After being away for four of its first five assignments of the young 2015-16 season, the University of Minnesota Duluth will hunker down at AMSOIL Arena (6,756) this Friday and Saturday (Oct. 30-31) for a two-game non-conference series with the University of Massachusetts-Lowell. The puck drops at 7:07 p.m. both nights.

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THE RECORDS: UMD is off to a 2-1-2 start this season while UMass-Lowell sports an unbeaten 3-0-2 record in all games and a 0-0-2 Hockey East mark.

HOW THEY RANK: Here is how the Bulldogs and River Hawks stacked up in this week's USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls:

    USCHO.com USA     Today/USA Hockey
UMD     No. 6                         No. 6
UML     No. 7                         No. 8

ON THE AIR: The two Bulldog-River Hawk bouts will be carried live on 92.1 FM The Fan with Bruce Ciskie handling the play-by-play responsibilities and ex-Bulldog winger Kraig Karakas providing color commentary. The broadcast can also be heard on KQ 105.5 FM in Grand Rapids/Hibbing, Minn.; KQ 106.7 FM in Ely/Virginia, Minn.; 105.7 FM The Fan Siren/Pine City, Minn., and Red Zone Sports Radio 930 in Aitkin, Minn., as part of the Bulldog Radio Network and at: 921thefan.com or free via the iHeartRadio app.

Both ends of this weekend's series will also be aired on My9 (KBJR DT 6.2/KRII DT 11.9) with Tom Hansen and former UMD standout forward Judd Medak serving as the on-air talent. The two telecasts are available on-line for a fee at: nchc.tv/umd.

THE COACH: The runnerup for the 2010-11 Spencer Penrose Award (American Hockey Coaches Association NCAA Division I Coach of the Year) and recipient of that honor in 2003-04, Scott Sandelin is in his 16th season behind the UMD bench where he has compiled a 270-262-72 overall record -- including a 148-102-35 mark since the 2008-09 opener. Besides capturing the school's first NCAA championship four years ago, his Bulldogs have won 20 or more games in five of the last seven seasons while advancing to five NCAA tournaments (2004, 2009, 2011,2012 and 2014), two Frozen Fours (2004 and 2011) and seven of 11 Western Collegiate Hockey Association Final Five playoff events between 2002-13. He has also helped produce a pair of Hobey Baker Memorial Award winners (Jack Connolly in 2011-12 and Junior Lessard in 2003-04), six NCAA All-Americans and 17 different All-WCHA selections. In addition, Sandelin has seen 16 of his UMD pupils go on to do time in the National Hockey League and one take part in the Winter Olympic Games (Justin Faulk for Team USA last winter). During the course of the 2011-12 season, the Bulldogs set a team record by going unbeaten in 17 straight games and were ranked first in both major weekly polls (USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine for a program-best nine consecutive weeks. In March 2009, UMD became the first play-in game participant to ever claim the Final Five title and, later that spring, strung together a school-record six-game postseason winning streak before it fell to Miami University 2-1 in the NCAA West Regional final. Nine years ago, Sandelin, 50, turned UMD into a NCAA Frozen Four participant for the first time in nearly a generation, marshaling his troops to their most victories (they were 28-13-4 overall) and highest WCHA finish (second place on a 19-7-2 mark) since 1992-93. For his efforts, the Hibbing, Minn., native was chosen the WCHA Coach of the Year as well as the national coach of the year by both insidecollegehockey.com and uscho.com. In 2002-03, Sandelin's charges went 22-15-5 overall and captured fifth place in the WCHA with a 14-10-4 mark while experiencing the greatest one-season turnaround of any league member that winter. One year earlier, he guided UMD to a 13-24-1 record in all games -- nearly doubling the number of victories from the previous season (7-28-4). Sandelin officially signed on with the Bulldogs on March 31, 2000 following six years of assistant coaching deployment at North Dakota (which won two NCAA titles during his tenure). Prior to that, Sandelin spent the 1993-94 season head coaching the Junior Elite Hockey League's Fargo-Moorhead Junior Kings after working in that same capacity (and doubling as general manager) the previous winter with the Fargo-Moorhead Express of the American Hockey Association. He capped off his four-year playing career at North Dakota in 1985-86 by being named one of 10 finalists for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award. An All-American second team selection and All-WCHA first team pick as a senior, Sandelin went on to play professionally for seven years, which included National Hockey League stints with the Montreal Canadiens (1986-88), Philadelphia Flyers (1990-91) and Minnesota North Stars (1991-92). Sandelin, one of just two active NCHC coaches to do time in the NHL (Denver's Jim Montgomery is the other), was the Montreal Canadiens' second-round pick in the 1982 NHL draft (40th choice overall). He served as Team USA's head coach at the 2005 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championships, directing that club to a fourth-place finish, and was an assistant coach for the U.S. entry at that same event in 2011-12.

THE SERIES: This Friday's clash will mark just the 14th meeting ever between UMD and UMass-Lowell. The Bulldogs hold a commanding 10-2-1 lead in the all-time series, which began on Jan. 4, 1985 at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center, and are 5-1-1 lifetime against the River Hawks in Duluth. The two clubs last met last met on Jan. 2, 2009 in the opening round of the Shillelagh Tournament in Hoffman Estates, Ill., where the Bulldogs prevailed, 2-1.

LAST WEEKEND: The Bulldogs and Notre Dame battled to a pair of 3-3 overtime ties Friday and Saturday night in South Bend, Ind. In the series opener, senior left winger Austin Farley, junior right winger Alex iafallo and senior right winger Austyn Young scored for the Bulldogs, who squandered a 2-0 second-period lead in the deadlock and got points from nine different players. The following evening, it was Notre Dame that blew a two-goal advantage -- two of them, in fact (2-0 and 3-1) -- as rookie defenseman Neal Pionk got the final equalizer with 3:45 gone in the third period. Senior center Tony Cameranesi pumped in two goals and assisted on Pionk's score while Pionk and Farley both generated two-point nights.

UMass-Lowell opened its 2015-16 Hockey East schedule by settling for two 1-1 overtime draws with Merrimack College. C.J. Smith (Friday) and Micheal Kapla accounted for the two Red Hawk goals. UMass-Lowell was outshot 35-15 in Friday and 58-33 over the weekend.

WELL DONE!: Tony Cameranesi and Neal Pionk were both recognized by the NCHC with weekly awards for their spirited performances last weekend at Notre Dame. Cameranesi was selected the NCHC Offensive Player of the Week after figuring in on four of UMD's six goals in the two-game non-conference set with the Irish. On Friday night he helped set up the opening goal of the series and then scored twice and assisted on the Bulldogs' other goal the following evening. He finished a 4 on the weekend and put a game-high seven shots on net in both ends of the series.

Pionk, the NCHC Defensive Player of the Week, picked up his first collegiate goal in Saturday's rematch -- the game-tying score early in the third period -- and was credited with an assist earlier in the evening. In addition to his two points in the series, the Hermantown, Minn., product was a 2 and blocked two shots while manning the point.

FREE HOCKEY: UMD has won just three of the last 21 games that have gone to overtime, going 3-5-13. Only three active Bulldogs -- junior right winger Alex Iafallo, junior left winger Kyle Osterberg and senior center Cal Decowski -- have an overtime goal to their collegiate credit. UMD's last extra-session victory came on Dec. 5, 2014 -- a 3-2 decision over Colorado College at AMSOIL Arena.

A SENIOR MOMENT: Fourth-year center Tony Cameranesi, is the lone Bulldog to mark in the points column in all five games to date and currently tops UMD in scoring with two goals and five assists. With 92 lifetime points, he now needs just eight more to become the 55th member of UMD's Century Club. The last Bulldog to crack the 100-point career plateau was center Travis Oleksuk during the 2011-12 season. Cameranesi and junior center Dominic Toninato are currently tied for fifth nationally in shots with a even 5.0 per game.

A SENIOR MOMENT II: Tony Cameranesi and defenseman Andy Welinski have taken shifts in all 119 games since joining the Bulldog program in 2012-13. They are also part of UMD's eight-member senior class -- its largest since the 2004-15 season (11). That group also consists of forwards Cal Decowski, Austin Farley, Charlie Sampair and Austyn Young, defenseman Willie Corrin and goalie Matt McNeely.

OUR HOUSE: The Bulldogs are unbeaten in six of their last seven home outings (4-1-2) going back to last year. In its only 2015-16 AMSOIL Arena appearance thus far (Oct. 17), UMD lowered the boom on arch-rival Minnesota 3-0 in front of school-record crowd of 7,569.

DOING QUITE THE NUMBER: In a special pre-game ceremony this Friday night, UMD will officially retire Glenn "Chico" Resch's No. 1 jersey, making the UMD Athletic Hall of Fame charter member the fourth Bulldog male in any sport to be so recognized. He'll join Brett Hull (whose No. 29 was retired on Feb. 3, 2006), Keith Huffer Christiansen (No. 9 on Jan. 30, 1988) and Bill Watson (No. 14 on Oct. 24, 2014) in that exclusive club.

Resch was selected to the All-Western Collegiate Hockey Association second team as a senior team captain in 1970-71 and exited the Bulldog program ranking among the top three leaders in virtually every career and single-season statistical category for UMD goaltenders. The recipient of UMD's Outstanding Senior Athlete Award for 1970-71, Resch went on to spend 14 years in the NHL with the New York Islanders (1973-81), Colorado Rockies (1981-82), New Jersey Devils (1982-86) and Philadelphia Flyers (1986) before retiring in 1986 at the age of 37. He became the first ex-Bulldog to take part in an NHL All-Star Game, doing so in 1976, 1977 and 1983 and patrolled the crease for the 1979-80 Stanley Cup champion N.Y. Islanders. The Regina, Saskatchewan., native is the only goaltender to ever represent two different countries at the Canada Cup. In 1976, he was a member of Canadian entrant and eight years later he suited up for the United States. Resch also played for the U.S. at the 1982 International Ice Hockey Federation Championships in Finland in 1982. After retiring, he served as the goaltender coach for the Philadelphia Flyers in 1987-88 and embarked on a broadcasting career that same season. For 18 years (1996 to 2014) he was the lead analyst for the New Jersey Devils on MSG and FSN New York.

BULLDOG BITS: Kasimir Kaskisuo, a member of the 2014-15 NCHC All-Rookie Team who last spring became just the third NCAA I-era (1961-present) freshman to be named UMD's Most Valuable Player, has now made 17 consecutive starts going back to last February.

UMD went 0-for-12 on the power play last weekend against Notre Dame and has failed to score in its last 17 chances with the manpower advantage since the second period of its 3-1 win at Minnesota on Oct. 16.

The Bulldogs retain 21 of 25 lettermen from last year's club and those 21 veterans accounted for 85 percent of UMD's scoring production (255 of 300 points) and 81.7 percent of its goal total (94 of 115).

Tony Cameranesi currently paces all active Bulldogs in lifetime points (92) while senior left winger Austin Farley ranks first in both career goals (33) and power play scores (16). Junior defenseman Carson Soucy, the lone Bulldog to ever be drafted by the Minnesota Wild (fifth round in 2013) sports the best plus-minus figure ( 19).

UMD has already given up as many shorthanded goals this season (one, which was registered by Notre Dame last Friday) than it did all of 2014-15 (in 40 games).

The Bulldogs have allowed just one first-period goal this season (to Notre Dame on Saturday) while scoring four of their own during that same time frame.

All 23 non-goalies on the 2015-16 roster have now played at least one game, with the last addition to that list being sophomore left winger Blake Young (last Saturday night).

Last Saturday in South Bend, Tony Cameranesi, Austin Farley and Neal Pionk were the first Bulldogs to turn in multiple-point nights this season.

The Bulldogs' eight defensemen finished with 25 goals in 2014-15 -- the seventh highest output in the nation. Those 25 goals were also the most by a UMD blue line ensemble since 2003-04 (also 25) and 20 more than the previous winter when all five scores came off the stick of Andy Welinski. Welinski became the first individual in 31 years to lead all Bulldog blueliners in scoring for a third straight winter. (Hobey Baker Memorial Award winner Tom Kurvers did it four times from 1980-84). He and Neal Pionk are the lone two UMD defensemen to collect a goal thus far in 2015-16 (Welinski's was a shortie -- the second of his career -- at Bemidji State University on Oct. 10).

Of the eight NCHC head coaches, only one (Miami's Enrico Blasi with 17 seasons) has been at his current school longer than Scott Sandelin (16 seasons). During his Bulldog tenure, Sandelin has compiled a 73-40-16 record in 129 non-conference assignments (a. 628 winning percentage).

Going back to a 5-4 loss to visiting Minnesota on Oct. 15, 2011, the Bulldogs are unbeaten in 53 of the 54 games they've struck for more than three goals (48-1-5). The sole setback during that stretch was inflicted by Minnesota State-Mankato on Oct. 17, 2014 in Duluth (5-4 in overtime).

Senior left winger Charlie Sampair will turn 22 this Saturday.

UMD has put the ninth most shots on goal (36.4 per night) of any club in the nation to date.

Freshman left winger Adam Johnson is part of the 11th father-son combinations that have been part of the UMD program. His dad, Davey Johnson, was a four-year letterman and captained the Bulldogs as a senior center in 1980-81. Junior center Dominic Toninato also followed in his father's footsteps (Jim Toninato, 1982-86).

UMD did something last winter it had done only one other time in 54 years of competing at the NCAA I level -- go through an entire regular season without being swept. (The Bulldogs also accomplished that feat in 2010-11). North Dakota was the only other 2014-15 NCHC school to make that claim.

The Bulldogs were slotted second in the first USCHO.com poll of 2015-16 and that represented their highest preseason ranking in that poll's history (bettering the No. 5 position it occupied in 2004-05).

Earlier this month, UMD announced that it will host the 2017 Ice Breaker Tournament. Joining the Bulldogs in the four-team field at AMSOIL Arena will be Minnesota, long-time rival Michigan Tech and 2014 NCAA champion Union College.

UP NEXT: UMD will begin its third season of NCHC play on Nov. 6-7 with a first-ever visit to the new Baxter Arena to take on Omaha.