The No. 8 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team will put its four-game winning streak on the line this weekend when it heads east to Columbus, Ohio to take on No. 2 Ohio State University at the OSU Ice Rink. The series gets underway at 6:00 p.m. ET on Friday night before concluding Saturday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. ET.
 

BULLDOG QUICK HITS

HUGHES CONTINUES TO LEAD NATION IN POINTS PER GAME -- Senior center Gabbie Hughes leads the nation with a 2.00 points per game average through 20 games.  Senior forward Élizabeth Giguère sits second with a 1.85 ppg average, while Anna Klein ranks 6th at 1.65.  Giguere is also tied for the top-spot in assists per game with Hughes, who both are averaging 1.30 assists per game clip. Klein ranks second in the NCAA with a 0.80 goals per game average, while Hughes is at fourth with a 0.70.

THE GREAT GIGUERE -- Giguère is currently first among all active players in the NCAA for career assists (159) and second in points (269).  Giguère also ranks second in points per game (1.71), first in assists per game (1.01), second in goals (110) and first in game-winning goals (25).

A TRIO OF OFFENSIVE TROUBLE:  UMD's line of Hughes, Giguère, and Klein, with three of the top-six scorers in the nation, is the second-most offensively prolific line in the nation.  The trio is averaging 2.05 points per game -- UMD as a whole is averaging 3.95 goals per game. Only Wisconsin's first line of Daryl Watts, Casey O'Brien and Makenna Webster is averaging more goals a game -- a clip of 2.31 a game.

KLEIN EYES TIE OF CONSECUTIVE GAME MARK THIS WEEKEND:  Senior winger Anna Klein has now in an eighth place tie for the most games played over a UMD career (145), but more impressively, in her previous four and a half seasons of college hockey, Klein has never missed a game.  The fifth-year senior is now at 145 consecutive games played -- just two games shy of tying former standout defenseman Sidney Morin, who skated in 147 consecutive games between 2013-17.

Notably, graduate transfer Elizabeth Giguere has also never missed a collegiate game over her career for a total of 157 consecutive skates.

 

THE SERIES: The Bulldogs lead 72-21-8 all-time against the Buckeyes and 5-4-1 over their last 10 meetings.

UMD split with then No. 2  OSU at AMSOIL Arnea back on Dec. 3-4 by scores of 5-2 and 2-6.  Gabbie Hughes led all UMD scorers with four points (1g, 3a) while both Elizabeth Giguere and Anna Klein posted 2g, 1a weekends for three points against OSU.

UMD stunted the nation's top offense and knocked off the Buckeyes 5-2 in UMD's first game in front of a Duluth, Minn. crowd in 47 days.  The Buckeyes, who entered the series  with the nation's best 5.19 goals per game average, gave up a season-high five goals to the Bulldogs, who cashed in three goals in the opening 10 minutes of the game.

UMD's offense exploded almost immediately, and 1:45 into the game, senior Naomi Rogge tucked in her sixth goal of the season.  A little over six minutes later, Anneke Linser scored from the doorstep at 8:01.

Only 2:20 later, UMD's defense led to offense when Hughes carried the puck up the right boards from her own end, skating it to OSU's zone before sliding it across to Klein.  Klein went backhand to forehand and then five-hole for her 10th goal of the season, but importantly, her 51st career goal, drawing her to 99 career points.  In just 10:21 minutes played, the Bulldogs already had scored as many goals on OSU as the Buckeyes had given up in a single game in all their previous 16 outings.

Klein added another goal in the second and Giguere made it 5-2 in the third.

The Bulldogs, outshot in the skate 41-28, held OSU's nation-leading power play scoreless in three attempts, while the Buckeyes kept UMD's second-best power play without a goal for the first time in six games (0-of-3). Soderberg was outstanding between the pipes for UMD, making a season-high 39 saves.

Game two Saturday was a complete flip of Friday night, and OSU's turn to showcase its firepower led to a 6-2 setback for the Bulldogs.

OSU used a power play at 12:13 of the first period to pull ahead 1-0, and doubled that with a goal at 15:20.  The Buckeyes scored just one goal a little over a minute into the second period, and after the second intermission, OSU led the Bulldogs 3-0.

Hughes and Giguere added goals in the third period, but it was all OSU's offense.  Soderberg had 34 saves for UMD for a total of 73 in the series.

ADDITIONAL OSU NOTES: UMD head coach Maura Crowell is 11-3 at AMSOIL Arena against OSU, and in 14 games at AMSOIL since Crowell took the helm, the Bulldogs have outscored the Buckeyes 50-29.  Overall, Crowell has maintained a 15-9-1 record against OSU over seven seasons.

--Gabbie Hughes leads all UMD scorers in career points against the Buckeyes with 20 (9g, 11a) in just 13 games for a 1.53 career clip against OSU. Hughes led UMD back in December with four points (1g, 3a) in the series, but also posted a .60.4 face-off win percentage against the Buckeyes in the series, winning 32-21 of the puck drops she took.

--Sophomore goaltender Jojo Chobak has played between the pipes against the Buckeyes before.  As a freshman last March, Chobak played 32:03 minutes in relief during the WCHA Final Face-Off semifinal game, making making 15 saves and allowing two goals -- one of which came off the Buckeye power play.

LAST TIME OUT: UMD played it first non-ranked opponent in six games in Bemidji State University last weekend, sweeping the Beavers by scores of 8-2 and 3-0.

Friday afternoon, UMD used a four-goal second period to blow open what was until then 0-0 game. Naomi Rogge had two goals in the frame, while Anna Klein, and Katie Davis each added one.  The Bulldogs would score another four goals in the third period, with Klein and Davis each recording their seconds of the game and Elizabeth Giguere and Anneke Linser each adding another goal.

In all,  six players posted two or more points, including three with three – Giguere (1g, 2a), Rogge (2g, 1a) and Klein (2g, 1a.  Emma Soderberg posted 18 saves in the win.

On Saturday, while hosting their first-ever Sophie's Squad game, the Bulldogs blanked the Beavers 3-0 behind three assists for Hughes and a goal and assist from Klein.  Rogge got the scoring off late in the second period, and Klein added a power play goal with just over three minutes remaining regulation to keep the BSU at bay.  Soderberg was again stellar in the net, turning all away 28 saves she faced for her fourth shutout of the season.

NOTES FROM THE BEMDIJI STATE SERIES:--UMD is 82-22-7 all-time now against BSU, and sweeps the Beavers in all four of their skates.  The Bulldogs outscored BSU 24-3 in those four outings this season, and BSU scored just one even strength goal in those four games against the Bulldogs.

-Anna Klein and Gabbie Hughes led all scorers on the weekend with five points each.  Klein had three goals and two assists, while Hughes had five assists.

--Four players registered four or more points in the series -- Klein (5), Hughes (5), Naomi Rogge (3-1=4) and Elizabeth Giguere (1-3=4).

--Sophomore Katie Davis had a career-best two goals in Friday's win.

SODERBERG, STEWART NAB WCHA WEEKLY HONORS: UMD senior goaltender Emma Soderberg was named the WCHA's Goaltender of the Week, while junior defenseman Taylor Stewart earned the WCHA's Defender of the Week.  The pair helped the Bulldogs sweep BSU over the weekend and scoreless Saturday night.

Soderberg -- in what will be her last action until after the Winter Olympics --  picked up her fourth shutout of the season after making 28 saves and keeping the Beavers off the board in three power play attempts.  In the series, the Jarved, Sweden native recorded a .958 saves percentage on 46 saves, 28 of which came in Saturday's clean sheet. The lone WCHA goaltender to grab two wins (and the only netminder to log a shutout), Soderberg posted a 1.05 GAA, and only one goal against her was an even strength tally.

Stewarrt scored her first career goal on an empty net from the far end of the rink Saturday, icing UMD's 3-0 win over BSU.  The product from Rochester, Minn. played a critical role in UMD's shutout Saturday and penalty kill, which held the Beavers scoreless in three attempts, and was UMD's highest scoring defenseman on the weekend.  Stewart also went +3 in the series and added a block shot.

KLEIN EYES TIE OF CONSECUTIVE GAME MARK THIS WEEKEND:  Senior winger Anna Klein has now in an eighth place tie for the most games played over a UMD career (145), but more impressively, in her previous four and a half seasons of college hockey, Klein has never missed a game.  The fifth-year senior is now at 145 consecutive games played -- just two games shy of tying former standout defenseman Sidney Morin, who skated in 147 consecutive games between 2013-17.

Notably, graduate transfer Elizabeth Giguere has also never missed a collegiate game over her career for a total of 157 consecutive skates.  Giguere skated in 137 consecutive games over her four year playing  career at Clarkson University.

**While the NCAA does not track a career games played record, UMD's record is 157, currently held by Jaime Rasmussen, who skated in 157 games between 2006-2010.

HIGHLY OFFENSIVE BULLDOGS:  UMD has had an abundance of offense so far this season, having now compiled 79 goals through its first 20 games.  While their 79 goals are the sixth most scored this season in the NCAA (and note, all but one team (OSU) ahead of them have played at least two and most three to four more games than UMD), the Bulldogs rank sixth nationally with a 3.95 goals per game average --which only ranks them fourth in the WCHA and sixth in the NCAA.

COMING UP HUGHES: Gabbie Hughes has had 14 multiple point games out of 20, including six skates with three or more points.  The Bulldogs leading scorer with 14 goals and 26 assists for 40 points in just 20 games, Hughes continues to lead the NCAA and WCHA with a 2.00 points per game average.  Against teams ranked in the top-10, Hughes has scored 18 points (8g, 10a) in just 10 games for a 1.80 ppg average.

Hughes, who is already tied for 10th all-time in assists with Jocelyne Larocque 86, ranks 11th in UMD program history currently with 149 points on 63 goals and 86 assists in just 107 games.  Hughes owns a 1.39 career points per game mark, good for the fourth most among all active NCAA players already.  Hughes' 149 points also ranks the senior fifth among all active NCAA players.

A TRIO OF OFFENSIVE TROUBLE:  UMD's line of Gabbie Hughes, Elizabeth Giguère, and Anna Klein, with three of the top-10 scorers in the nation, is the second-most offensively prolific line in the nation.  The trio is averaging 2.05 points per game -- UMD as a whole is averaging 3.78 goals per game. Only Wisconsin's first line of Daryl Watts, Casey O'Brien and Makenna Webster is averaging more goals a game -- a clip of 2.31 a game (having also played four more games this season.)

FAST START, BEST START:  UMD is 10-2 overall when it scores first and 6-3 with a lead after the first period.  The Bulldogs are almost untouchable with a lead after two periods of play -- UMD is 11-1 in those games so far this season.

POWERED PLAY:  The Bulldogs rank sixth in the NCAA with a 26.2 conversion rate on 16-of-61 attempts.  Ohio State owns the nations highest power play conversation heading into the weekend with a 35.6 rate on 21-of-59 attempts.

HOME AWAY FROM HOME: The Bulldogs are 9-3 this season outside the confines of AMSOIL Arena, and just 4-4 on home ice.  Four of the Bulldogs eight home games have been against the No. 1 or No. 2 team in the country.   

THE CENTURY CLUB: When Anna Klein joined the 100 career point club on Dec. 3, she joined fellow teammates Gabbie Hughes (149 career points) and Elizabeth Giguere (269 career points). Klein currently has 112 career points.

They are the first trio of 100 points club members since the 2012-13 season (Jessica Wong, Pernilla Winberg and Katie Wilson, and Audrey Cournoyer all had 100 or more points over that season.)  In all, UMD has had three or more members of the 100 career point club on its roster eight times in program history.

SODERBERG NAMED TO SWEDISH OLYMPIC TEAM:  Emma Soderberg is an Olympian.

The UMD senior goaltender, who will miss the Ohio State series, was officially named to the 2022 Swedish Olympic Team Wednesday, two months after helping Sweden qualify for the Olympics. Soderberg will be joined on Team Sweden by former Bulldog forward Michelle Lowenhielm (named to her second Olympic team) and UMD defenseman Linnea Hedin, who like Soderberg, will become an Olympian for the first time.

A Jarved, Sweden native, Soderberg currently has logged a Western Collegiate Hockey Association high 1158:47 minutes between the pipes, and in 20 games, owns  the second most wins so far this season (13), the second most shutouts (4), and has posted the second-best saves percentage among goaltenders who have played 13 or more games (.920). Both a USCHO Second Team All-American and a 2020-21 CCM/AHCA Women's University Division Ice Hockey All-American last season as a junior, Soderberg had one of the best season's by a UMD goaltender in recent memory. Ranked in the top-two in the NCAA in at least three categories for almost the entire season, Soderberg finished the year with a 1.56 GAA and .944 saves percentage -- only one goaltender that played in more than 10 games had a higher saves percentage.  Soderberg tied for the second most shutouts in the nation (6) and cleaned up every WCHA honor available, ending with the WCHA Goaltender of the Year and All-WCHA First Team honors, as well as earning the the WCHA's 2020-21 Goaltending Champion.

Lowenhielm becomes a two-time Olympian after making the Swedish side in 2014.  In 144 games for the Bulldogs between , the Sollentuna, Sweden product turned in 42 points (10 goals, 32 assists. Hedin, from Huddinge, Sweden recorded 17 points (3g, 14a) in 143 skates from the backline for UMD over her four-year career from 2014-2018.

The trio helped Sweden qualify for the Olympics back in November, getting the tradition-rich program back to a top-level event for the first time in three years.  Soderberg and Hedin become the 10th UMD's players to suit up for Sweden in the Olympics -- the most Bulldogs to represent any single country in program history.

Soderberg joins her classmate Ashton Bell, who just last week was officially named to Team Canada. Bell centralized with Canada this fall and took a redshirt for the season.  A third currently rostered Bulldog -- Kassy Betinol -- has been centralized with China, though no official roster has been realized by the host country.

The Bulldogs will be well represented in Beijing -- in all, 11 players from seven different countries will travel to Beijing for the 2022 Winter Olympics.