After a season-long four-game homestand, the University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team will travel to Ridder Arena in Minneapolis, Minn. to face the No. 2 University of Minnesota this weekend.  The first game of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association series will get underway Saturday at 4:07 p.m., before wrapping up Sunday at 1:07 p.m.

USCHO RANKING:  UMD-- Rec. Votes, Minnesota-- No. 2

USA TODAY/USA Hockey Magazine:  UMD-- Rec. Votes, Minnesota-- No. 2

THE SERIES: UMD has already faced Minnesota three times this season, including most recently on Jan. 5 at Ridder in the Minnesota Cup.  The Bulldogs trail the all-time series 27-57-9, and 0-2-1 this year with one shootout win, however, two of the three encounters this season have gone into overtime.

The Bulldogs suffered a 4-3 overtime loss on Jan. 5, despite having outshot the Gophers 36-21 in the contest.  Three different players netted goals for UMD against Minnesota, including rookie Gabbie Hughes, who netted a goal and an assist in the skate.

In their prior series at AMSOIL Arena back on Oct. 5-6, the Bulldogs picked up two points against the Gophers, suffering a 5-2 defeat in game one, before earning a 2-2 tie and shootout win the following day.

ADDITIONAL BULLDOG-GOPHER SERIES NOTES:  Four of UMD and Minnesota's last 10 skates have gone into overtime, including three of the last five games.

While the Bulldogs earned a shootout win after tying Minnesota 3-3 last season (Dec. 8, 2017), UMD will be looking for its first win at Ridder Arena since the Bulldogs upset Minnesota 2-1 in double overtime in the WCHA Final Face-Off semifinals on March 4, 2017.  

Regular season wins at Ridder have been the hardest to find for UMD -- while the Bulldogs have defeated the Gophers in WCHA Final Face-Off semifinals and finals, and knocked Minnesota out of the 2010 NCAA Frozen Four semifinals at Ridder, UMD has tied --  but hasn't defeated -- the Gophers in Ridder in a regular season game since Jan. 23, 2009 (a 4-2 UMD win.)

LAST TIME OUT:  UMD split last weekend at home against Quinnipiac University by scores of 3-1 and 1-2.  

Friday, UMD scored three unanswered goals -- one in the second period and two in the third to beat the Bobcats 3-1.  Sophomore Ashton Bell had a the game-winning goal, as well as an assist in the skate, while Maddie Rooney made 23 saves for the Bulldogs.  UMD went the entire game without surrendering a penalty.

Saturday, the Bulldogs struck first early in the third period, but surrendered two goals 19 seconds a part in their 2-1 loss to QU.  Anna Klein had UMD's lone goal, while Rooney had 28 saves in the setback.

NOTES FROM THE QUINNIPIAC SERIES:  

Last weekend was the first meeting ever between the Bulldogs and Bobcats, and leaves the all-time series at 1-1.  UMD is now 35-14-4 against Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference members, the home of the Bobcats.

--UMD's loss Saturday snapped an eight-game unbeaten streak and was the first home Bulldog loss since Oct. 5.  UMD is now 8-2-2 at AMSOIL Arena, and has four of its last eight regular season games left at home.  On the flip side, the Bulldogs are just 3-9-0 away from Duluth.

--Sophomore Ashton Bell's five-game scoring streak came to an end Saturday, the longest of Bell's career.  Bell put up eight points on three goals and five assists in five skates -- tying the longest scoring streak by a UMD player this season (Anneke Linser also ran a five-game scoring streak up between Nov. 23 through Jan. 5).

--UMD has scored 24 of its 63 goals in the first period.  The Bulldogs are unbeaten when they lead in the first period (6-0-1), and improve to an even more solid 8-0-2 with a lead after 40 minutes.

--The Bulldogs had no penalties called against them in Friday's win, the first time the UMD has been perfect in a game since Sept. 30, 2017 against Penn State University (a 3-0 Bulldog win).

--Saturday's setback was the first loss UMD has outshot the opposing team but netted just a single goal.

COMING UP HUGHES:  Freshman Gabbie Hughes continues to leads the Bulldogs with 25 points in 24 games this season (13g, 12a), and ranks fifth in the NCAA for points per game by a rookie and first in the WCHA with a 1.04 PPG average.  With a 1.04 PPG average, Hughes also ranks sixth among all WCHA scorers.

Hughes has also upped her offense in 2019 --the freshman has recorded points in six of UMD's last eight games.  Over that span, Hughes has racked up six goals and six assists for 12 points in the month of January alone.

HUGHES TAKES AIM AT ROOKIE RECORD BOOKS:  With an assist in Saturday's game, freshman Gabbie Hughes now has a team-high 25 points (13g, 12a) in 24 games.  Hughes has now scored the most points by a rookie in eight seasons -- since Jenna McParland compiled 32 (21g, 11a) back in 2011-12. 

McParland compiled those 32 points over 36 games, but still fell short of UMD's top-10 all-time rookie scorers list.  To get into the Bulldog record books, Hughes will need to hit the 40 point mark -- Saara Tuominen currently holds down the No. 10 spot with 12 goals and 28 assists for 40 points in 39 games, a mark the Finnish Olympian reached over the 2005-06 season.

UMD has not had a rookie net 40 or more points since Katie Wilson scored 17 goals and added 26 assists for 43 points in 41 games, a 1.04 PPG average during the 2009-10 championship season.

RANK AND FILE:  UMD has played over half - 13 - of its 24 games against against top-10 teams so far this season, 11 of which have come against a top-five opponent.  After this weekend's series against Minnesota, currently ranked No. 2, UMD will have played 13 against top-five foes and a total of 15 skates against ranked in the top-10.

UMD has led the rest of the NCAA in terms of its strength of schedule for the entire season, leading the nation with a 0.5521 and a No. 1 rank, according to USCHO.com's Ratings Percentage Index.  

AMSOIL HOMEBODIES:  The Bulldogs have played 12 of their 24 games so far on the road, where the Bulldogs are currently just 3-9.  At AMSOIL, however, UMD is an impressive 8-2-2.

UMD'S YOUNG GUNS: All of eight of UMD's on ice rookies have now registered goals.    Two of the Bulldogs top-four scorers are freshmen, including Gabbie Hughes, who sits at the top of UMD's scoring chart with 25 points, while her high school linemate at Centennial High School Anneke Linser ranks is tied for the third most points (17) and a team-high 12 assists.

The Bulldog rookie class currently has netted 25 of UMD's 63 goals, and has dished out 47 of the Bulldogs total 104 assists.


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