Bulldog fans had a plethora of storylines to follow Friday night after the No. 8 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team stomped Minnesota State University, Mankato 5-0 at the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center in Mankato, Minn.  Arguably the biggest, however, was the mere fact that the Bulldogs even got to play in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association contest some 258 days after their last competition.

"To play so well and have the opportunity to play in general, I thought we had a pretty complete game from start to finish," said UMD head coach Maura Crowell.  " A lot of good things to celebrate with five different scorers, Naomi Rogge back in her first game gets a beautiful goal and Emma Sodberg coming away with a shutout. So a lot of good things there, we're happy with a win."

The Bulldogs made the most of their return early when Kasundra Betinol found an open Taylor Anderson alone in front of the net.  Anderson beat MSU netminder Calla Frank high glove-side for her first goal of the year at 7:51.

In dramatic fashion, Rogge -- who missed the entire 2019-20 season due to injury -- blasted her way back into the scoring book at 12:02 to give UMD a 2-0 lead.  Rogge's goal ignited the UMD side, and despite going on the penalty kill four minutes later, the Bulldogs found themselves up 3-0 after senior winger Anna Klein buried a shorthanded breakaway at the 16:14 mark.

UMD added a power play goal in each remaining period to push the game offensively out of reach.  Senior defenseman Ashton Bell, who had assisted Rogge's goal, picked up exactly where she left off last spring, finishing off a backside pass from Klein with a minute remaining in the second period.

Freshmen Clara Van Wieren made it a 5-0 game at 6:20 of the third period, one-timing a pass from Gabbie Hughes for the first goal of her Bulldog career.  All told, five different players scored goals and three players posted multiple point games, including Bell with three points (1g, 2a), Klein (1g, 1a) and Hughes (2a).

Not to be outdone, junior goaltender Soderberg calmly earned the first shutout of her career with 22 saves, and was a big reason UMD held the Mavericks scoreless on six power-play attempts.

UMD had a  34-22 shots on goal advantage in the contest and went 2-of-7 on its power play.  In fact, three of the Bulldogs five goals came on special teams.  Frank had 29 stops for the Mavericks, who fall to 0-1.

The two sides will drop the puck once again tomorrow afternoon in Mankato, with game-time set for 3:07 p.m.