With the Western Collegiate Hockey Association regular season in the rearview mirror, the No. 5 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team will refocus its sights on the postseason this weekend. The Bulldogs will be the second seed in the WCHA Final Face-Off where they will meet No. 3 and third seed Ohio State University Saturday. The second semifinal game of the day at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis, Minn. will start at 5:07 p.m.
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UMD IN THE WCHA POSTSEASON: UMD is 43-22 in all WCHA postseason games. A breakdown of UMD's all-time WCHA tournament record --
WCHA Quarterfinal games -- 28-9
WCHA Semifinal games -- 8-10
WCHA Third Place games -- 2-0
WCHA Championship games -- 5-3
In all, UMD owns five WCHA playoff crowns (2010, 2008, 2003, 2001, 2000).
BULLDOGS/BUCKEYE WCHA PLAYOFF HISTORY: OSU may be the defending WCHA Final Face-Off champion, but it's UMD that has the advantage all-time in league postseason meetings. The Bulldogs have a 12-3 overall record, which includes eight quarterfinal games, one WCHA semifinal, two third place games, and one WCHA title tilt. In the two program's only semifinal showdown on March 3, 2000, UMD defeated OSU 7-1 in Bloomington, Minn. on the way to its first-ever (and the first ever) WCHA playoff crown. Here's the all-time breakdown of the Bulldogs and Buckeyes in the league postseason:
Quarterfinal (AMSOIL Arena) Quarterfinal (AMSOIL Arena)
March 2, 2014 UMD 5, OSU 1 March 2, 2013 OSU 3, UMD 0
March 1, 2014 OSU 3, UMD 2 March 1, 2013 OSU 4, UMD 2
Feb. 28, 2014 UMD 1, OSU 0
Quarterfinal (AMSOIL Arena) Third Place (Ridder Arena)
Feb. 25, 2012 UMD 3, OSU 2 OT March 6, 2005 UMD 5, OSU 0
Feb. 24, 2012 UMD 4, OSU 3
Quarterfinal (Grand Forks, N.D.) Third Place (Blaine, Minn.)
March 7, 2003 UMD 6, OSU 1 March 9, 2002 UMD 6, OSU 2
Championship (Rochester, Minn.) Semifinal (Bloomington, Minn.)
March 10, 2001 UMD 3, OSU 0 March 3, 2000 UMD 7, OSU 1
This is the first WCHA postseason meeting of UMD/OSU in the Maura Crowell era.
THE SERIES: UMD is 72-21-14 all-time against the Buckeyes, and went 1-1 this season. UMD is 7-4-1 in its last 12 games with the Buckeyes.
UMD and OSU met in just one series over this pandemic regular season, and the Bulldogs split with the then No. 3 Buckeyes in their first action of 2021 (and first action in 41 days) by scores of 2-0 and 0-1.
In the first game UMD, missing four players out of the line-up due to protocols, struck midway through the first period. Anna Klein's lone goal of the opening period from the edge of the circle at the 11:54 mark gave UMD a 1-0 lead that it would never relinquish. Emma Soderberg was unflappable between the pipes en route to her third shutout in seven games and fourth game without allowing a goal. As the Buckeyes applied some offensive pressure in the final 40 minutes, outshooting the Bulldogs 20-12 over that span, Soderberg stayed calm and collected. Taylor Anderson added an empty net goal late to cement the 2-0 win. Soderberg made 34 saves against the Buckeyes in her first win against a top-3 team.
In the series finale, the Buckeyes finally scored their first goal of the series late in the second period -- the 18:42 mark, to be exact. UMD rallied in the third period to outshoot the Buckeyes 13-10 in the final 20 minutes, but could not draw even.
Soderberg -- who tied her collegiate career-high saves mark of 34 after the second period -- made 44 in the contest for a new career-best mark (which she has now surpassed).
OTHER UMD-OHIO STATE NOTABLES: Junior center Gabbie Hughes leads all current Bulldogs with 15 points (6g, 9a) in just 10 games for a 1.50 ppg against the Buckeyes. Hughes is followed closely by redshirt junior forward Naomi Rogge, who in 10 games against OSU has notched 12 points (7g, 5a) for a 1.20 ppg. Senior winger Anna Klein has posted eight goals and four assists for 12 points in 14 skates for a 0.85 ppg, while senior defenseman Ashton Bell has eight points (1g, 7a) in 14 skates against the Buckeyes.
--Emma Soderberg made a career series-high 78 saves against the Buckeyes back in January, making 34 in the 2-0 UMD win before turning away 44 in the game two 0-1 loss.
--UMD is 10-2 against OSU at home in Maura Crowell's UMD career. In UMD/OSU's 12 games at AMSOIL since Crowell took the helm, the Bulldogs have outscored the Buckeyes, 45-23. Overall, Crowell has maintained a 14-7-1 advantage against the Buckeyes over her six seasons.
--Unless they meet in the NCAA postseason, the three games the Bulldogs and Buckeyes will have played total after this weekend will be the fewest games they have ever met in the entire existence of the UMD program.
--After peppering UMD goaltender Emma Soderberg for five periods over their mid-January series, OSU's goal at the end of the second period last Saturday not only ended 98:42 minutes of Soderberg holding the Buckeyes scoreless, but it also broke Soderberg's 219 minute shutout streak that the junior had begun on Nov. 28.
A LOOK AT THE BUCKEYES: OSU owns an identical 11-5 record to the Bulldogs, and is coming off a sweep of the then No. 2 University of Minnesota at Ridder back on Feb. 12-13 by scores of 2-1 and 3-2. Led by senior forward Tatum Skaggs (6-7=13), rookie center Jenna Buglioni (7-5=12) and sophomore winger Jennifer Gardiner (6-6=12), OSU has scored 42 goals this season (by comparison, UMD has netted 50). In goal for the Buckeyes is junior Andrea Braendli, who has a 1.91 GAA, .923 saves percentage and has posted two shutouts this season. Behind the bench for the defending WCHA Final Face-Off champions is Nadine Muzerall, who is 93-55-17 in five seasons at OSU.
LAST TIME OUT: The Bulldogs took four of a possible six points from eventual regular season champion Wisconsin in the last series of the regular season, defeating the Badgers 4-2 Friday before suffering a crushing 4-3 overtime loss last Saturday.
Friday night the Bulldogs flexed their offensive muscle by scoring the most goals on the Badgers of any team this season (4), and let their nationally ranked defense do the rest, holding Wisconsin to just half of the goals the Badgers came into the night averaging (4).
A five-goal first period favored a 3-2 UMD lead, Gabbie Hughes, who had already added a goal and assist in the first period, dealt the final blow to the Badgers at 10:45 of the second period to extend the Bulldogs lead to 4-2. Netminder Emma Soderberg did the rest with 26 saves, and both teams put 28 shots on goal.
Saturday, UMD and Wisconsin battled for the league's regular season title, and the Bulldogs again got two goals from Hughes and one from Anna Klein. The Bulldogs held a 3-2 lead until late in the third period. The Badgers, with a 6-on-5 advantage due to any empty net, scored at 18:33 to draw even. Wisconsin then scored just 41 seconds into overtime to clinch the WCHA regular season outright.
Soderberg had a career-high 45 saves in the game.
NOTES FROM THE WISCONSIN SERIES: All-time, UMD is now 31-51-14 against the Badgers. The Bulldogs have scored three or more goals against Wisconsin in three of their last four games dating back to last season.
--While UMD settled for a 5-5 tie in double overtime back on Feb. 22, 2020, the Bulldogs topple of the Badgers last Friday was the first time they have defeated Wisconsin since Nov. 18, 2016, also at AMSOIL Arena.
--Emma Soderberg made a career-high 45 saves in UMD's overtime loss Saturday to the Bulldogs.
--The Bulldogs are 2-2 (.500) against top-three ranked teams in 2021, and have outscored them 9-7. Overall, UMD has scored an equal amount of goals to its top-three opponents in six gams (13-13) despite having gone 2-4 in those outings.
--Gabbie Hughes has now registered 13 points (6g, 7a) in 11 career skates against the Badgers, while Anna Klein continues to lead all current players with 12 points in (8g, 5a) 15 career outings against Wisconsin.
FULL STREAK AHEAD: -Four players have scoring streaks of three or more games currently intact. Gabbie Hughes has a seven-game, 13 point effort, which includes six-game goal scoring streak of nine goals to go with four assists. Junior winger Taylor Anderson has compiled six points on a goal and five assists over her last three games, while senior blueliner Ashton Bell has dished three assists over that same three-game span.
BULLDOGS GET DEFENSIVE: The Bulldogs currently own the WCHA's lowest goals against on games played (1.44), as well as the fewest goals against (23). UMD also ranks as the second lowest goals against in the nation, and in fact, through 16 games, UMD has allowed just 23 goals -- which ranks the Bulldogs second in the NCAA. While allowing just 23 goals, UMD has outscored its opponents with 50 goals for a 3.12 goals per game.
From a historic perspective, UMD's current goals against of 1.44 would be the lowest in program history over an entire season. The Bulldogs existing low was 1.49 GAA over the 2007-08 NCAA title season. In all, UMD has had a goals against average of 1.89 or lower 12 times in its 22-season history.
KLEIN AND HUGHES HOLD REIGNS AS UMD'S TOP SCORERS: Senior winger Anna Klein 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 1.31 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.
Hughes, who saved the best for last in the regular season, has been on a tear the last seven games, registering a blistering nine goals and four assists for 13 points over that span for a 1.86 points per game average, and a 1.29 goals per game statline. Over that period, Hughes ranks second in the NCAA, and not only has a five-game goal streak intact, but has netted two goals in each of her last three games -- of which she has posted three or more points twice. 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.
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, which if she held on to, would rank her with the third lowest single-season goals against mark in UMD history. That GAA currently ranks her second in the NCAA, and her league-best .951 saves percentage also sets her at third in the NCAA. 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 last Saturday.
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.
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 the weekend. 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.
