The University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team will host Minnesota State University, Mankato at AMSOIl Arena this weekend. The series will mark the last home action for the Bulldogs in 2017, and at stake between UMD and the Mavericks are six Western Collegiate Hockey Association points up for grab. Friday, will get underway at 7:00 p.m., while Saturday, the puck will drop at 4:00 p.m. Saturday will also double as Safety Patrol Day and High School Team Day, and will also feature a post game Skate With the Bulldogs on the ice at AMSOIL, open to all fans, following the contest.
THE SERIES: The Bulldogs are 62-7-4 against Minnesota State, and went 3-1 against the Mavericks last season.
Then No. 5 UMD spilt with Minnesota State back on Dec. 9-10, 2016 in Mankato, beating the Mavericks 3-0 on Dec. 9, before suffering a 2-1 upset on Dec. 10.
UMD scored two second period goals in the 3-0 win, and then added an insurance goal in the third to pick up its fourth shutout of the season. Ashleigh Brykaliuk, Sidney Morin and Brooklynn Schugel all netted tallies for the Bulldogs.UMD didn't surrender a single penalty in the win.
The following day (Dec. 10), Lara Stalder scored the game's first goal with 1:22 remaining in the opening period. But despite outshooting MSU 24-8 in the first 40 minutes, the Bulldogs surrendered two power play goals in the third period. The Mavericks went 2-of-4 on their power play Saturday, compared to UMD's 0-of-5. UMD outshot MSU 40-19 on the day and 76-33 in the series.
LAST TIME OUT: Isanti County Arena in Cambridge, Minn. provided the perfect authentic hockey backdrop for the U.S Hockey Hall of Fame Game, where a capacity crowd watched the Bemidji State University sneak by the Bulldogs 3-2 in a non-conference game. Though the game didn't garner the Beavers any extra WCHA points, it was a big test for a UMD squad that hit the ice just 48 hours after completing a home series sweep of St. Cloud State University.
BSU struck first, but the Bulldogs equalized off a BSU turnover at the 17:17 mark of the first period, courtesy of Catherine Daoust.
After the Beavers took another lead in the second period, rookie forward Monique Aanenson's scored first career goal through traffic at 7:52. The Bulldogs outshot the Beavers 11-8 in the stanza, but BSU doused UMD's second period spark when the Beavers scored at 17:57.
BSU outshot UMD 34-25 in the game and remains the only team that has outshot the Bulldogs this season. The Beavers have now outshot the Bulldogs in their three showdowns this season — by contrast, the Bulldogs have outsho their other opponents in all 10 of their games. UMD's Jessica Convery had 31 saves for the Bulldogs, who are now 1-2 against the Beavers so far this season.
NOTES FROM THE HALL OF FAME GAME:
--UMD is now 67-14-4 all-time against the Beavers.
--BSU is the only team this season to outshoot the Bulldogs, and has done so in all three games by a margin of 109-87. The Beavers have only outscored UMD 7-6.
--The Hall of Fame Game was the first contest away from AMSOIL that the Bulldogs played in front of over 1,000 fans. UMD is averaging 1,109 fans at home -- 1, 056 fans showed up in Cambridge to watch the Bulldogs and Beavers on Dec. 6.
--A QUICK GLANCE AT THE MAVERICKS: MSU was swept last weekend by No. 5 Ohio State in Columbus by scores of 3-5 and 1-2. The Mavericks have just one win in league play (St. Cloud State on Oct. 31, 3-1). Junior forward Jordan McLaughlin has nine points, including a team-high four goals, in 12 games. Freshman Brittyn Fleming has compiled eight points on two goals and six assists in those same 12 skates.
In three years at the helm of MSU, head coach John Harrington is 12-64-9.
ROLLING ROOKIE ROGGE: Naomi Rogge has now notched a point in her last five games after she notched an assist against BSU. The freshman has posted three goals and three assists for six points over that span, amd leads UMD with 12 points on six goals and six assists in 13 games. Rogge ranks fourth in the WCHA among all rookie scorers with a 0.92 PPG average.
BULLDOG NOTES: Ashton Bell ranks fifth among league rookies (and second on UMD) with six goals and three assists for nine points ... the top-four scorers for UMD are currently undersclassmen, with sophomore defenseman Jalyn Elmes at third (3-5=8) and forward Sydney Brodt with (2-5=7).
DISCIPLINED DOGS: UMD has the fewest penalty minutes per game of any team in the NCAA with just 4.5 a game, ranking them 40th of 40 teams.
UMD GOLDEN IN EARLY SIGNING PERIOD:
UMD announced its early signing class Monday, and it's safe to say, the future of the Bulldog program is in good hands.
Eight high school standouts have a signed a National Letter of Intent in the early period to join UMD's 2018-19 freshman class. The future 2018-19 Bulldog freshman class includes Taylor Anderson (Eagan, Minn.), Maggie Flaherty (Lakeville, Minn.), Kylie Hanley (Minnetonka, Minn.), McKenzie Hewett (Edmonton, Alberta), Gabbie Hughes (Lino Lakes, Minn.), Anneke Linser (Lino Lakes, Minn.), Lizi Norton (Orono, Minn.), and Kailee Skinner (Penticton, British Columbia).
ROONEY BACKSTOPS USA TO FOUR NATIONS CUP WIN: Redshirt junior goaltender Maddie Rooney picked up more hardware with the U.S. National Team after helping Team USA win a third-straight Four Nations Cup title Sunday in Tampa, Florida.
Rooney, who is centralized with the U.S. National Team for the 2017-18 season ahead of the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, made 18 saves against Canada in the championship en route to the USA's 5-1 triumph. In three games with Team USA in the Cup, Rooney made 49 saves on 54 shots for a .907 saves percentage and a goals against average of 1.67. In all, Rooney manned the pipes for 180 minutes, and has now compiled 240 minutes of action for Team USA in the past two months.
Three former Bulldogs suited up for Canada, including defenseman Brigette Lacquette, who had seven assists from the blueline in just three games. Bulldog All-American Jocleyne Larocque also skated on the backline in all three games, as well as forward Haley Irwin, who is a two-time Canadian gold medalist. Irwin had two assists in those three games.
UMD alum Pernilla Winberg had two assists in four games with Sweden, while Maria Lindh also played in all four games for Sweden.
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Video: http://www.nchc.tv/umd
