The No. 6 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team will welcome back St. Cloud State University to AMSOIL Arena this weekend, the second time this season the Bulldogs and Huskies will face-off in Duluth. The Friday-Saturday series get underway Friday night at 6:07 p.m. before it concludes at 3:07 p.m. Saturday. Attendance for this weekend will be invited guests only, with student-athletes familys and friends, guests in attendance.
THE 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.
The Bulldogs outscored St. Cloud State 9-1 in a series sweep at AMSOIL 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 Soderberg picked up her second shutout of the season at the time 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. UMD's 55 shots on goal 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).
A LOOK AT THE HUSKIES: SCSU was swept last weekend in Madison, Wisc. by the top-ranked University of Wisconsin by scores of 10- and 4-2. The Huskies are led by junior forward Jennlina Nylund who has four goals and three assists for seven points through 13 games. Rookie forward Emma Gentry is also tied for the SCSU lead with four goals and an assist in just 10 skates. Two goaltenders have split time so far between the pipes -- senior Emma Polusny, (3.37 GAA, .915 saves percentage in nine games) and freshman Sanni Ahola (3.37 GAA, .912 saves percentage in seven games).
LAST TIME OUT: The Bulldogs split with Bemidji State University last weekend in Bemidji, Minn., with each team taking a 1-0 win in overtime.
Friday night, Beaver goaltender Kerigan Dowhy helped BSU get a 1-0 overtime win after the senior made a career-high 46 saves against UMD. While UMD commanded the shots on goal category for the night 46-18, the Bulldogs also had another superb game from junior netminder Emma Soderberg, who made 17 saves in the contest in her own right. BSU's finally got past Soderberg with a goal off a tipped shot 2:23 into the 3-on-3 overtime.
Saturday, facing its longest scoring drought in its rich offensively-minded history, UMD found an offensive hero in the most unlikely of players -- rookie blueliner Nina Jobst-Smith. The blueliner took a feed from junior center Gabbie Hughes back in the UMD defensive zone and beat Dowhy high over her left shoulder at 3:32 of the 3-on-3 overtime for the electric 1-0 win.
Soderberg had 17 stops en route to her fourth shutout of the season. BSU's Dowhy had 30 saves in the setback for a whopping total of 76 in the series. UMD outshot the Beavers 31-17 in the contest,
NOTES FROM THE BEMIDJI STATE SERIES: The Bulldogs are now 80-22-7 all-time against BSU. The two sides have gone into overtime in three of their last four skates, and in those three overtime games, UMD is 1-2.
--Emma Soderberg picked up her NCAA-best fourth shutout Saturday, and became one of 10 UMD goaltenders all-time that have recorded four or more clean-sheets in a season.
--Nina Jobst-Smith's first collegiate career goal Saturday and first game-winning goal was also her third point (1g, 2a), while the assist was Hughes eighth of the season and ninth point overall.
--Overall, UMD outshot BSU 77-45 on the weekend.
--UMD has skated in 36 overtimes in the Maura Crowell era with a record of 11-6-19 in those extra time games … In two seasons, the Bulldogs are 5-1-1 in 3-on-3 overtime action.
--BSU held the Bulldog scoreless in four power play attempts. Overall, UMD has been held scoreless on the power play for 28-straight power plays. The Bulldogs scored two power plays -- their only goals with an extra skater so far this season -- in their first game against Minnesota State back on Nov. 20.
HUGHES CLIMBS TOWARDS CAREER MARK: Junior center Gabbie Hughes is closing in on 100 career points, currently sitting at 97 career points on 40 goals and 58 assists over 76 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.
Hughes was just one of two players in the past eight years to register 51 or more points, as well as 30 or more assists. Only Lara Stalder has compiled more points in the past eight seasons -- Stalder turned in 56 points (23g, 33a) in 35 games in 2016-17.
Ironically, Stalder was the last Bulldog to become a member of the 100 career point club.
SODERBERG BY THE NUMBERS: Any way you look at it, Emma Soderberg is surging. Nationally among goaltenders who have played more than half of their teams games, Soderberg ranks second in both goals against (1.03) and saves percentage (.960), and her four shutouts rank her in a tie for first. In the WCHA, Soderberg leads all goaltenders in almost every catergory, and has allowed a league-low 10 goals in 10 games.
But what's almost as staggering is where Soderberg is currently stacking up in the UMD record books. Soderberg's stats right now in GAA (1.03) and saves percentage (.960) would rank her first in a single-season among all UMD goaltenders. With 19 career games played, Soderberg sits first with a .948 saves percentage and a 1.33 GAA.
BULLDOGS GET DEFENSIVE: Just weeks after owning the nation's best offense, UMD has flipped the narrative to defense.
The Bulldogs currently own the WCHA's lowest goals against on games played (1.20), and rank as the third lowest goals against in the nation. In fact, through 10 games, UMD has allowed just 12 goals while outscoring its opponent with 27 goals.
KLEIN CONTINUES TO HAVE THE REIGNS AS UMD'S TOP SCORER: Senior Anna Klein continues to lead UMD in scoring and goals scored, having run up a seven-game scoring streak over her first four games. In 10 games, Klein has scored seven goals and five assists for 12 points.
Klein also ranks third WCHA in goals (7), goals per game (0.70) and points per game (1.20).
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.
--UMD posted a 3.72 GPA this past fall -- a program semster high. It also was the highest GPA posted by any team in the entire Bulldog athletic department in the fall of 2020.
--The Bulldogs went a program-long 183:232 minutes without scoring a goal from Jan. 15-Jan. 23, 2021.
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 six wins shy of 100.
BELL AND KLEIN EXTEND CONSECUTIVE GAME STREAKS: Both seniors Ashton Bell and Anna Klein have played 118 straight-games, and are now just one shy for the all-time second slot of 119 consecutive games played by Sarah Murray in (2006-10).
Sidney Morin owns the UMD record for consecutive games played with 147 over her career from 2013-17.
