The University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team will head to Minnesota State University, Mankato this weekend in its last regular Western Collegiate Hockey Association series of the year. The stakes are high for the Bulldogs, who are attempting to get back into a first round league home playoff game position. Game one will get underway Friday at the Verizon Center in Mankato, Minn. at 7:07 p.m., and will conclude Saturday at 4:07 p.m.
THE SERIES: The Bulldogs are unbeaten in its last six games against the Mavericks, and own a 67-7-5 all-time record against MSU. In their last head-to-head mettings, UMD pocketed five of a possible six WCHA points with a 2-1 win and 2-2 tie and shootout win against Minnesota State back on Dec. 7-8 at AMSOIL.
Rookie forward Anneke Linser led all scorers with a goal and two assists in the series, while sophomore Anna Klein added a goal and an assist. Maddie Rooney and Emma Soderberg split the goaltending duties, with Rooney making 21 stops in the 2-2 tie before securing the shootout win, and Soderberg turning in a 32 save performance in the 2-1 win for her second win of her young career.
A QUICK LOOK AT THE MAVERICKS: MSU was swept by Minnesota last weekend by scores of 1-3 and an overtime 2-3 setback at Ridder Arena. The Mavericks have played their last four skates against the top-two teams in the nation (No. 2 Wisconsin, No. 1 Minnesota) , respectively. Senior forwards Corbin Boyd and Rebekah Kolstad lead the Mavericks in scoing, Boyd with a team-high 20 points (8g, 12a), and Kolstad with a team-high tie of nine goals and seven assists for 16 points. Freshman goaltender Abigail Levy has played in 30 of MSU's 31 games with a .927 saves percentage and 2.24 GAA. John Harrington (a UMD alum) is in his fourth season behind the MSU bench, and owns a 24-100-14 record at the helm of the Mavericks.
LAST TIME OUT: UMD was swept last weekend by then No. 2 Wisconsin by scores of 6-1 and 3-0 at AMSOIL, the first time the Bulldogs have been swept at home since Oct. 20-21, 2017 (by Minnesota 4-1 and 2-1).
The Badgers scored an opponent-high six goals Friday night, including three in the second period that broke the game open. Freshman Kailee Skinner netted UMD's lone goal just 22 seconds into the third period. Wisconsin outshot UMD 44-20 in the skate.
After a scoreless first period Saturday, UMD surrendered two second period goals in its 3-0 loss to the Badgers. Maddie Rooney made 49 saves -- Wisconsin outshot UMD 52-24.
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 WISCONSIN SERIES: Wisconsin now leads the all-time series 30-49-4. The Bulldogs are winless (with two ties) in their last 11-games against UW since beating the Badgers 4-1 at AMSOIL back on Nov. 18, 2016.
--UMD is 9-5-2 at AMSOIL Arena this season, with four of those home setbacks having happened since Jan. 26.
--Wisconsin's 53 shots on goal Saturday night was an opponent season-high against UMD.
--Maddie Rooney's 49 saves was a season-high -- and her sixth 40 or more save game this season. It also marked the fourth-most saves the junior has had in a game over her 82 collegiate game career.
--Saturday's shutout was the first by a Bulldog squad at home since March 11, 2017 (1-0 Minnesota). It was also the most goals scored by an opponent since Wisconsin defeated UMD 8-0 back on Feb. 12. 2017 in Madison.
DOWN TO THE WIRE: The Bulldogs, with 31 points, fell into fifth place in the WCHA last weekend, one point behind Bemidji State University (32) in fourth and five behind Ohio State University (36), currently in third.
UMD has a pathway all the way to third place -- a series sweep with six points for the Bulldogs and a series sweep for Wisconsin, the Buckeyes opponents this weekend, would allow the Bulldogs to jump into third. The Beavers, who travel to the University of Minnesota, can only stay ahead of a UMD squad that sweeps MSU with a series sweep of their own.
A closer look at UMD's possible scenarios --
--A Bulldog series sweep and a Wisconsin and Minnesota sweep -- UMD finishes in third place.
--A Bulldog sweep, a Minnesota sweep and OSU earns a tie -- UMD finishes in fourth place (OSU would take the head-to-head with more league wins than the Bulldogs).
If the Bulldogs sweep and BSU does anything other than win both games, UMD is assured at least fourth place -- a home first round playoff berth.
COMING UP HUGHES: Freshman Gabbie Hughes continues to leads the Bulldogs with 30 points in 28 games this season (15g, 15a), and ranks fourth in the NCAA for points per game by a rookie and first in the WCHA with a 1.07 PPG average. With a 1.07 PPG average, Hughes also ranks fourth among all WCHA scorers.
Hughes has also upped her offense in 2019 --the freshman has recorded points in nine of UMD's last 12 games. Over that span, Hughes has racked up eight goals and nine assists for 17 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 30 points on 15 goals and 15 assists over 28 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 1.07 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 30 points (15g, 15a) in 28 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.
RANK AND FILE: UMD has played over half - 17 - of its 30 games against against top-10 teams so far this season, 15 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 0.5550 and a No. 1 rank, according to USCHO.com's Ratings Percentage Index.
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 1-11.
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 3-61-9 trailing after two periods of play.
For a full PDF version of this release, click here.
