After over a three-week hiatus from outside competition, the No. 10 University of Minnesota Duluth will host the second annual MN Cup at AMSOIL Arena this Saturday and Sunday. UMD will face Minnesota State University, Mankato in the second game Saturday at 4:00 p.m., following a 1:00 p.m. contest between Bemidji State University and St. Cloud State University. On Sunday, the Bulldogs will again play the 4:00 p.m. game, and the results Saturday will determine whether the later game is UMD is schedule to be in will be the championship tilt.
QUICK HITS
--UMD head coach Maura Crowell led the USA U-18 team to a IIHF World Championship gold medal with a 2-1 overtime win over Canada on Thursday.
--Maddie Rooney will begin the new year just 87saves away from tying the career UMD mark for saves set by Kayla Black of 2,960 stops in 121 games. Rooney is sitting at 2,911 saves in 104 games.
--Ashton Bell leads the WCHA in goals from a defenseman with six, and sits second in points with 17, which also ranks her 5th in points in the NCAA.
--Gabbie Hughes ranks fifth in the WCHA with a 1.47 PPG average and leads UMD with 10 goals and 15 assists for 25 points in 17 games.
ABOUT THE MN CUP: The MN Cup, in just it's second year, features a rotation of all five Minnesota women's Division I hockey teams. Last season, the event was held at Ridder Arena and won by the University of Minnesota.
THE SERIES: The Bulldogs are unbeaten in 10 skates with the Mavericks, dating back to Nov. 17, 2017, and are 69-7-7 all-time against MSU. UMD swept Minnesota State earlier in the season on Oct. 11-12 at AMSOIL by scores of 3-2 in overtime and 4-1 on Oct. 12.
Senior forward Sydney Brodt led all scorers with five points on two goals and three assists in the MSU series. Brodt netted two of UMD's three goals in the first game, including the game-winner in the 3-2 overtime thriller.
In game two, Gabbie Hughes scored a SportsCenter top-10 goal to begin UMD's four-goal avalanche of offense -- Hughes had a goal and assist in the game, Brodt and Ryleigh Houston had two assists and three different players notched goals.
UMD VS. BEMIDJI STATE: UMD is 74-20-7 all-time against the Beavers after BSU swept the Bulldogs back on Oct. 18-19 in Bemidji, Minn. The Bulldogs were swept by the Beavers by scores of 2-4 and 1-2 at the Sanford Center, the first sweep by a BSU squad over UMD since Oct. 9-10, 2015.
UMD surrendered a 2-0 lead in game one's 4-2 loss -- the Beavers netted three-unanswered goals -- not including an open net tally. Anna Klein and Jalyn Elmes had UMD's goal, while Gabbie Hughes had two assists. The Bulldogs had a season-high six infractions in the game.
Hughes did not dress in Saturday's 2-1 setback, and BSU netted its second power play goal in the series to sweep UMD for the first time in four seasons.
UMD VS. ST. CLOUD STATE: UMD swept St. Cloud State earlier this season on Nov. 1-2 at AMSOIL, and the Bulldogs are 68-14-6 against the Huskies. The Bulldogs outshot SCSU 94-42 on the weekend, and have now outshot the Huskies 285-131 in their last six skates.
The Bulldogs swept SCSU 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 behindin game one, 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. In game two, 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.
Seven of UMD's nine goals over the weekend were scored by different players, and 13 different players recorded points in the series.
LAST TIME OUT: UMD was swept by the No. 1 University of Wisconsin in its last action of 2019 back on Dec. 6-7. The Badgers survived a scoring spree from both sides in the first game, with each team netting two goals in the opening period alone. While Wisconsin eventually outlasted UMD 4-3, despite Anna Klein's two goals and a two-assist performance from Maggie Flaherty. The Bulldogs three goals on Wisconsin was the most they have landed on a UW team since recording three in a 3-3 tie against the Badgers back on Feb. 10, 2018. It was also the most goals the Bulldogs have scored on the road in Madison since they netted three in a 3-4 overtime loss back on Jan. 21, 2012
In game two, the Badgers scored two empty net goals in the final 36 seconds of the game to push ahead of UMD 5-2. The Bulldogs got goals from Gabbie Hughes and Sydney Brodt, and Maddie Rooney had 36 saves in the outing. UMD was never awarded a power play in the skate, while UW went 1-of-3 with an extra skater.
NOTES FROM THE WISCONSIN SERIES: UMD is now 30-49-4 all-time against the Badgers and is still looking for its first road win in Madison since Nov. 28, 2010. Since that date, the Bulldogs have gone 0-12 against home-rink UW.
--Junior winger Anna Klein had three points in the series (2g, 1a), and now has a three-game scoring streak of four points (2g, 2a). Sydney Brodt also has registered a point in her last three games, having compiled three goals and one assist for four points.
--UMD has now played the No. 1 team in the country four times this season, and has gone 0-3-1 in those contests. Two of those losses were 4-3 final scores.
ROONEY NEARS UMD SAVES RECORD: Senior goaltender Maddie Rooney will begin the weekend just 87 saves shy of the Bulldog program's career record for saves. Rooney currently sits at 2,911 stops in 104 games, 87 saves from Kayla Black's record of 2,998 saves made over 121 skates.
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 426 saves so far this season in 17 games.
Rooney has also climbed into sole possession of the most minutes/games played by a Bulldog netminder over a career. With 6,118:30 minutes in 104 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 10 goals and 15 assists for 25 points. Hughes ranks fifth in the WCHA and 9th in the NCAA with a 1.47 points per game average, seventh in assists and second with 5.88 shots on goal a game.
Hughes has twice tied her season-long scoring streak of seven games, 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 17 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 with goals from a defenseman with six, and ranks fifth in the NCAA in points with 17 (6g, 11a) in just 18 games. Bell ranks second among all WCHA blueliners ing with 17 points, and leads the league backliners with three power play tallies.
Bell has already equaled her offensive output from a season ago over 35 games (5-12=17), and is just five points shy of her freshmen career-high of 23 points (11-12=23) in 35 skates.
SHARING THE WEALTH: UMD is averaging 2.72 goals a game, and with 49 goals in the first 18 games, 12 different players have logged tallies, including five that have netted five or more. Sophomores Gabbie Hughes, Sydney Brodt lead UMD in goals -- Hughes owns 10 in 17 games played, while Brodt has posted nine in 18 skates.
USA U-18 IS GOLDEN UNDER CROWELL AT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: Maura Crowell has another Under-18 World Championship gold medal.
The UMD women's hockey head coach, who doubles as the U.S. U-18 head coach, led her side to a gold medal Thursday with a 2-1 overtime win at the Ice Rink Vlado Dzurilla in Bratislava, Slovakia in the 2020 IIHF U-18 Women's World Championship. Crowell, in her second year at the helm of the U-18 squad, earned a silver medal after the U.S. lost in a heartbreaking overtime final a year ago, and also has a gold medal as an assistant coach in 2018.
""It's an amazing journey to get to this game," Crowell said after the game. "To win it is another thing. For the players, the process started last spring, as it did for so many staff members. Yes, coaches, but also other people at USA Hockey who have given so much to help us even put together and pick this team. It's also been about finding the right players, and not always the best players. It's about putting the puzzle together. I'm so happy for everyone. This is life-long dream for all of those girls. Seeing those smiles after the game, that's what we're doing this for."
It is the fifth time in the last six IIHF U-18 Women's World Championships that Team USA has been golden in.
To view the entire PDF release, click here.
