The University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team will begin its 2021 NCAA postseason trek next Monday when the fifth-seeded Bulldogs will hit the ice against fourth-seeded Colgate University. The days second NCAA Quarterfinal will get underway at the Erie Insurance Arena in Erie, Penn. at 6:00 p.m. CDT.
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UMD IN THE NCAA POSTSEASON: UMD heads back into the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2017 after being selected to an at-large bid. This will mark the ninth time in program history the Bulldogs have received an NCAA Quarterfinal bid, and the second of the Maura Crowell era.
UMD's last NCAA Quarterfinal appearance was in the 2016-17 season, when the Bulldogs earned the fourth seed and hosted the fifth-seeded University of Minnesota on March 11, 2017 at AMSOIL Arena -- the first-ever Bulldog NCAA postseason at AMSOIL. UMD eventually suffered a 0-1 loss to the Gophers. Bulldog assistant coach Ashleigh Brykaliuk was a senior and UMD's second-leading scorer on that squad (17-28=45 in 37 games).
All-time, the Bulldogs are 15-6 in the NCAA postseason, including 11-2 in the NCAA Frozen Four and 4-4 in the NCAA Quarterfinals. The NCAA didn't adopt a quarterfinal game until the 2004-05 season, and prior to that, UMD had played in and won the first three NCAA titles in 2001, 2002 and 2003, going a perfect 6-0 in the NCAA postseason.
A look at UMD in the NCAA Quarterfinals --
March 11, 2017 - vs. Minnesota 0-1 Loss
March 12, 2011 - at Wisconsin 1-2 Loss
March 13, 2010 - vs. New Hampshire 2-1 Win
March 14, 2009 - at New Hampshire 4-1 Win
March 15, 2008 - vs. Mercyhurst 5-4 Win
March 9, 2007 - at Mercyhurst 3-2 OT Win
March 11, 2006 - at St. Lawrence 0-1 Loss
March 18, 2005 - vs. St. Lawrence 2-3 OT Loss
THE SERIES: UMD meets Colgate for only the third time in program history, and first in the NCAA postseason. The Bulldogs enter with a 2-0 all-time record against the Raiders in two games that were played in tournaments within the past four years. UMD and Colgate last met in the Ice Breaker Championship in Buffalo, NY last season, resulting in a 3-1 win for the Bulldogs on Oct. 26, 2019.
In two career games against the Raiders, senior blueliner Ashton Bell leads all UMD players with four points on two goals and two assists. Bell turned in a one goal, assist performance last season from the blueline.
OTHER UMD-COLGATE NOTABLES: --While UMD has only met Colgate twice, the Bulldogs have played in a total of 60 games against teams in the Raiders conference -- the ECAC -- and own a 37-19-4 all-time record against the league. Since UMD first met Colgate in the 2017-18 season, the Bulldogs are 4-5 in nine games against ECAC opponents.
UMD head coach Maura Crowell is a 2002 graduate of Colgate University, and was a forward for the Raiders. Crowell -- who was part of Colgate's transition from Division III to Division I, played in 104 games, scoring 29 goals and 32 assists for 61 career points, and helped the Raiders to three straight ECAC playoff appearances and a spot in the 2000 ECAC championship game.
A LOOK AT THE RAIDERS: Colgate is coming off a COVID-impacted season in which the Raiders only played a total of four different opponents, and only had three available ECAC schools to play.Colgate made the best of it, going 15-6-1 and winning its first-ever ECAC Hockey Tournament Championship. The Raiders are led by sophmore forward Danielle Serdachny, who was named the ECAC Hockey Player of the Year after recording 21 points on nine goals and 12 assists in 22 games. Rookie goaltender Kayle Osborne has started 21 of a possible 22 games for Colgate in goal, and has a .924 saves percentage to go with a 1.74 GAA.
At the helm of the Raiders is head coach Greg Fargo, who is 161-17-24 in eight seasons. As a program, this will mark just Colgates second NCAA Tournament bid.
LAST TIME OUT: The Bulldogs suffered a 7-2 loss to No. 3 Ohio State Saturday in the second game of the WCHA Final Face-Off semifinals.
UMD took a 1-1 tie into the first intermission, courtesy of a breakaway goal from freshman Katie Davis, the first of her career, but was overwhelmed offensively by the Buckeyes offense in the second frame.
The second period ice tipped entirely in the favor of the Buckeyes, however, and OSU used four goals over a 5:37 span to dig a hole the Bulldogs would not recover from. It started with a power play goal from OSU's Jennifer Gardiner at the 2:20 mark, followed by another goal off a rebound at 3:40 to give the Buckeyes a 3-1 advantage. OSU scored two more tallies at 6:02 and 7:57, and when the dust settled, UMD found themselves trailing 5-1. Freshman Clara Van Wieren cut into the Buckeyes lead at 10:22 to make it a 5-2 game, but OSU added another goal in the period and a seventh in the third period to push the game out of reach.
Freshman goaltender Jojo Chobak played 32:03 of the contest and made 15 saves, while Emma Soderberg had 10 stops in the first 27:57.
NOTES FROM THE OSU WCHA FINAL FACEOFF SEMIFINAL: With the loss against the Buckeyes, UMD is now 43-23 in all WCHA postseason games and 8-11 in semifinal contests.
--The Bulldogs as a program are 12-4 against OSU in the league postseason, which includes eight quarterfinal games, two WCHA semifinals, two third place games and WCHA title tilt.
--UMD is now 1-2 against the Buckeyes this season, and 72-22-14 all-time. The Bulldogs are 7-5-1 in their last 13 games against OSU.
--Saturday's defensive breach was the most goals allowed by a UMD squad since Feb. 12, 2017.
--The Bulldogs are 2-3 (.500) against top-three ranked teams in 2021.
--Gabbie Hughes had her massive seven-game scoring streak snapped last Saturday against OSU. The junior center had a 13-point effort, which included a six-game goal scoring streak of nine goals to go with four assists.
BULLDOGS GET DEFENSIVE: Despite giving up seven goals last Saturday, UMD remains tied for the lowest amount of goals against in the WCHA this season at 30 in 17 games. While UMD led the WCHA with the league's lowest GAA prior to last weekend, the Bulldogs now rank second with a 1.76 GAA and sixth in the NCAA. UMD is averaging 3.06 goals a game, the third most in the WCHA and sixth most in the nation.
From a historic perspective, UMD's current goals against of 1.76 would be the eighth lowest in program history over an entire season. The Bulldogs existing low was 1.49 GAA over the 2007-08 NCAA title season.
KLEIN AND HUGHES HOLD REIGNS AS UMD'S TOP SCORERS: Senior winger Anna Klein and junior center Gabbie Hughes led the Bulldogs in scoring over the regular season -- Klein led UMD for almost the entire year with a team-high 11 goals and 10 assists for 21 points -- a 1.24 points per game mark that ranks third in the WCHA along with Hughes. Klein also ranks third in the league with 11 goals, and her two shorthanded goals reigns the highest.
Both Klein and Hughes rank fifth in the NCAA with a 1.24 points per game average.
Hughes, who compiled points in seven of her last eight games, registered a blistering nine goals and four assists for 13 points over that span for a 1.62 points per game average, and a 1.12 goals per game statline. Over that period, Hughes ranks second in the NCAA, and first in the WCHA in points per game (1.62).Hughes joined UMD's 100 career point club back on Jan. 30, and since then has climbed into 17th place with 109 points in 84 games.
Hughes has averaged 1.00 points per game through seven skates so far this season against teams ranked in the top-3.The center also currently owns a career points per game average of 1.28. She posted a career-best 1.45 points per game last season as a sophomore.
SODERBERG BY THE NUMBERS: Any way you look at it, Emma Soderberg is having a career season. Soderberg has blossomed in her first season as the Bulldogs starter. The junior netminder finished the regular season with the WCHA's lowest GAA -- a 1.34, earning the statistical 2020-21 WCHA Goaltendiing Champion title.
Soderberg continues to lead the WCHA with a 1.61 goals against average, which also ranks fifth in the NCAA among goaltenders that have played 10 or more games. The Jarved, Sweden product sits first in the league and sixth in the nation with her .941 saves percentage among goaltenders that have played 12 or more contests. With five shutouts, Soderberg is tied for second nationally and tied for first in the WCHA.Soderberg has made 404 saves, and has twice made more than 40 saves, including a career-best of 45 against Wisconsin in the regular season title game two Saturday's ago.
Despite the OSU offensive onslaught last weekend, Soderberg is still holding top-10 program single-season numbers. She sits sixth with a .941 saves percentage, and eigth with a 1.61 GAA.
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 just one shy of 100 career wins at UMD with 99.
Crowell currently owns the eighth most overall wins in WCHA history, and sits seventh with 70 WCHA wins. Only the second head coach in UMD program history, Crowell also owns the sixth-best all-time winning percentage, currently at .553.
HUGHES EYES 50 GOALS: Gabbie Hughes is looking to become just the 15th player in UMD history to reach the 50 goal mark. The junior center is sitting at 49 career goals entering UMD's NCAA Quarterfinal date with Colgate. The last player to reach that scoring plateau was Lara Stalder, who hit it during the 2016-71 season. Current assistant coach Ashleigh Brykaliuk also hit the 50 career goal mark just prior to Stalder during the 2016-17 season.
Nine players have reached 50 goals or more in three or less seasons as a Bulldog.
BELL AND KLEIN EXTEND CONSECUTIVE GAME STREAKS: Both seniors Ashton Bell and Anna Klein have played 123 straight-games, which now crowns them tied for the second-longest consecutive games played streak in program history.
Sidney Morin owns the UMD record for consecutive games played with 147 over her career from 2013-17.
BRYKALIUK BECOMES FOURTH ALUMNI TURNED ASSISTANT TO HELP LEAD UMD TO NCAA TOURNAMENT: Ashleigh Brykaliuk's last collegiate game happens to be the last time the Bulldogs were in the NCAA Tournament, and the former UMD standout will join some very elite company next Monday from the Bulldog bench.
Brykaliuk, who played for the Bulldogs from 2013-17, joins Caroline Ouellette, Michelle McAteer and Maria Rooth as players turned coaches that helped lead their teams to an NCAA bid from both the ice and the bench.
Ouellette, an assistant from 2006-2008 over two season, helped lead the Bulldogs two two NCAA Frozen Fours, including one NCAA title in 2008. McAteer also guided UMD to two NCAA Frozen Fours and one NCAA title (2010) over her two seasons behind the bench (2008-2010). Rooth's only season, 2010-11, was ironically the last NCAA Tournament UMD played in until Brykaliuk and Co. earned a spot in the 2017 NCAA Quarterfinals at AMSOIL Arena.
HUGHES AND KLEIN LAND INVITE TO U.S. NATIONAL EVALUATION CAMP: Two current UMD hockey players -- Gabbie Hughes and Anna Klein -- were officially two of 46 players that landed invites to the upcoming U.S. Women's National Team Evaluation Camp that will be held from March 24-30 in Blain, Minn., announced by USA Hockey Thursday. The pair, who both currently lead the No. 5 Bulldogs with 21 points, will join former UMD alums Sydney Brodt and Maddie Rooney in what will be one of the biggest UMD contingents at a U.S. evaluation camp in program history.
The camp is part of the process in selecting the U.S. Women's National Team that will compete in the 2021 International Ice Hockey Federation Women's World Championship May 6-16, in Halifax and Truro, Nova Scotia. Brodt and Rooney earned World Championship gold with the U.S. National Team in April of 2019, while Rooney also picked up a IIHF gold medal in 2017 with the U.S.
The four current and former Bulldogs will also be joined by UMD Director of Women's Hockey Operations Nick Bryant, who will serve as just that, Hockey Operations and Team Leader on the camp staff. Bryant also served in the same capacity at the October U.S. Hockey camp and was named to the 2020 U.S. Hockey staff for the IIHF World Championship that was eventually canceled due to COVID-19.
Hughes was one of 53 players that was invited by USA Hockey to its U.S Women's National Team Evaluation Fall Camp that was held from Oct. 25-31 in Blaine, Minnesota at the National Sports Center.
