e No. 7 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team will continue with its current homestand this weekend as St. Cloud State University will visit AMSOIL Arena Saturday and Sunday.  Both games are scheduled  for a 3:07 p.m. puck drop.  It is also Youth Hockey Weekend at AMSOIL, and all youth hockey teams will receive a free ticket if reserved in advance, while all guests will receive a group rate of $4 if purchased in advance from the UMD Athletic Ticket Office.

USCHO RANKING:  UMD-- 7th, St. Cloud State-- N/R
USA TODAY/USA HOCKEY MAG: UMD-- 7th, St. Cloud State-- N/R
PAIRWISE RANKING:  UMD-- 6th, SCSU--, N/R

THE SERIES:  The Bulldogs are 52-10-4 all-time against the Huskies, and currently have a four-game winning streak against SCSU dating back to December of 2013.  Unbeaten in its last five skates with SCSU, UMD swept St. Cloud with 6-1 and 1-0 wins over in St. Cloud back on Nov. 14-15.

UMD had three points from Ashleigh Brykaliuk and two goals from Katerina Mrázová on Friday night en route to a 6-1 win over the Huskies on Nov. 14.  In all, four players (Tea Villila, Jenna McParland, Brigette Lacquette and Brykaliuk) notched two or more points in the skate and nine players picked up at least a point.

Saturday, Nov. 15, the Bulldogs needed just a single goal to earn the series sweep.  Senior center Brienna Gillanders netted her third goal of the season 17:22 into the first period, the game's lone tally.  Junior goaltender Kayla Black made 18 saves for her 13th career shutout and fourth of the current season.  

Senior captain Zoe Hickel did not suit up for UMD in the Nov. 15 outing contest.

WHERE THEY STAND:  The Bulldogs are currently in fourth place in the WCHA with a 8-6-2-2 record and 28 points, just two points behind Ohio State in third.  The Huskies are sitting in seventh place with a record of 3-12-1-1.

LAST TIME OUT:   No. 7 UMD (13-6-3, 8-6-2-2) split its series with Bemidji State at AMSOIL last weekend (Jan. 10-11).  The Bulldogs suffered a 4-1 setback on Saturday afternoon before bouncing back for a 2-1 win on Sunday.
In Saturday's 4-1 loss, UMD's second to the Beavers on the season, BSU struck twice on its power play.  The Bulldogs lone goal came from senior forward Zoe Hickel, who tied the game at 1-1 8:48 into the second period.  UMD outshot BSU 38-25.

Sunday, was a different story for the Bulldogs, who struck first on a goal by Katerina Mrázovå 4:34 into the opening stanza.  Though the Beavers equalized  18 seconds later, UMD again pummeled BSU with shots and was finally rewarded with 52 seconds left in the second period.  Brienna Gillanders redirected a shot from the point from Brigette Lacquette, and it would be the only goal UMD would need.  Kayla Black made 23 saves in her 12 win of the season.

NOTES FROM THE BEMIDJI STATE SERIES:  UMD outshot BSU 74-49 on the weekend, but the Beavers outscored the Bulldogs 5-3.  Overall, UMD and BSU split on the regular season at 2-2, but the Beavers outscored the Bulldogs 9-5.  UMD outshot BSU 135-106 in those four games.

--All-time, UMD is now 61-6-2 against BSU.  Five of UMD's six all-time losses have occurred in past four years.  The Bulldogs only two losses since mid October have both come against the Beavers.

--Last Saturday's loss to BSU was the first lost UMD has suffered in its first game back from the holiday break since Jan. 6, 2002.  The Bulldogs are 23-6-3 in their first series back after the break all-time.

BULLDOG NOTES:  With a goal on Saturday,  Zoe HIckel leads the Bulldogs with 13 goals.  Hickel has recorded a point in her last three games (two goals, one assist).  HIckel has five goals in her last eight outings and ranks 16th in the NCAA in goals and 10th with three game-winning goals.

--Overall, Ashleigh Brykaliuk owns the most points by a Bulldog currently, with 23 points on 10 goals and 12 assists in 22 games.  Four players have 18 or more points in their past 22 outings, including Brykaliuk and Hickel and both Jenna McParland (7g, 11a) and Lara Stalder (4g, 14a).

-- Now with 111 career points (50g, 61a), McParland is now tied as the 14th all-time leading scorer in Bulldog history. In that same vein, senior blueliner Brigette Lacquette now ranks as the 10th all-time scoring defenseman with 57 points, sits tied for 8th in goals scored (16) and is ninth with 41 assists by a blueliner in a career.

-- Kayla Black is ranked 4th in the nation with six shutouts and sits No. 15 with a 1.80 GAA and 14th with a .930 saves percentage.  Black is one shutout shy of setting a single-season record for shutouts at UMD. Black's 13 career shutouts rank her third in UMD goaltendening history behind Riitta Schaublin (17) and Kim Martin (16).

--UMD has yet to lose with a lead after the first period of play (6-0-1) and has suffered just one setback when holding on to a lead after two periods (11-1-1).  Ironically enough, the Bulldogs have scored just 13 goals in the first period, while now having netted 24 goals in both the second and third stanzas.

--Two players own +10 plus/minus ratings, including Brykaliuk and McParland.

--Senior defenseman Tea Villila is back on the ice for the Bulldogs in a limited capacity at practice.  Villila has missed seven games so far due to an injury suffered against Cornell back on Nov. 21.

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