The University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team will officially begin its 21st season Friday night when it welcomes No. 3 Clarkson University to AMSOIL Arena for the first time in program history. The Friday-Saturday series will get underway at 7:00 p.m. Friday night before moving to a 3:00 p.m. start on Saturday.

THE SERIES:  UMD is 0-2 all-time against Clarkson after meeting for the first time on Nov. 23-24, 2018 of last season in Potsdame, N.Y. scores of 4-2 and 4-1.

The Golden Knights outscored the Bulldogs by an 8-3 margin, but also effectively held UMD's offensive power play to just one goal in eight extra skater attempts.

Three players compiled two or more points in the series, including Gabbie Hughes, who led all UMD players with two goals and an assist for three points, as well as Anneke Linser (1g, 1a) and Jalyn Elmes (2a).  

UMD is 34-13-4  all-time against Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference members, the home of the Golden Knights.

LAST TIME OUT:  UMD and reigning NWHL champion Minnesota Whitecaps skated to a 2-2 draw at AMSOIL Area last Saturday night.

UMD got second period goals from senior forward Ryleigh Houston and junior forward Anna Klein, but a third period goal by the Whitecaps led to the 2-2 tie.  Despite testing out the Western Collegiate Hockey Association's new 3-on-3 five minute overtime, neither team broke the stalemate in extra time.

The Bulldogs put a whopping 50 shots on goal, 48 of them saves by Whitecap goaltender Allie Morse.  UMD had a total of 27 saves to its credit -- Maddie Rooney had 11 of them in the first period and overtime. Sophomore netminder Hanna Markel had 10 saves in the third period, while sophomore Emma Soderberg turned away six in the second period.

ROONEY ON THE RISE:  Senior goaltender Maddie Rooney will begin the season with 2,485 career saves, the third most stops in UMD program history over 86 games, just nine saves behind Riitta Schaublin's 2,494 in second.  Kayla Black owns the career record with 2,960 saves over 121 games.

LONG-TIME LEADERSHIP:  Sydney Brodt will begin her third season as a UMD captain, along with senior defenseman Jalyn Elmes (in her second year with the "C").  The senior forward is the first-ever Bulldog player to have worn the "C" for three seasons.  Brodt was also the youngest UMD player ever to be named captain when she earned the title as a sophomore three seasons ago.

A LOOK AT 2019-2020:  Despite having graduated three players, including two forwards, UMD returns 100% of its goal scoring from a season ago, including leading scorer, sophomore forward Gabbie Hughes, who logged 37 points on 19 goals and 18 assists last year as a rookie.  

The catch is that while UMD didn't lose any goal scorers to graduation, it has lost junior forward Naomi Rogge for the season due to injury.  Rogge was tied for the second most goals last season (12) and finished third in scoring (23) after leading the Bulldogs in scoring as a rookie in 2017-18 with 24 points (16g, 8a).

In addition to Rogge, UMD did have six other players notch 20 or more points -- Hughes, sophomore Anneke Linser (10-14=24), Rogge, junior Anna Klein (12-11=23), senior Ryleigh Houston (9-11=20), senior Sydney Brodt (8-12=20), and sophomore defenseman Maggie Flaherty (4-16=20).

The Bulldogs had four of seven defenseman rank as sophomores or younger last season -- including three freshmen, but will have just one first-year backliner this year in Taylor Stewart.  Sophomore Maggie Flaherty returns as the top-scoring Bulldog backliner from last season, with four goals and 16 assists for 20 points in 35 games.  Flaherty's offensive output last year was the most by a rookie defensman since Lara Stalder put up 22 points (4g, 18a) as a freshman in 2013-14.

UMD returns all three of its goaltenders from a year ago, including fifth-year senior Maddie Rooney, who has already logged 87 games over her career -- the fifth-most in UMD history.

ROOGE TO MISS SEASON:  Junior forward Naomi Rogge will miss the entire 2019-20 season due to an injury she siffered prior to the season.  Rogge was tied for the second most goals last season (12) and finished third in scoring (23) after leading the Bulldogs in scoring as a rookie in 2017-18 with 24 points (16g, 8a).