The University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team will travel south on Interstate 35 this weekend to face the No. 2 University of Minnesota at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis, Minn. The Western Collegiate Hockey Association series will get underway at 7:07 p.m. Friday and will wrap-up at 4:07 p.m. Saturday.
QUICK HITS
--Ashton Bell leads all defensemen in the WCHA in both total points (26) and goals (10), and ranks fourth in the NCAA in points. Bell checks in at third in points per game (1.08), and is tied for the most game-winning goals by a blueliner with four.
--Gabbie Hughes ranks fifth in the WCHA with points (36) and also owns the fifth highest points per game output of 1.57. She leads UMD with 13 goals and 23 assists.
--In five overtime games so far this season, the Bulldogs are unbeaten, having won three in double overtime and one in the official five-minute overtime.
THE SERIES: UMD is 28-60-10 all-time against Minnesota, and in the Bulldogs last head-to-head series with the Gophers, picked up a 2-2 official tie prior to a double-overtime win on Nov. 22 before the Gophers eeked out a 4-3 win on Nov. 23.
The Bulldogs officially tied then No. 1 Minnesota 2-2 before beating them in double overtime for the extra WCHA point in game one at AMSOIL Arena.
After outshooting the Gophers 15-10 in the scoreless first period of game one, both sides tacked on two goals. Anna Klein and Sydney Brodt had UMD's goals and the Bulldogs never trailed in the contest. One minute into the second overtime WCHA 3-on-3, Jalyn Elmes tipped a Kylie Hanley shot to take the extra league point. UMD outshot Minnesota 35-33 and Maddie Rooney posted 31 saves.
In the second game, UMD twice fell into two-goal deficits. The Bulldogs and Gophers scored five goals between them in the busy second period, including goals from Anneke Linser and again from Brodt. Trailing 4-2 in the third period, UMD outshot Minnesota a blistering 19-2, but netted just one goal -- from blueliner Ashton Bell with 56 seconds left in regulation. Rooney had 24 saves in the contest, a career-low for the senior goaltender for a full game against the Gophers.
The Bulldogs outshot the Gophers 70-61 in the series, the first time UMD outshot Minnesota in a series since they did it on Jan 13-14, 2017. UMD and Minnesota have now battled into overtime in five of their last 11 games, and four of their last eight.
Gabbie Hughes figured in four of UMD's five official goals on the weekend and now has 13 points on six goals and seven assists against Minnesota in eight games. The sophomore center has posted at least a point against Minnesota in all eight of her games against them.
LAST TIME OUT: UMD left St. Cloud last weekend with five points after officially tying the Huskies 2-2 before getting the double overtime winner Friday and then a 5-2 win on Saturday.
The Bulldogs jumped out to an almost instant lead after senior forward Sydney Brodt scored on UMD's first shot of the game just nine second after the initial puck dropped. Like UMD, SCSU took advantage of its first puck on goal to equalize at 1-1 at 8:58. The Huskies went ahead at 18:59 of the stanza, this time on redirected puck off a skate, but just 43 seconds later on the power play, Ashton Bell found Gabbie Hughes open in the slot on a 2-on-1 to put UMD even again with SCSU at 19:42.
After a wide open first 20 minutes, neither team could score in the next 45 minutes. The Bulldogs outshot SCSU 35-19 through the first overtime and was forced to fend off a five minute major for boarding that was awarded to the Huskies at 18:53 of the third period. SCSU's power play carried over into the overtime, forcing UMD to play most of the extra time down a skater. But neither team broke through, and the end result was officially a 2-2 and one point each in the WCHA standings.
Hughes, who figured in both UMD goals, delivered the Bulldogs a second league point in the 3-on-3 overtime, the second such time Hughes has won a double-overtime for UMD this month.
On Saturday, the Bulldogs scored four unanswered goals -- including three in the second period -- en route to their 5-2 win. Five different players scored goals, including three by blueliners. Hughes led all scorers with three assists, and nine UMD players logged points Saturday, including four with two or more -- Hughes, Ashton Bell (1g, 1a), Sydney Brodt (2a), and Maggie Flaherty (2a).
Two Bulldog netminders saw action, with Maddie Rooney earning the win with seven saves in the 40 minutes and Emma Soderberg making 10 stops in 20 minutes of action.
NOTES FROM THE ST. CLOUD STATE SERIES: The Bulldogs are now 69-14-7 all-time against the Huskies, and are unbeaten this season (3-0-1-1) UMD outscored SCSU 16-4 over those four games.
--Gabbie Hughes had five points in the series (1g, 4a), not counting her game-winner on Friday in double overtime. Sydney Brodt and Ashton Bell contributed four points each -- Brodt with 2g, 2a, Bell with 1g, 3a.
--UMD is still unbeaten through its first six games of 2020, having now gone 4-0-2 (with two double-overtime wins).
--UMD's fourth tie this season makes it the fourth-straight season the Bulldogs have had at least four draws in a season ... The Bulldogs had five ties back in the 2016-17 NCAA tournament season.
BELL, HUGHES AND EARN WCHA WEEKLY HONORS FOR SECOND-CONSECUTIVE WEEK: For a second consecutive week, Gabbie Hughes and Ashton Bell have collected WCHA weekly honors.
After helping UMD pick up five points against St. Cloud State last weekend, Hughes was named the WCHA's Forward of the Week after she figured in five of the Bulldogs seven goals on the weekend and Bell was selected the WCHA Defensive Player of the Week after she factored in four of UMD's seven total goals.
Hughes led the WCHA with five points, and figured in five of UMD's seven goals on the weekend, as well as the double-overtime game-winner on Friday. In the first game, Hughes had a goal and an assist in the 2-2 tie before netting the game-winner. Saturday, Hughes set up three of the Bulldogs five goals, including the game-winning assist. Besides leading the league in points (5), assists (4), points per game (2.50) power play goals and assists (1) and power play points, Hughes was in a tie for the third most points in the NCAA on the weekend. The Lino Lakes, Minn. native is in the midst of a seven-game scoring streak, and has compiled four goals and nine assists for 13 points over those last seven games. This is Hughes second-straight week as the league's top forward.
Bell, a product of Deloraine, Manitoba, easily led the league and was tied for the NCAA lead in scoring over the weekend, putting up four points on a goal and three assists. Bell had helpers on both goals Friday night, before adding a game-winning power play goal, in addition to an assist, Saturday. Bell was tied with all NCAA defensemen in points, and has taken over the WCHA's top-scoring defenseman slot with two games in hand. Averaging 1.08 ppg, Bell is also in the midst of a five-game scoring streak, and has posted four goals and five assists for nine points in her last five skates. Bell has now been named the WCHA's top weekly defenseman three times this season.
ROONEY SETS UMD CAREER SAVES RECORD: Senior goaltender Maddie Rooney set UMD's all-time career saves leader on Jab. 17 in the Bulldogs 4-0 win over BSU. The native of Andover, Minn. had 30 saves and picked up her 12th career shutout as she took over the career spot in the third period. Rooney now has 3,054 career stops -- so far -- in 110 games. Rooney climbed past Kayla Black for the record, who posted 2998 stops in 121 games during her time as a Bulldog
Rooney owns two of the program's top-three single-season saves record -- she ranks third with 989 saves over 31 GP in 2018-19, and second in 2016-17 with 1013 stops in 37 games, only the second UMD goaltender ever to make more than 1000 saves in a season. Rooney already has 569 saves so far this season in 21 games.
Rooney has also climbed into sole possession of the second most minutes/games played by a Bulldog netminder over a career. With 6,467:44 minutes in 110 games, Rooney sits second behind Black, who in 121 games logged 6,928:56 minutes.
COMING UP HUGHES: Sophomore center Gabbie Hughes continues to lead the Bulldogs in scoring with 23 goals and 23 assists for 36 points. She sits fifth in the WCHA in points (despite having played three less games than the top-four).
Hughes is currently in her third seven-game scoring streak (4-9=13) of the season and her career-long scoring streak of 12 games dating back to last season finally ended on Oct. 26. From Feb. 22, 2019 through Oct. 26, 2019 Hughes accumulated 19 points on 11 goals and eight assists.
In the 23 games Hughes has skated in for the Bulldogs this so far this season, the sophomore center has notched points in all but two.
As a rookie, Hughes led UMD in scoring with 19 goals and 18 assists for 37 points in 33 games -- just the third freshman to lead the Bulldogs in scoring in program history.
RING THE SCORING BELL: Junior defenseman convert Ashton Bell leads the WCHA in points (26) and goals (10). She ranks second in the league in points with 19 (9g-10a). Bell also has scored the fifth most points by a blueliner in the NCAA so far this season and is tied for the most power play goals (4).
Bell has scored a goal in her four of her last five games and has already scored the most goals from a UMD blueliner in one season (10) since Jessica Wong netted 11 over the course of the 2011-12 season.
Bell has already surpassed her previous career high of 23 points registered her freshman campaign.
BRINGING OUT BRODT'S BEST: Senior forward Sydney Brodt surpassed her career-best seven points ago, and now is already sitting with 27 points on 11 goals and 16 assists in just 24 games. Brodt owns 84 total career points on 32 goals and 52 assists over 129 games as a Bulldog.
BULLDOG NOTES: Two players have posted seven points in six games against top-10 teams so far this season -- Gabbie Hughes (3g, 4a) and Sydney Brodt (4g, 3a)...UMD is 8-3-4 when it scores the first goal, and is 10-0-1 when it leads after two periods.
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