There will be another weekend of women's college hockey at AMSOIL Arena this Friday and Saturday as the No. 6/7 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team hosts St. Cloud State University. Friday night's puck will drop on the Western Collegiate Hockey Association series at 6:07 p.m., while Saturday's game will get underway at 3:07 p.m.
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THE SERIES: The Bulldogs are 69-14-7 all-time against the Huskies, and were unbeaten by SCSU last season (3-0-1-1) UMD outscored the Huskies 16-4 over those four games.
In their last meetings back on Jan. 24-25, UMD left St. Cloud with five points after officially tying the Huskies 2-2 on Jan. 24 before getting the double overtime winner. The following afternoon of Jan, 25, UMD turned in a 5-2 win.
In the first game, the Bulldogs jumped out to an almost instant lead after then 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.
The following afternoon, 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, Bell (1g, 1a), 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.
LAST TIME OUT: UMD was swept by the No. 3 University of Minnesota last weekend at AMSOIL. The Bulldogs fell 4-2 Friday night before being edged out by the Gophers 2-1 on Saturday afternoon.
Friday night, the Bulldogs got out to a 2-0 lead after the first period, but were undone by four unanswered goals by the Gophers, including an empty-net tally in the final two minutes. UMD's goal scorers were Anna Klein and Kylie Hanley, and goaltender Emma Soderberg, in her first career action against a top-five ranked team, turned in a career-best 34 saves.
In the second game, Minnesota scored in the first period, and then used a 4-on-3 power play in the second period to take a 2-0 lead after 40 minutes of play. UMD clawed back in the third period, punctuated by senior defenseman Ashton Bell's goal at the 9:24 mark to draw UMD within a single goal of the Gophers. Bell's strike from above the circle was assisted by forwards Anna Klein and Naomi Rogge. UMD out-shot Minnesota 15-7 in the third period, including heavily in the final 10 minutes, but Gopher netminder Lauren Bench made 14 of the 15 shots she faced down the stretch. UMD junior goaltender Soderberg, completing just the second series of her collegiate career, was solid for the Bulldogs between the pipes with 30 saves in the contest and 64 on the weekend.
NOTES FROM THE MINNESOTA SERIES: All-time, the Bulldogs fall to 29-62-10 against the Gophers, including 2-7-1 in their last 10 outings.
--Three players notched at least a point in each game of the series, and have now extended their current scoring streaks to four games -- Ashton Bell (1g, 1a), Anna Klein (1g, 1a) and Naomi Rogge (2a).
--Junior netminder Emma Soderberg had a career-high 34 saves in Friday's contest against the Gophers. The series saves total of 64 is also a career-high for Soderberg.
BULLDOGS LEADING THE NATION AND WCHA IN SCORING: Junior defenseman Ashton Bell's current four-game scoring streak of three goals and five assists for eight points ties her for first in scoring among all NCAA players (and WCHA skaters) at every position. Senior winger Anna Klein, with a team-high four goals and two assists for six points over those same four games sits third nationally in points, while junior forward Naomi Rogge is tied for sixth with Anneke Linser. Rogge has a goal and four assists in her current four-game scoring streak. Bell, Klein, Linser and Rogge are the top-four scorers in the WCHA after four games, and all four rank in the top-six in the NCAA.
Klein is tied for the most goals scored in the nation (four), and owns the WCHA's top goal-getting spot. In total points, Bell tied for the nation's lead, has it outright in the WCHA with seven. Klein has the second most points in the league (six), and Rogge and Linser are tied with five a piece in the third spot.
BULLDOGS CONTINUE TO LEAD ALL TEAMS NATIONALLY IN SCORING: After four games, UMD continues to lead the NCAA with a 3.75 goals per game average, ahead of Boston College, who sits with a 3.50. No other WCHA team is averaging over three goals a game.
The Bulldogs also own an NCAA-high 141 shots on goal and a +7 plus/minus rating, as well as two shorthanded goals.
STREAKING ALONG: Three UMD players have recorded points in all four of their games so far this year -- Ashton Bell, Anna Klein, and Naomi Rogge.
Bell has registered seven points (2g, 2a) for a nation-leading 1.74 points per game average. Bell also leads the country with five assists. Klein has posted six points in four games so far, including a national-best four goals to go with two assists. Rooge has a goal and four assists in her first four skates back from a year-long injury.
While Rogge's career-long scoring streak is six games, dating back to her rookie year, the four-game streak ties Klein's previous high of four games, which the senior has reached now five times over her collegiate career. Bell rang up five-game scoring streaks twice last season, career longs.
2020-21 NOTABLES: UMD's seven goals scored against Minnesota State on Nov. 21 is the most it has put up since Jan. 23, 2015, when the Bulldogs scored 12 goals against MSU in Mankato. It was also the most goals scored in a series (12), also from the same weekend -- UMD scored 16 on Jan. 23-24, 2015 (where UMD registered scores of 12-0 and 4-0, respectively).
--Freshmen forward Clara Van Wieren had a goal in both of her first two collegiate games -- she is the first rookie since Laura Fridfinnson during the 2007-08 season to score goals in her first two UMD games.
HUGHES CLIMBS TOWARDS CAREER MARK: With three assists in just over four periods of action last weekend, it's clear Gabbie Hughes picked right up where she left off from a season ago. The junior center enters this weekend with 91 career points on 39 goals and 52 assists over 72 games. Hughes is looking to become the first player since Lara Stalder hit the mark on on Oct. 8, 2016. If Hughes hits the mark this year, she will become the first junior since current UMD assistant coach Ashleigh Brykaliuk to get to the Brykaliuk reached 100 points on Feb. 27, 2016 of her junior campaign.
