The University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team is off to its best start in nine seasons, and will put that impressive 7-3-0 record to the test this weekend against No. 7 Ohio State University. The Western Collegiate Hockey Association series will get underway Friday at 5:07 p.m. CDT at the OSU Ice Rink in Columbus, Ohio, and will wrap up Saturday 2:07 p.m. CDT.

QUICK HITS: The Bulldogs currently own their best record through the first 10 games of the season since the 2010-11 season.

--Junior defenseman convert Ashton Bell ranks 3rd national among all scoring blueliners with three goals and 10 assists for 13 points in 10
games.

--Sophomore Anneke Linser has compiled five goals and two assists in the past five games, the longest active Bulldog scoring streak.

THE SERIES: UMD is 69-19-13 all-time against the Buckeyes, and went 2-2 against OSU last season. Each team swept at home, with the Bulldogs sweeping in their last encounter on Jan. 18-19 at AMSOIL Arena by scores of 5-2 and 6-3.

UMD swept then No. 5 Ohio State last January and never once trailed in the series. The Bulldogs scored four goals in the first period of game one, includ- ing two power play goals. The following day (Jan. 19), UMD netted three goals in the third period to ensure the upset series sweep in all seven different players got on the score sheet on Jan. 18, including our players who tallied two or more points -- Naomi Rogge (2g, 2a), Gabbie Hughes (1g, 1a), Sydney Brodt (1g, 1a) and Ashton Bell (2a). In game two, eight different players recorded points, with both Rogge and Brodt posting four (2g, 2a). Goaltender Maddie Rooney posted 75 saves on 80 shots in the series, in- cluding 39 saves in the 5-2 outcome of game one.

LAST TIME OUT: The No. 9 Bulldogs swept St. Cloud State University for the first time since November 2017 by scores of 3-2 and 6-0 on Nov. 1-2 at
AMSOIL Arena.

UMD came from behind Friday night, net- ting two goals 14 seconds apart midway through the third period on goals from McKenzie Hewett and Anna Klein to grab the 3-2 win. Saturday afternoon, the Bulldogs scored early and often with their biggest win of the season, a 6-0 rout of the Huskies. Anneke Linser had two goals and an assist in the win, while Kylie Hanley added two assists and a goal. In all, five players recorded two or more points in the skate.

NOTES FROM THE ST. CLOUD STATE SERIES: UMD swept St. Cloud State for the first time since Nov. 3-4, 2017, and alltime the Bulldogs are now 68-14-6 against the Huskies. The Bulldogs outshot SCSU 94-42 on the weekend, and have now out- shot the Huskies 285-131 in their last six skates.

--Seven of UMD's nine goals over the weekend were scored by different players, and 13 different players recorded points in the series.

--Gabbie Hughes 12-game scoring streak came to an end Friday night. The sophomore center compiled seven goals and five assists for 12 points in her first seven games, and a 12-game scoring streak of 10 goals and eight assists for 18 points, dating back to Feb. 22 of this year. Hughes did notch a goal and an assist Saturday after- noon, and has scored in seven of the nine games she's played in and logged points in eight of the nine.

RING THE SCORING BELL: Junior defenseman convert Ashton Bell ranks third in the NCAA in points with 13 (3g, 10a) in just 10 games. Bell leads all WCHA blueliners with a 1.30 ppg average, and is currently in the midst of a four-game scoring streak, in which she has posted two goals and three assists in those last four skates. Bell's output from the backline resembles two other notable UMD postion converts in the past nine years -- All-American Lara Stalder who actually moved to center from defense early in her career and ended up the 11th highest scoring Bulldog ever, and Jessica Wong. Wong moved to defense in the middle of her career, and in her first complete season on the blueline, compiled the second most points by a defenseman in UMD history -- 38.

SHARING THE WEALTH: UMD is averaging an impressive 3.00 goals a game. With 30 goals in the first 10 games, 11 different players have logged tallies, including five that have netted three or more. Sophomores Gabbie Hughes and Anneke Linser lead UMD in goals -- Hughes owns eight in nine games played, while Linser has posted four in 10 skates.

ROONEY ON THE RISE: Maddie Rooney has made a number of moves on the career charts already so far this year. After 10 games, (and 97 career games), Rooney has climbed into the No. 2 for all-time saves (2,702), No. 5 wins (49) and No. 3 minutes played (5,695:07). Rooney is now just 258 saves away from taking over UMD's all-time saves spot currently held by Kayla Black with 2,960 stops in 121 games. THEY HAVE A POINT: Three Bulldogs currently rank in the top-11 of the WCHA in points per game, including Gabbie Hughes at fifth with a 1.56 ppg average, Ashton Bell with a 1.30 ppg, and Sydney Brodt, with a 1.20 ppg. Hughes ranks second in the WCHA in goals per game at 0.89, and sixth in the NCAA in the same category.

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