After three weeks away from outside competition, the No. 6/7 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team will jump back into on ice action this weekend when the Bulldogs head to Bemijdi State University. UMD will drop the puck with the Beavers at the Sanford Center in Bemidji, Minn. in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association series that gets underway Friday at 3:01 p.m. and concludes Saturday at 2:01 p.m.
THE SERIES: The Bulldogs are 80-22-7 all-time against BSU, and went 1-1 last season in the only two meetings they had last season. The two sides last tangled Jan. 22-23, 2021, resulting in a series split in Bemidji, Minn., with each team taking a 1-0 win in overtime.
In the opening game, 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.
In game two, facing its longest scoring drought in its rich offensively-minded history, UMD found an offensive hero in the most unlikely of players -- then 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,
The two sides have gone into overtime in three of their last four skates, and in those three overtime games, UMD is 1-2.
Overall, UMD outshot BSU 77-45 on the weekend, but BSU held the Bulldog scoreless in four power play attempts.
A LOOK AT THE BEAVERS: Bemidji State has played one of the hardest schedules in the country to date, and have played the top-three teams in the country in three of the Beavers last four series. BSU's previous eight games are teams now ranked in top 6 or 7, and the Bulldogs will be the ninth and 10th games against teams ranked in the top-10.
BSU is coming off a series against top-ranked Wisconson where the Beavers punched above their weight, earning a 0-0 tie ahead of a shootout loss with the Badgers in Madison last Friday. The following day, UW defeated BSU 1-8, dropping BSU's record to 2-6-2 overall.
Senior forward Graysen Myers leads the Beavers with seven points in 10 games (3g, 4a), while senior forward Paige Beebe leads BSU with a team-high four goals in addition to two assists. Senior goaltender Kerigan Dowhy has a 1.89 goals against average in three games, but sophomore Hannah Hogenson has played a team-high six games and posted a 2.12 GAA over that span.
LAST TIME OUT: It's been awhile, but UMD's last series was back on Oct. 23-24, a sweep of St. Thomas in Mendota Heights, Minn. by scores of 3-0 and 7-0.
In the first meeting of the two sides in history on Oct. 23, UMD registered a 3-0 win. UMD peppered the Tommies with 35 shots on goal to 21, and had two players notch two points -- linemates Gabbie Hughes (1g, 1a) and Anna Klein (2a). Senior goaltender Emma Soderberg made all 21 stops on all the shots she faced for her eighth career shutout and second of the season.
The following day, the Bulldogs defeated the Tommies 7-0 to sweep the WCHA series. UMD matched a previous season-high of seven goals, marking the second time the Bulldogs have notched seven goals in just eight games this year. Senior forward Kylie Hanley and sophomore forward Clara Van Wieren each notched two goals, while senior center Naomi Rogge led all scorers with three points on a goal and two assists for three points.
Soderberg and Jojo Chobak split duties between the pipes for the Bulldogs, with Soderberg making five saves in 39:42 minutes and Chobak two in 20 minutes. UMD outshot the Tommies 43-7 in the game -- a program low allowed by the Bulldogs.
NOTES FROM THE ST. THOMAS SERIES: UMD is now 2-0 all-time against the Tommies after the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
--The Bulldogs held STU to just seven shots in their second game of the series, besting an six-year old program record of nine shots in a game. The Bulldogs had twice before held opponents to just nine shots -- the last time was on Jan. 23, 2015 against Minnesota State.
--UMD has back-to-back shutouts and 120 minutes of no goals against for the first time since it blanked BSU 2-0 and 4-0 on Jan. 5 and Jan. 17, 2020.
GIGUERE EYES A CAREER POINTS NCAA MILESTONE: Senior forward Élizabeth Giguère is just four points shy of becoming the ninth player in NCAA history* to reach the 250 career points. Giguère enters this weekend at 104 career goals in addition to 142 career assists, and has so far recorded 13 points (5g, 8a) in her first eight games with the Bulldogs. (*Note: NCAA women's hockey officially began in the 2000-01 season. Former UMD All-American Jenny Potter accured 256 points in just 102 career games between 1999-2003, but is not credited for the 1999-00 season in the NCAA record books).
SODERBERG HELPS SWEDEN QUALIFY FOR OLYMPICS: UMD senior goaltender Emma Soderberg has the opportunity to become an Olympian for the first time in February after Team Sweden qualified for the 2022 Winter Olympics Sunday.
After a three-year absence, Sweden will return to a top-level event after beating France 3-2 at the Final Olympic Qualification Group E on home ice in Lulea, Sweden. Sweden has yet to name their official Olympic roster, but Soderberg, who picked up a shutout for Sweden Saturday in a 15-0 win over Korea, could possibly make the team and head to Beijing with former Bulldogs Michelle Lowenhielm and Linnea Hedin. Lowenhielm scored the Swedes first goal Sunday, and will be making her second appearance in a Winter Olympics with Sweden.
Soderberg is the second currently rostered Bulldog player whose national team has secured an Olympic berth so far this year -- junior forward Kassy Betinol will represent the host team China. Senior defenseman Ashton Bell is currently centralized with Canada ahead of the Olympics.
Former UMD standout forward Katerina Mrázová also punched her first Olympic Games ticket, helping lead the Czech Republic through Group C. Former All-American and two-time Olympian (and bronze medalist) Lara Stalder has already locked in her third trip to women's hockey's biggest stage with Switzerland, while another former All-American, defenseman and two-time Winter Olympian (and gold and silver medalist) Jocelyne Larocque is still centralized with Bell awaiting final roster decisions. Arguably UMD's most famous former Olympian of all-time, goaltender Maddie Rooney, is also centralized with Team USA this fall, awaiting a final roster this winter.
In all, UMD may have as many as nine current and former players on five different Olympic rosters this February.
POWERED PLAY: UMD's power play conversion rate is 30.0 -- the fourth-highest power play in the NCAA. The Bulldogs have gone 6-of-20 through their first eight games.
The Bulldogs have already equaled their power play goal total of the entire 2020-21 season - four goals (19 games).
LIGHTENING LINE: UMD's top-scoring line of Élizabeth Giguère, Gabbie Hughes and Anna Klein one of the top-scoring lines in the nation through the Bulldogs first eight games.
Hughes, who leads UMD in scoring with 14 points (6g, 8a), is tied for seventh in the NCAA with a 1.75 points per game average. Giguère is tied for 15th in the NCAA with a 1.62 PPG average on five goals and eight assists for 13 points in eight games, and Klein is tied for 19th with a 1.50 PPG with four goals and eight assists for 12 points.
KLEIN CLOSES IN ON 100 CAREER POINTS: Senior winger Anna Klein is closing in on 100 career points, and will enter the weekend at 91 on 45 goals and 46 assists in 133 career contests.
Klein -- who would become the 22nd player in program history to hit the mark, would be the second player on the team to reach it as a Bulldog -- Klein's linemate Gabbie Hughes reached the milestone on Jan. 21, 2021.
GABBIE HUGES NAMED ASSISTANT CAPTAIN: Senior center Gabbie Hughes was named an assistant captain last Monday, joining the leadership core of senior captains Anna Klein and Kylie Hanley, as well as assistant captain Kailee Skinner.
The Lino Lakes, Minn. native has been as dangerous on the ice offensively as ever, currently tied for the highest point per game average in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association with 1.75 PPG. Hughes leads the Bulldogs through eight games with 14 points on six goals and eight assists -- and has posted multiple point games in half (four) of those skates.
"I am honored to wear an 'A' the rest of this season alongside the great leadership we already have," said Hughes. "Being given this honor is a special recognition and means a lot. To me it shows the trust my teammates and coaches have in me. Excited for the rest of the season to get back in action and show off the team we have."
KLEIN'S DURABILITY CLIMB: Senior winger Anna Klein has never, in her previous four years of college hockey, missed a game. The fifth-year senior is now at 133 consecutive games played. Klein is chasing former standout defenseman Sidney Morin, who skated in 147 consecutive games between 2013-17.
