The No. 10 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team will host the No. 1 University of Minnesota this weekend at AMSOIL Arena in the last home series for the Bulldogs of 2019. The Friday-Saturday series will get underway at 3:07 p.m. Friday UMD will host the "Drop the Gloves Winter Clothes Drive", and are requesting fans to bring new or gently used winter clothes (coats, hats, mittens) to donate. Saturday will be the annual Safety Patrol Night, and will also feature a UMD Stores puck giveaway to the first 250 fans.
QUICK HITS
--Reigning WCHA Goaltender of the Week Maddie Rooney ranks 3rd in the WCHA with 285 saves -- nine shy of the top-spot (and two games played behind No. 2)
--Rooney will play her 100th career game Friday afternoon.
--Ashton Bell ranks second in the WCHA among all defensemen in scoring with 13 points (3g,10a), and sits tied for fifth among all NCAA blueliners.
--Gabbie Hughes has six goals and three assists for nine points against Minnesota in career six skates -- a current UMD roster career-high
THE SERIES: UMD is 28-59-9 all-time against Minnesota, and is facing a top-ranked Gopher team for a second time in as many games. The Bulldogs and Minnesota have need overtime in four of their last eight games.
The two sides last tangled last March 8 in the WCHA Final Face-Off semifinals , a 1-4 setback for the the Bulldogs by the then No. 1 Gophers. Gabbie Hughes extended her goal scoring streak against Minnesota to six-games at 7:20 of the first period, but Minnesota answered a little over five minutes later.
The Gophers added two more goals in the second period and added an empty-net late in third period, and held UMD to a season-low nine shots in the skate. Minnesota outshot UMD 44-9, but impressively blocked 18 Bulldog shots over the course of the game. Maddie Rooney made 40 saves for the Bulldogs -- her seventh 40 or more save game against Minnesota of her career.
UMD last defeated -- and swept -- Minnesota at AMSOIL Arena on Jan. 13-14 by scores of 3-2 and 5-3. Since then the Bulldogs are 0-3-1 at AMSOIL against Minnesota -- which includes a 2-2 tie and shootout win in their last head-to-head against the Gophers at home on Oct. 6. 2018 of last season.
HUGHES AND ROONEY RISING AGAINST THE GOPHERS: Gabbie Hughes leads all current UMD scorers with nine points on six goals and three assists in six games against Minnesota, and has netted at least a goal in each of her six career appearances against the Gophers.
Maddie Rooney has seven 40-plus save games against Minnesota over her career (and had a 40 save game in her last appearance against the Gophers).
LAST TIME OUT: The No. 10 Bulldogs picked up a 2-2 tie and suffered a 3-1 setback against No. 7 Ohio State in Columbus last weekend.
Friday night, OSU outshot UMD 41-34, but only found the net twice against Maddie Rooney. Gabbie Hughes had the lone Bulldog goal 8:47 into the third period which tied the game 1-1, the Buckeyes went ahead on a power play goal and then netted an empty net goal with five seconds remaining in the skate. Rooney had 38 saves on the night.
Saturday, the two sides closely mirrored each other in the 1-1 tie and each posted 31 shots on goal. Anna Klein had UMD's goal in the game, while Rooney had 30 stops against OSU.
NOTES FROM THE OHIO STATE SERIES: UMD is now 69-20-14 all-time against the Buckeyes.
--UMD's two goals on the weekend is a series low for the season, and is the lowest series goal output since Feb. 15-16 of last season.
--Rooney's 68 saves also marks the most stops in a series this by the goaltender this season and since Wisconsin put up 76 against the netminder on Feb. 15-16 earlier this year.
ROONEY NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK: After facing the most shots in the league -- and subsequently posting the most saves -- UMD senior goaltender Maddie Rooney was been named the WCHA's Goaltender of the Week.
The Andover, Minn. product was impressive between the pipes for the Bulldogs against No. 7 Ohio State University last weekend in Columbus, Ohio, making a WCHA-best 68 saves on 71 shots faced. In 123:47 minutes of action, Rooney posted a .958 saves percentage and also made two stops in the league shootout after holding the Buckeyes scoreless in double-overtime. Rooney's save total also ranked as the fifth most in the NCAA on the weekend.
RING THE SCORING BELL: Junior defenseman convert Ashton Bell ranks third in the NCAA in points with 13 (3g, 10a) in just 12 games. Bell ranks second among all WCHA blueliners with a 1.08 ppg average. Bell ranks second in the WCHA among all defensemen in scoring with 13 points (3g,10a), and sits tied for fifth among all NCAA blueliners.
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 2.67 goals a game. With 32 goals in the first 12 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 nine in 11 games played, while Linser has posted five in 12 skates.
ROONEY ON THE RISE: Maddie Rooney has made a number of moves on the career charts already so far this year. After 12 games, (and 99 career games), Rooney has climbed into the No. 2 for all-time saves (2,770), No. 5 wins (49) and No. 3 minutes played (5,818:54). Rooney is now just 190 saves away from taking over UMD's all-time saves spot currently held by Kayla Black with 2,960 stops in 121 games.
BULLDOG NOTES: Two players have posted five points in four games against top-10 teams so far this season -- Gabbie Hughes (3g, 2a) and Sydney Brodt (2g, 3a)...Hughes currently owns UMD's longest scoring streak at three games...the sophomore center has two goals and two assists for four points over those three skates, and has registered points in 11 of the 12 games she has played this season...Hughes has a penchent for netting the first Bulldog goals of the game -- five of her nine tallies so far this season put UMD on the board, and three were the first goal of the game.
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