The University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team will kick-off a busy weekend at AMSOIL Arena, beginning on Friday when the No. 2 University of Wisconsin visits for the Bulldogs last regular season series of the year. The Friday-Saturday series drops the puck at 3:07 p.m. both days, with Friday slated as Champ Bobblehead Giveway Day. The first 250 Bulldog fans will get special Western Collegiate Hockey Association Champ Bobblehead courtsey of Essentia Health. Saturday, UMD will 'Cram the Am' om Senior Day, with $1.00 tickets available to fans or free admission with a food donation.
USCHO RANKING: UMD-- Rec. Votes, Wisconsin-- No. 2
USA TODAY/USA Hockey Magazine: UMD-- Rec. Votes, Wisconsin-- No. 2
THE SERIES: UMD is 30-47-14 against the Badgers, and is winless in nine contests since beating Wisconsin 4-1 at AMSOIL back on Nov. 18, 2016. Over those nine games, UMD has registered two ties against the Badgers, and just a year ago (Feb. 10, 2018), the Bulldogs tied Wisconsin 3-3 at AMSOIL.
In their last meeting back on Oct. 13-14 in Madison, the Bulldogs stumbled against No. 2 Wisconsin, dropping game one 4-2 before surrendering the sweep 3-1 in game two.
After falling behind 2-0 on Oct. 13, UMD pulled even behind second period goals from sophomore Anna Klein and rookie forward Gabbie Hughes. The Badgers used two power play goals in the third period to escape the Bulldogs attempted comeback. Maddie Rooney made 40 saves for UMD on the day.
The Bulldogs struggled to stay out of the box against Wisconsin, spending a total of 18 minutes on the ice down a skater in the two games combined. In fact, two of Wisconsin's seven
LAST TIME OUT: UMD split with St. Cloud State in WCHA action last week by scores of 4-2 and 2-3, the second split for the Bulldogs against the Huskies this season.
The Bulldogs -- without leading scorer freshman Gabbie Hughes -- got four goals from four different players. The Bulldogs scored two goals in the first period (by McKenzie Hewett and Sydney Brodt) and two in the second period (by Lizi Norton and Ryleigh Houston). UMD outshot the Huskies 47-23.
In game two, the Bulldogs simply couldn't capitalize on a 53-29 SOG advantage, suffering a 2-3 loss, and only UMD's third loss at home of the season. Naomi Rogge and Anneke Linser had the Bulldogs goals, and freshman goaltender Emma Soderberg had 26 saves in the first loss of her collegiate career.
NOTES FROM THE ST. CLOUD SERIES: With the series split, UMD is now 66-14-6 all-time against the Huskies. The Bulldogs have been unabe to sweep SCSU since Nov. 3-4, 2017.
--The Bulldogs outshot the Huskies 100-52 in the series and an eye-popping 191-89 in four games that still only gave the Bulldogs to a 2-2.
--UMD's 53 SOG last Saturday was a season-high, surpassing the Bulldogs previous season-high of 50, set against SCSU back on Oct. 27. UMD's top-four SOG outputs this season (53, 50, 47, 41) have all come against the Huskies.
--UMD has lost game two in each of its last three series -- two of which have been at AMSOIL.
--UMD is 9-3-2 at AMSOIL Arena so far this season.
THE BATTLE FOR THIRD: The Bulldogs trail Ohio State by five points in the WCHA, with two games in hand. While UMD hosts the Badgers this weekend, the Buckeyes are idle, and don't return to action until next weekend in Madison. OSU has just six possible points left to grab in the league play, while the Bulldogs have 12 points still up for grabs.
COMING UP HUGHES: Freshman Gabbie Hughes continues to leads the Bulldogs with 29 points in 26 games this season (15g, 14a), and ranks fourth in the NCAA for points per game by a rookie and first in the WCHA with a 1.12 PPG average. With a 1.12 PPG average, Hughes also ranks fifth among all WCHA scorers.
Hughes has also upped her offense in 2019 --the freshman has recorded points in eight of UMD's last 10 games. Over that span, Hughes has racked up eight goals and eight assists for 16 points.
HUGHES EYES HISTORY: Gabbie Hughes is on track to become just the third UMD freshman in program history to lead a Bulldog squad in scoring as a rookie. Currently, Hughes has a team-high 29 points on 15 goals and 14 assists over 26 games.
Hughes teammate, Naomi Rogge, was the last UMD freshman to lead a team in scoring after registering 24 points last season (16g, 8a) over 35 games. In addition to Rogge, the only other rookie to have led a Bulldog side in scoring is three-time Olympian Haley Irwin, who put up 23 goals and 37 assists for a whopping 60 points in 37 games during UMD's 2007-08 NCAA championship season.
With a 1.12 PPG average, Hughes is also nearing another unique catergory -- 12 former Bulldog rookies have averaged more than a point a game over their first collegiate seasons, including seven that have averaged 1.10 PPG or more.
Hughes now has a team-high 29 points (15g, 14a) in 26 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. Wilson was also the last UMD rookie to average over a point a game at 1.04 PPG.
SECOND PERIOD PROPHECY: UMD is still unbeaten with a lead after two periods with a record of 9-0-2, but the Bulldogs have struggled to regain the lead if they don't have it after 40 minutes, having gone just 1-9.
That appears to follow UMD's last five seasons stat-line -- the score at the second intermission has often predicted the final result. Since the 2014-15 season, UMD is whopping 63-3-5 ahead after the second period, but falls to just 3-59-9 trailing after two periods of play.
RANK AND FILE: UMD has played over half - 15 - of its 28 games against against top-10 teams so far this season, 13 of which have come against a top-five opponent.
UMD has led the rest of the NCAA in terms of its strength of schedule for the entire season, and is leading the nation with a 0.5471 and a No. 1 rank, according to USCHO.com's Ratings Percentage Index.
HUGHES NAMED WCHA ROOKIE OF THE MONTH: Gabbie Hughes accelerated her offensive impact for the Bulldogs last month, and the WCHA officially recognized that effort Monday.
The freshman collared the WCHA's Rookie of the Month honor after leading both NCAA and WCHA rookies in January with 12 points over eight games on six goals and six assists. The native of Lino Lakes, Minn. compiled the second most goals in the nation (six, 0.75 GPG) last month, as well as recorded five multiple-point games out of eight games skated. The rookie also was +7, and helped the Bulldogs to a 5-3 overall record last month.
SENIOR SALUTE: UMD will recognize three seniors at the conclusion of Saturday's skate. Defenseman Shelby Brossart, and forwards Reagan Haley and alternate captain Emma Yanko.
A blue-collar but cerebral trio, all three were named to the 2016-17 WCHA All-Academic Team. Both Haley and Yanko were also named 2017-18 WCHA All-Academic Team members, as well as 2017-18 WCHA Scholar Athletes. Haley is a two-time WCHA Scholar Athlete -- she first earned the heralded honor in 2016-17.
Yanko, named last season's UMD Breakthrough Player of the Year by the coaching staff, was also named the 2017 Windjammer Classic Player of the Tournament for her efforts, as well as to the All-Tournament Team. With 129 career games played, including 111 consecutive games played until early this season, Yanko has registered four goals and two assists over that span. Haley has contributed two goals and three assists for five points in 97 games played, while Brossart has added an assist in 110 games over her collegiate career.
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