The University of Minnesota Duluth will wrap up its season-long three week home stand this Friday and Saturday when Western Collegiate Hockey Association Ohio State University comes to AMSOIL Arena. The Buckeyes, coached by former Bulldog All-American Jenny Potter, will face-off against UMD at 7:07 p.m. Friday and 4:07 p.m. Saturday. Friday night is UMD's Faculty Staff Day, and all UMD Faculty and Staff can receive $5.00 tickets if purchased in advance at the UMD Ticket Office on campus.
THE SERIES: The Bulldogs are 62-14-3 all-time against the Buckeyes and are unbeaten against OSU in their last seven outings. UMD has gone 9-2-3 in its last 14 skates with the Buckeyes. OSU currently trails the Bulldogs, who are sitting in sixth place heading into the weekend, by five points.
The Bulldogs ended 2015 with a sweep over Ohio State in Columbus back on Dec. 11-12 by scores of 4-2 and 5-2.
In the Dec. 11 4-2 win, UMD got two goals and two assists from Ashleigh Brykaliuk, along with three assists from her line mate Lara Stalder. The Bulldogs trailed 2-1 after the first period before scoring three unanswered tallies, including three in the third period to secure the triumph.
On Saturday, Dec. 12, UMD broke a 2-2 tie at 4:22 of the second period on the first goal of Stalder's natural hat trick, and went on to defeat the Buckeyes 5-2. Stalder had four points in all, while Brykaliuk had three assists and Michela Cava had two goals and two assists four points. UMD's five goal output against the Buckeyes was a season-high. The Bulldogs have netted four goals a total of nine times.
LAST TIME OUT: UMD was swept last weekend by No. 7 Bemidji State in Duluth by scores of 2-3 and 0-2, only the second sweep by the Beavers of the Bulldogs in UMD's 17-year history.
On Friday night, the Bulldogs struck quicker against BSU than they ever had in program history with a goal a mere 19 seconds into the opening period. But three unanswered goals by the Beavers, including two power play tallies, put Bulldogs on notice, and UMD was only able to muster a power play goal of its own midway through the third period.
Junior forward and UMD leading-goal scorer Lara Stalder had both Bulldog goals Friday night for 14 tallies. Senior goaltender Kayla Black had 31 saves in her first action of 2016.
Saturday afternoon BSU again scored on a power play goal, its third of the series, and after netting a second goal at 1:46 of the third period, was able to hold UMD off the scoreboard for a second time this season. BSU is the only team that has shutout UMD twice this season.
NOTES FROM THE BEMIDJI STATE SERIES: For the first time in program history, BSU swept UMD in all four games in a season, posting a 0-4 record against the Bulldogs in the regular season. All-time, UMD owns a solid 62-12-2 record against the Beavers, though the Bulldogs are winless in their last five skates against BSU.
--The Beavers shutout Saturday snapped junior forward Ashleigh Brykaliuk's 11-game scoring streak that had started back on Nov. 27 against Harvard. Brykaliuk ran up 19 points on five goals and 14 assists over that 11 game span, the second longest scoring streak by a Bulldog player since 2011.
--Junior blueliner Sidney Morin's four-game scoring streak ended Saturday, but not before the blueliner had picked up three goals and an assist for her career-best scoring span.
--Saturday's shutout also finally halted the point production of UMD's busy first line of Brykaliuk, Michela Cava and Lara Stalder. The trio has put at least one point together since being held scoreless in a 1-0 UMD win over North Dakota back on Nov. 21.
--Stalder's opening goal Friday night was the fourth goal the Bulldogs have scored in less than a minute to open a game with BSU in program history.
POTTER RETURNS AS A BUCKEYE: First year head coach Jenny Potter will make her return to Duluth this weekend as the head coach of the Buckeyes.
Potter is UMD's only three-time All-American (2003-04, 2002-03, 1999-00). Potter is a four-time Olympian, having earned one gold medal(1998), two silver (2010, 2002) and a bronze (2006). She was also a three-time Patty Kazmaier Award finalist, and still ranks as UMD's all-time leading point getter with 256 points on 108 goals and 148 assists in 102 games. Her assist total also ranks No. 1 all-time for the Bulldog program, and she also owns single-season records for points (93 in 1999-00), goals (41 in 1999-00) and assists (57 in 2002-03).
BULLDOG NOTES: Ashleigh Brykaliuk ranks No. 23 in the NCAA with a 1.19 ppt average, while Lara Stalder sits No. 22 with 14 goals in 25 skates. Brykaliuk ranks 12th with 22 assists in 26 games, while Stalder also is in the fifth spot for power play goals with five.
--UMD has played 18 of its 26 games against teams ranked in the top-eight in the country. The Bulldogs continue to own the nation's second hardest schedule with a rating of 308.2 in the current KRACH strength of schedule rating system. North Dakota ranks first with a slight lead of 311.5.
--The Bulldogs have scored a whopping 27 of their 57 goals in the third period of play, and have held their opponents to just 17 of the 71 goals scored against them over the same time span.
--UMD is averaging 1,336 fans through its first 12 home games at AMSOIL.
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