The freshly minted No. 2 Univerity of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team will travel to Bemidji, Minn. this weekend to face Bemidji State University in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association series.  The Bulldogs, currently just one point behind the Univeristy of Minnesota in second place in the league standings, will face-off against the Beavers at 3:07 p.m. both Friday and Saturday.

USCHO RANKING:  UMD-- No. 2, Bemidji State-- N/R
USA TODAY/USA HOCKEY MAG: UMD-- No. 2, Bemidji State-- N/R

THE SERIES: The Bulldogs are 65-12-3 all-time against BSU, and are unbeaten against the Beavers in their last four games (3-0-1). UMD took five of a possible six points from then No. 10 Bemidji State over the Oct. 21-22 weekend at AMSOIL Arena, taking a 2-1 victory the first night and a shootout win the following day after earning a 3-3 tie.

On Oct. 21, UMD got two goals from junior Katerina Mrázová, including the game-winner 4:08 into the third period in the Bulldogs 2-1 win.  UMD outshot BSU 41-21 in the contest.

The Bulldogs scored two first period goals on Oct. 22, including another goal by Mrázová en route to a 3-3 with the Beavers.  Despite outshooting BSU 41-29, it took a shootout goal by Lara Stalder for UMD to grab the extra WCHA point.  Overall, UMD outshot BSU 82-50.

Senior forwards Ashleigh Brykaliuk and Stalder lead the Bulldogs with the most career points against the Beavers in 18 games.  Brykaliuk has recorded eight goals and six assists for 14 points, while Stalder has turned in four goals and eight assists for 12 points over those 18 meetings.

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A QUICK LOOK AT THE BEAVERS:  BSU is led by third-year head coach Jim Scanlan, who is 52-40-5 at the helm of the Beavers.  After a split last weekend at Ohio State (1-2 loss and 3-1 win), BSU is 9-12-1 overall and 5-12-1 in the WCHA and in sixth place. Sophomore forward Emily Bergland leads the Beavers with seven goals and six assists for 13 points in 22 games.  Two players have compiled 11 points -- junior forward Emma Terres (6-5=11) and senior defenseman Madison Hutchinson (4-7=11). 

LAST TIME OUT: The Bulldogs swept then No. 2 Minnesota over the weekend by scores of 3-2 and 5-3, marking the first UMD sweep over the Gophers since Oct. 29-30, 2010.

Friday, UMD scored first and never fell behind, withstanding two Gopher attempts to equalize in the third period for the 3-2 win, the first by a Bulldog team since Jan. 13, 2012.  Katerina Mrázová, Lara Stalder and Katherine McGovern had the UMD goals, with McGovern netting the game-winner.  Stalder led the Bulldogs with a goal and two assists.

Saturday the Bulldogs equalized 9:37 into the first period and never looked back, again led by Stalder who ran up two goals and an assist against the Gophers in a 5-3 triumph.  Stalder scored UMD last two goals -- including the game-winner.  In all, five players had two or more points against the Gophers.

NOTES FROM THE MINNESOTA SERIES:  UMD is 26-51-7 all-time against the Gophers, and snapped a five-year winless streak against Minnesota Friday in the 3-2 win.

--UMD's last win against the Gophers prior to the Friday triumph, a 4-2 decision on Jan. 13, 2012.  The Bulldogs were 0-20-1 over that span.

--The series sweep was the first by UMD over Minnesota since Oct. 29-30, 2010.

--Minnesota was UMD's fifth sweep so far this season and first sweep of the season over a ranked squad.  The Bulldogs are now 6-3-3 against nationally ranked teams.

--Lara Stadler is now in a tie with Ashleigh Brykaliuk for points against ranked teams for UMD with seven goals and 10 assists in 12 games.  Bryaliuk has compiled seven goals and nine assists over those same games.

--UMD's sweep boosted the Bulldogs into the number two slot in both national polls, the highest ranking for UMD since Oct. 4, 2010.

PEAK STREAKS: Ashleigh Brykaliuk is on a career-long 13 game point scoring streak that started back on Oct. 29, 2016.  Brykaliuk has registered eight goals and nine assists for 17 points over that span.  Brykaliuk's streak is the longest by a Bulldog since Laura Fridfinnson ran a 13-game scoring spree between Jan. 22, 2010 to March 7, 2010.  Over that run, Fridfinnson turned in 12 goals and 14 assists for 26 points.

FOLLOW THE LEADERS:  Lara Stalder, leads all UMD scorers with 33 points on 12 goals and 21 assists in 22 games.  Stalder ranks ninth in the NCAA in total points (1.50 ppg), sixth in assists, and fourth in game-winning goals with four.  

Maddie Rooney is ninth in the NCAA with a .938 saves percentage.  Rooney's win percentage is the 11th-best at .750 and she has the 11th most shutouts with three.

Senior defenseman Sidney Morin sits 13th among all defensemen in the nation with 15 points in 22 games (five goals, 10 assists).  Morin has also cracked the top-10 among UMD's defensemen in scoring with 61 points on 16 goals and 45 assists in 132 games.  Morin ranks ninth for points for Bulldog blueliners all-time, and ninth in both goals scored and assists over UMD career.

STALDER AND ELMES GRAB WCHA WEEKLY HONORS:  Lara Stalder was named the WCHA's Offensive Player of the Week, while Jalyn Elmes was named the Rookie of the Week Tuesday.  Stalder's three-goal, three-assist weekend led the Bulldogs in a sweep over then No. 2 Minnesota.  The senior forward from Luzern, Switzerland native figured in six of UMD's eight goals in the series, including two assists that bookended a power play goal Friday night in the Bulldogs 3-2 win.  Stalder followed that effort up with a two goal, one assist display in Saturday's 5-3 win, including netting the game-winning and last two scores for UMD.  With five shots Friday and seven Saturday for a series total of 12, Stalder posted a +/- rating of +6 against the Gophers.  

Elmes had a series-best three assists this past weekend in UMD's upset sweep.  The Brandon, Manitoba product had a game-winning assist Friday in UMD's 3-2 win over the Gophers.  Elmes then had an assist on UMD's  second goal Saturday before recording her second game-winning helper of the series on Stalder's goal at 14:11 of the second period.

It marked Stalder's third WCHA weekly award this season and the sixth of her career, which also includes a Rookie of the Week selection and Elmes first weekly WCHA award.

Online Radio:  www.beaverradionetwork.com with Kelly Schultz

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Live Stats Fri: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=142833

Live Stats Sat: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=142834