The No. 8 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team will host the No. 7 University of Minnesota this weekend in the Bulldogs second Western Collegiate Hockey Association series of the season. Both games of the Friday-Saturday series will get underway at 3:37 p.m. Thundersticks will be available for the first 500 fans, as well as free Homecoming t-shirts for the first 50 UMD students. Friday is also Teacher Appreciation Day, and local teachers will recieve free tickets and discounted tickets for their guests.
THE SERIES: UMD went 3-3 against the Gophers last season, but are 27-52-7 all-time against Minnesota. The Bulldogs suffered a 1-0 loss to the Gophers back on March 11 in the NCAA Quarterfinal in their last head-to-head contest.
The first two periods were scoreless in the game, a testament to the level of goaltending both teams had on display. Outshot 11-4 in the first period and just barely 11-10 in the second, the Bulldogs put the pressure on Gopher netminder Sidney Peters in the third period, outshooting Minnesota 11-7.
But it was the Gophers that would get the lone offensive break of the game. While UMD hit a crossbar in the second period and a pipe in the third, Minnesota finally found the net on a backdoor one-time goal from Patti Marshall 7:54 into the final stanza.
While the Bulldogs and Gophers have met 10 times in WCHA postseason games, (Minnesota leads the series 4-6), the two programs have met just twice in the NCAA postseason -- last season, and a 3-2 UMD win over the Gophers on March 19, 2010 in the NCAA Frozen Four semifinals.
A QUICK LOOK AT THE GOPHERS: Minnesota is 3-2-1 overall and 2-1-1 in the WCHA, and is led in scoring by senior defenseman Sydney Baldwin. Baldwin has one goal and eight assists for nine points through six games. Freshman forward Grace Zumwinkle has a team-high four goals in addition to two assists, and in all, four players have six points for a 1.00 ppg average.
Minnesota is without senior forward Kelly Pannek this season, who like UMD junior goaltender Maddie Rooney, is centralized with the U.S. Women's National Team. Pannek had 62 points (19g, 43a) in 39 games as a junior last season.
The Gophers have split time in the net, with senior Sidney Peters owning a record of 2-1 in three games and a GAA 3.28, while freshman Alex Gulstene has played in four games and has a record of 1-1-1 and a 2.47 GAA.
LAST TIME OUT: UMD was swept by OSU over the weekend in Columbus by scores of 0-2 and 3-4. It marked the fourth-straight loss for the Bulldogs who fell to 2-4 overall and 0-2 in the WCHA. UMD is also 0-4 against teams ranked in the top-7 nationally.
The Bulldogs outshot the Buckeyes 32-18, but suffered a 2-0 loss Friday night. The loss snapped UMD's 11-game unbeaten streak in Columbus dating back to 2011-12 season.
Saturday UMD owned a 2-1 lead until 7:15 of the third period, and after surrendering three unanswered goals to the Buckeyes, Naomi Rogge scored her second goal of the game with 34 seconds remaining.
NOTES FROM THE OHIO STATE SERIES: The Bulldogs are now 65-17-3 all-time against OSU. It also marks the first Buckeye series sweep of UMD since the first round of the WCHA playoffs on March 1-2, 2013 during the 2012-13 season.
--Rookie forward Naomi Rogge had a career-best two goals and an assist for three points in Saturday's 4-3 loss to the Buckeyes.
RANK AND FILE: The Bulldogs are ranked No. 8 in both the USCHO.com and USA TODAY/USA Hockey Magazine's national polls. Minnesota sits No. 7 in the same national polls.
SCHEDULED STRONG: UMD has played two of its first three series against teams ranked in the top-10. With Minnesota ranked No. 7, this weekend will mark the third-straight ranked opponent the Bulldogs will face so far this season.
UMD is 0-4 against top-10 teams.
OFF THE MARK: The Bulldogs are averaging a hefty 32.7 shots per game, but so far have only averaged 1.83 goals a skate.
UMD outshot OSU 69-50 in the series last weekend, but was outscored 6-3. UMD has outshot its opponent in every game this season (196-136), but has been outscored 14-11. The Bulldogs 11 tallies is the second fewest among its WCHA peers through the first six games.
TOP DOGS: Sophomore Sydney Brodt leads all Bulldog scorers with two goals and four assists for six points -- a 1.00 points per game average. Freshman forward Naomi Rogge owns the most goals with three, in addition to two assists for the second-most points at five.
Brodt has posted two points in three of UMD's six games, including notching a goal and assist twice. Four of Brodt's six points (1g, 3a) have come against top-10 teams.
OUT OF THE BOX BULLDOGS: UMD has the fewest penalty minutes per game of any WCHA team so far this season. The Bullodgs are averaging just 4.7 penalty minutes a skate -- by contrast, UMD's opponent this weeekend, Minnesota, sits fifth with an average of six minutes a game in the box.
Stats speak: UMD ranks third in the WCHA on the power play with a 21.7 success rate. While the Bulldogs are 5-of- 23 with an extra skater, its penalty kill currently ranks last in the league at 71.4 (10-of-14).
--UMD has yet to score a goal in the second period, having netted five goals in the first period and six in the third, but have allowed five goals in the second period.
NINE BULLDOGS NAMED AHCA ALL-AMERICAN SCHOLARS: UMD had nine players that were honored as All-American Scholars by the American Hockey Coaches Association for the 2016-17 season.
Current seniors Lynn Astrup (Warroad, Minn.), Catherine Daoust (Ile Bizard, PQ), Jessica Healey (Edmonton, Alberta), Linnea Hedin (Huddinge, Sweden), and Michelle Lowenhielm (Sollentuna, Sweden) joined current sophomore Sydney Brodt (North Oaks, Minn.), graduate Lara Stalder (Luzern, Switzerland) and former Bulldog Morgan Morse as the nine Bulldog representatives from last year's squad.
The new initiative of the AHCA recognizes varsity ice hockey players who averaged a 3.6 GPA and participated in 40% of their school's game during the 2016-17 season. A total of 220 Division I-II women's players were recognized for this achievement with the new honor.
Video: http://www.nchc.tv/umd
TV (Friday): My9
Live Stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/umd/whockey/xlive.htm
Full PDF version of this release here.
