Swedish netminder Martin (2007-08).
Women's hockey kicks off in Sochi on Saturday, Feb. 8 with the first game slated for noon Sochi time between the USA (Julie Chu) and Finland (Tea Villila). The second game from the same group is set for 5 p.m. Sochi time, featuring defending gold medal winners Canada (Caroline Ouellette, Haley Irwin and Jocelyne Larocque) against Switzerland (Lara Stalder).
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