For the first time in almost a month and a half, the No. 6 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team will face an outside opponent in No. 3 Ohio State University.  The Western Collegiate Hockey Association series will get underway at AMSOIL Arena on Friday at 6:07 p.m. before concluding at 3:07 p.m. on Saturday. 

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THE SERIES:  The Bulldogs are and Buckeyes are set to play just one series in the COVID season of 2020-21. UMD is 71-20-14 all-time against the Buckeyes, and went 2-1-1 against OSU last season.  UMD is 6-3-1 in its last 10 games with the Buckeyes, and even more impressively, UMD is 9-1, with nine consecutive wins, against OSU at home in the Maura Crowell era dating back to Jan. 30, 2016.  In those nine-straight wins, UMD has outscored the Buckeyes, 39-16 and has averaged 4.33 goals a game in those nine-consecutive wins. Overall, Crowell has maintained a 13-6-1 advantage against the Buckeyes.

In their last meetings back on Jan. 24-25, 2020 of last season,  the Bulldogs swept then No. 5 Ohio State University at AMSOIL by scores of 5-4 in overtime in the first game and 4-1 the following afternoon.

On Friday, Jan. 24, Anna Klein netted two goals, and three other Bulldogs found the net (Kyie Hanley, Gabbie Hughes, McKenzie Hewett) in a 5-4 offensive slugfest that featured five lead changes. Klein scored at 17:30 of the second period before netting the game-winner at 3:12 of the overtime.  Maddie Rooney made 41 saves for the Bulldogs, who were outshot 45-30 by OSU.

Sydney Brodt got the scoring started the following afternoon with a shorthanded goal at 11:54 that gave UMD a lead it would never relinquish.    Ashton Bell added a power play goal at 2:06 of the second period, and Hughes tacked on goal at 17:12 of the second and at 18:03 of the third with an open netter to seal the 4-1 win.  Rooney again had a big afternoon, make 46 saves as the Buckyes outshot the Bulldogs 47-28.

Six different players scored the nine goals that UMD put on the board over the series, with Hughes scoring three goals, in addition to three assists for a series-high six points.

A LOOK AT THE BUCKEYES:  Ohio State split with the then No. 1 University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisc. last weekend.  The Buckeyes fell 2-1 to the Badgers on Jan. 8 before rebounding for a 2-1 overtime win on Jan. 9.

Junior defenseman Madison Bizal is the reigning WCHA Defenseman of the week for dishing out assists on all three of the Buckeyes goals scored last weekend. Bizal, along with rookie center Jenna Buglioni lead OSU with seven points apiece -- Bizal has a goal and six assists, while Buglioni has a team-high four goals to go with three assists. 

LAST TIME OUT:  The Bulldogs outscored St. Cloud State 9-1 in a series sweep back on Dec. 4-5, with a 4-0 win Friday before a 5-1 triumph Saturday.

Eight players recorded points in the first game, led by junior forward Naomi Rogge's two goals in the second period.  Two other players posted two points -- Anna Klein (1g, 1a) and Gabbie Hughes (2a).  Junior goaltender Emma Sodberg picked up her second shutout of the season with the win.

The following afternoon, UMD again blew the game open in the second period, this time with four goals in the second period.  10 players registered points, including four different goal scorers -- rookie Clara Van Wieren had two goals in the game.  Soderberg made nine saves in 40 minutes between the pipes, while freshman Jojo Chobak made 11 stops in her first 20 minutes of collegiate hockey. 

NOTES FROM THE ST. CLOUD STATE SERIES:  All-time, the Bulldogs are 71-14-7 against the Huskies, and are unbeaten 5-0-1-1 in their last six games with SCSU. UMD has outscored the Huskies  25-5 over those six games.

--UMD's 55 shots on goal Saturday Dec. 5 was the highest total in six seasons the Bulldogs have posted during a game that ends in regulation. (UMD had 73 against last season in a four overtime skate against Bemidji State University).

BULLDOGS CONTINUE TO LEAD THE NATION AND WCHA IN SCORING:   Senior forward Anna Klein leads the nation with a 1.00 goals per game average, as well as with a 1.83 points per game average on 11 points (6g, 5a) in just six games.  Junior foward Naomi Rogge ranks second in points per game with a 1.50 PPG average. 

Freshman forward Clara Van Wieren also sits second nationally with five goals in six games for 0.83 G/GP average.  Van Wieren also ranks third among all rookie scorers with six points on five goals and one assist.

Klein and Rogge also rank first and second in total points in the WCHA despite having only played in six games.  Klein has six goals and five assists for 11 points, while Rogge sits with four goals and five assists for nine points.

BULLDOGS RANK SECOND NATIONALLY IN SCORING:  After six games, UMD remains the second highest scoring team in  the NCAA with a 4.00 goals per game average.  The Bulldogs trail only Quinnipiac, averaging 4.40 G/GP through just five games.  The closest WCHA team to UMD is Minnesota, which ranks sixth and is averaging 3.11 G/GP.

Ohio State and UMD rank third and fourth in shots on goal in the NCAA -- the Buckeyes own a 39.62 SOG/GP average through eight games, while the Bulldogs have a 39.00 SOG/GP through six skates.

STREAKING ALONG: A pair of Bulldog forwards -- Anna Klein and Naomi Rogge -- have registered points in all six games they have played in so far this season.  Klein (6g, 5a) and Rogge (4g, 5a) each own scoring streaks that are six games long (tying a career-best for Rogge and already career-long for Klein).  The duo are also ranked 1-2 in scoring in the WCHA.

ZOE HICKEL RETURNS TO AMSOIL:  Former UMD women's hockey player Zoe Hickel, who played for the Bulldogs from 2011 to 2015,  returns to AMSOIL Arena this weekend as an assistant coach at Ohio State University.

Hickel, a native Anchorage, Alaska, was a two-year captain at UMD and a finalist for the 2015 Hockey Humanitarian Award.  An All-WCHA Second Team selection her senior year, Hickel had a team-high 19 goals and 13 assists for 32 points in 2014-15, and ended her Bulldog career with 46 goals and 47 assists for 93 points in 138 collegiate games.

Hickel is the third former Bulldog player to join the OSU staff in the past decade.  All-American Jenny Potter was the Buckeyes head coach for the 2015-16 season, and former standout Jessica Koizumi was an assistant in 2016-17 before moving on to the University of Vermont.

2020-21 NOTABLES:  Clara Van Wieren is the first Bulldog rookie to score five goals in her first six career games (5g, 1a)  since Noémie Marin scored five (5g, 2a) over her first collegiate skates during the 2003-04.

--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).

--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. 

CROWELL CLOSES IN ON THE CENTURY MARK:  UMD head coach Maura Crowell, currently in her sixth season at the helm of the Bulldogs, enters the weekend eight wins shy of 100.