The University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team will host its first opponent of 2019 this Friday and Saturday when the Bulldogs will welcome No. 5 Ohio State University to AMSOIL. Friday night, the puck will drop at 7:07 p.m., while Saturday's game will get underway at 4:07 p.m. Following Saturday's game, UMD will host a Skate With the Bulldogs immediately on AMSOIL's ice.
USCHO RANKING: UMD-- NR, OSU-- 5
USA TODAY/USA Hockey Magazine: UMD-- NR, OSU-- 5
THE SERIES: The Bulldogs are now 67-19-3 all-time against the then No. 7 Buckeyes after OSU swept UMD by scores of 3-1 and 4-1 back on Nov. 16-17 in Columbus, OH. UMD struggled to find its offense in the series, despite scoring the first goal of the game in both skates, and was outshot in both games and overall in the series 78-50.
In the first game, sophomore forward Anna Klein skated the puck around the net and found sophomore defenseman Jalyn Elmes in the slot for the 1-0 lead. But 1:24 later, OSU capitalized on a scrum in front of the net for the game's equalizer.
The Buckeyes scored their lone power play goal of the contest 11:00 into the second period. Overall, OSU put 45 shots on goal, while UMD put just 28 on net Friday night. Maddie Rooney had 42 saves for the Bulldogs.
The No. 7 Buckeyes pulled off the weekend sweep over the then No. 7/8 Bulldogs with a 4-1 win at the OSU Ice Rink in Columbus, Ohio. OSU, who got a hat trick from Tatum Skaggs, stifled all six of UMD's power play attempts. Prior to Saturday's contest, the Bulldogs entered the game with the NCAA's highest extra skater conversion rate at 27.6
Rooney faced a total of 75 shots in the series, making 68 saves on the weekend.
A QUICK LOOK AT OHIO STATE: The Buckeyes are coming off a split with the No. 1 University of Wisconsin in Columbus, OH. OSU upset the Badgers 1-0 on Friday behind 32 saves from freshman goaltender Andrea Brandli, despite Wisconsin having outshot the Buckeyes 32-20 in the contest. OSU suffered a 5-2 loss Saturday, but again Brandli came up big with 40 saves (OSU was outshot 45-14 in the game).
The Buckeyes are led by sophomore forward Emma Maltais, who has 30 points (10g, 20a) in OSU's first 22 games.Third-year Buckeye head coach Nadine Muzerall is 53-36-2 over that span, including an NCAA Frozen Four trip last season.
LAST TIME OUT: The Bulldogs split on the weekend in Bemidji, Minn. against Bemidji State, suffering a 3-1 loss Friday before rebounding for a 5-2 win Saturday.
Friday, UMD fell behind 2-0 in the first period, and despite a power play goal in the second period by Ashton Bell, the Bulldogs were unable to draw even with the Beavers. BSU had a slight edge in shots in the game -- 32-30, and UMD goaltender Maddie Rooney had 28 saves in the outing.
Saturday, each team posted a goal in the first two periods, and after 40 minutes, the game was knotted at 2-2. After UMD put twice as many shots on goal in the second period as BSU (12-6), the Bulldogs finally hit pay-dirt with their revived offensive effort at 8:12 of the third period. Sophomore Anna Klein started the onslaught, and beat Bench over her right shoulder on the far post for the 3-2 go-ahead tally. UMD doubled its lead when Anneke Linser connected with a puck skirting the crease 1:30 later.
Linser guaranteed the Bulldog blowout when the rookie forward forced a BSU defenseman into a turnover near the extended goal line. Linser fed Ashton Bell in the slot, and Bell buried her fourth goal of the season at 16:52 to seal UMD's 5-2 comeback triumph. Rookie goaltender Emma Soderberg had 23 saves in her third win of the season for the Bulldogs.
NOTES FROM THE BEMIDJI STATE SERIES: For the second time this season, the Bulldogs had five different players score goals against Bemidji State. Besides last Saturday (five goals), UMD posted six goals against the Beavers by five different players back on Oct. 19.
--After UMD's split last weekend, the Bulldogs now own a 72-18-4 all-time record against Bemidji State. The 94 games between the two programs marks the most head-to-head skates the Bulldogs have had with any other NCAA school. Minnesota has been the second most common UMD opponent -- the two sides have skated against each other 93 times.
--With an assist in Friday's game, sophomore forward Naomi Rogge, leads all UMD's players this season in points against BSU with a total of six -- four goals and two assists in three of four outings.
COMING UP HUGHES: Freshman Gabbie Hughes continues to lead UMD with 11 goals and nine assists for 20 points. Hughes has entered 2019 with seven points in her first four games, having recorded four goals and three assists in that span.
Hughes ranks second among all WCHA rookies with a 1.00 points per game average, seventh overall among all league scorers, and sixth in the NCAA among all other freshmen. Hughes is also tied for first among all WCHA rookies with a 0.55 goals per game average with 11 goals in 20 games.
Averaging 1.00 PPG as a freshman is currently putting Hughes in some pretty exclusive company-- the last UMD rookie forward to post at least a point a game through the season was Katie Wilson, who in 41 games played, scored 17 goals and added 26 assists for 43 points, a 1.04 PPG average during the 2009-10 championship season.
CROWELL LEADS USA U-18 TO WORLD SILVER MEDAL: UMD head coach Maura Crowell USA U-18 squad picked up a silver medal in Obihiro, Japan in the 2019 IIHF U-18 Women's World Championship.
Crowell's side won four-straight games before falling to Canada 3-2 in overtime last Sunday.
"I'm really proud of how this team played all tournament long," said Crowell. "As a staff, we're very pleased with the way they represented their country and although we fell short of our ultimate goal, this team played a fantastic tournament. I'm so proud of this group for what they accomplished and I know that all of them have a very bright future ahead of them."
While Crowell has won two world U-18 gold medals over the past three years as an associate coach and assistant coach, this marked Crowell's first World Championship at the helm of the U.S. team.
In her absence, Bulldog assistant coach Laura Bellamy guided UMD to a 2-2 record. Bellamy is not new to stepping in as UMD's bench boss -- the Duluth native is 3-3 over the past two seasons in the interim role.
RANK AND FILE: Friday and Saturday will mark the 12th and 13th game UMD will play against a top-10 team so far this season. It will also mark 10th and 11th game against a top-five opponent.
UMD has led the rest of the NCAA in terms of its strength of schedule for the entire season, leading the nation with a 0.5591 and a No. 1 rank, according to USCHO.com's Ratings Percentage Index.
In the Buckeyes, UMD will face the NCAA's second strongest strength of schedule -- OSU owns a 0.5440 SOS on the USCHO.com's RPI.
AMSOIL HOMEBODIES: The Bulldogs have played 12 of their 18 games so far on the road, where the Bulldogs are currently just 3-9. At AMSOIL, however, UMD is an impressive 5-1-2, and luckily for the Bulldogs, eight of the their next 12 skates are on their home rink.
UMD'S YOUNG GUNS: All of eight of UMD's rookies have now registered goals points, and six of the seven have logged a goal. Two of the Bulldogs top-three scorers are freshmen, including Gabbie Hughes, who sits at the top of UMD's scoring chart, while her high school linemate at Centennial High School Anneke Linser owns the second most points (16) and a team-high 11 assists.
The Bulldog rookie class currently has netted 21 of UMD's 48 goals, and has dished out just over half -- 40 -- of the Bulldogs 79 assists.
For a Full PDF version of this release, click here.
Video: http://bit.ly/2OSWKEN
Live Stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/umd/whockey/xlive.htm
TV Saturday: Fox Sports North
