The No. 7/8 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team hits the road for its first Western Collegiate Hockey Association action of the new year with a trip to St. Cloud, Minn. to face St. Cloud State University.  The Friday-Saturday series will get underway at 3:01 p.m. Friday at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center and will wrap-up at a new time Saturday -- 1:30 p.m.  The Bulldogs-Huskies game Saturday will be televised on Bally Sports North.
 

BULLDOG QUICK HITS

HUGHES CONTINUES TO LEAD NATION IN POINTS PER GAME -- Senior center Gabbie Hughes leads the nation with a 1.94 points per game average through her first 18 games.  Senior forward Élizabeth Giguère sits second with a 1.83 ppg average, while Anna Klein ranks 10th at 1.53.  Giguere also ranks second with a 1.28 assists per game clip, while Hughes is third with 1.17 assists per game .  Hughes also averages the second most goals a game in the NCAA with 0.78, while Klein ranks fourth in the nation in goals per game 0.74

THE GREAT GIGUERE -- Giguère is currently first among all active players in the NCAA for career assists (156) and second in points (265).  Giguère also ranks second in points per game (1.71), first in assists per game (1.01), second in goals (109) 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-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.)

KLEIN'S DURABILITY CLIMB:  Senior winger Anna Klein has never, in her previous four and a half seasons of college hockey, missed a game.  The fifth-year senior is now at 143 consecutive games played.  Klein is chasing former standout defenseman Sidney Morin, who skated in 147 consecutive games between 2013-17. Klein also sits 11th for all-time games played -- the Edina, Minn. native will jump into a tie for eighth (145) if she hits the ice in both SCSU games this weekend.

 

THE SERIES: All-time, UMD is 73-14-7 all-time against St. Cloud State, including finishing last season 4-0 in head-to-head showdowns.  UMD is unbeaten (7-0-1-1) in their last eight games with SCSU. After outscoring SCSU 10-1 in their last series back on Jan. 29-20, 2021. UMD outscored the Huskies 19-2 in 2020-21 and 35-6 over their unbeaten streak.

--Senior forward Anna Klein led UMD in scoring against SCSU a year ago season, ringing the Huskies up for four goals and five assists for nine points in just four games.  Gabbie Hughes finished with six points in four games (3g, 3a) and Naomi Rogge had three goals and two assists against SCSU.

A little over a year ago, UMD swept St. Cloud State at AMSOIL by scores of 4-1 and 6-0.

In UMD's 4-1 win back on Jan. 29, 2021 Klein started the UMD scoring spree 4:05 into the contest with a shorthanded goal -- her second of the seaon. The Bulldogs stretched that lead to 2-0 at 12:51 when Anneke Linser buried a left-to-right rebound from Mannon McMahon. Hughes extended UMD's scoring early in the second period to give the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead that SCSU would cut to 3-1 late in the period.  Clara Van Wieren's sixth goal of the season early in the third period  lifted UMD 4-1 over the Huskies.

The following afternoon, Hughes scored a goal and added a milestone assist to help the Bulldogs sweep SCSU Saturday night.  The Bulldogs had four other players register two points outings -- Ashton Bell (1g, 1a) and Klein (1g, 1a), McKenzie Hewett (2g) and Katie Davis (2a) but it was Hughes who stole the spotlight, becoming the 21st player in UMD history to reach 100 career points.

A QUICK LOOK AT THE HUSKIES:  SCSU spent last weekend in non-conference play in the "Battle in the 'Burgh" at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex, Cranberry Township, Penn.    The Huskies defeated Pennt State in overtime 4-3 on Saturday before dropping their Sunday skate with Syracuse 5-2.

SCSU is led by junior Taylor Lind, who has 18 points (6g, 12a) and sophomore Emma Gentry, with a team-high 12 goals and five assists for 17 points overall.  Those statistics dwindle in WCHA play -- while Lind still leads the Huskies with 11 points (3g, 8a), Gentry is tied with  for second in points (seven) and has just five goals and two assists in 14 league skates.

In net, sophomore goaltender Sanni Ahola has played in 14 games with a 3.80 GAA and 4-9-0 record, while senior Emma Polusny has hit the ice for eight, and owns a 3.13 GAA and 3-3-1 record.

LAST TIME OUT:  UMD swept No. 10 Harvard in Cambridge, Mass. last weekend, 5-2 Friday afternoon and then 4-3 Saturday.  The Bulldogs were led by the six points of Gabbie Hughes (4g, 2a) and Elizabeth Giguere (1g, 5a) and four points of Anna Klein (2g, 2a).

In Friday's outing, the Bulldogs offense simply overwhelmed the Crimson from start to finish,  with three players posting two or more points in the 5-2 win.  Hughes led the way with two goals and an assist, Klein added a goal and an assist, and Giguere posted two assists.  UMD senior goaltender Emma Soderberg was impressive between the pipes with 23 saves, including one off the tip of her stick in the second period that was so incredible it had to be reviewed by officials.  The Bulldogs outshot Harvard 29-25 and went 1-of-4 with an extra skater, while the Crimson went 2-of-6.

On Saturday, the Bulldog line of seniors Giguère, Hughes and Klein accounted for all the goals scored in the 4-3 triumph, with Hughes posting two and Giguere and Klein each adding one.  Harvard took the first lead of the game midway through the first period  and retook it in the second, on a power play,  but UMD answered every time, securing the series shutout behind Soderberg's 23 stops in the game. The Bulldogs outshot the Crimson 33-26 and went 1-of-3 on the power play.  Harvard's Becky Dutton had 29 saves for the Crimson, who went an impressive 2-of-3 with an extra skater.

NOTES FROM THE HARVARD SERIES:

--UMD is 14-5-1 all-time against Harvard and has won five-straight games, including four consecutive road wins in Cambridge.

--The Bulldogs are 5-1 against the Crimson with head coach Maura Crowell at the helm.

--Elizabeth Giguere now has a whopping 16 points (6g, 10a) against Harvard in eight career games for a 2.00 points per game average.  Giguere figured in all four goals the Bulldogs scored on Saturday and a total of six points (1g, 5a) on the weekend.

HUGHES NAMED HCA NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE MONTH: After an offensively dominant December, senior center Gabbie Hughes  was named the Hockey Commissioners Association's Player of the Month for December just one day after being named the WCHA's Forward of the Month, and two days after earning WCHA Forward of the Week honors.

Hughes, who led the NCAA for the entire month with her points per game average, led the WCHA with nine points (4g, 5a) in five games.  The Lino Lakes, Minn. native posted a 1.80 points per game average in December, and all of Hughes points came against top-10 ranked teams, including six points (2g, 4a) in four games against teams ranked in the top-3 or higher.

Hughes has had 12 multiple point games out of 18, including five skates with three or more points.  The Bulldogs leading scorer with 14 goals and 21 assists for 35 points in just 18 games, Hughes continues to lead the NCAA and WCHA with a 1.94 points per game average.  Hughes has recorded points in 12 of her last 13 games and a mind-bending 28 points on 10 goals and 18 assists for a 2.15 ppg average over that span. Against teams ranked in the top-10, Hughes has scored 18 points (8g, 10a) in just 10 games for a 1.80 ppg average.

NATIONALLY OFFENSIVE: Senior center Gabbie Hughes leads the nation with a 1.94 points per game average through her first 18 games, and ranks second with a 0.78 goals per game average and third with a 1.28 assist per game average.  Senior forward Élizabeth Giguère sits second in the NCAA with 1.83 points per game clip and second with 1.28 assists a game .  Anna Klein ranks fourth in the nation in goals per game with 13 in 18 skates, while Hughes ranks second in the NCAA with four game-winning goals.

Because UMD has played two-to-four fewer  games than all but 10 teams in the NCAA, the points per game statistic is the most accurate in comparing Bulldog players against the nation's other top offensive skaters.

HIGHLY OFFENSIVE BULLDOGS:  UMD has been on an offensive tear, having now compiled 68 goals through its first 18 games.  While their 68 goals are the fifth most scored this season in the NCAA, the Bulldogs rank sixth nationally with a 3.78 goals per game average --which only ranks them fourth in the WCHA.

UMD has already surpassed its goal total for the entire 2020-21 season.  The Bulldogs scored 58 goals in 19 games one year ago -- by contrast, UMD has already scored 68 tallies in 18 skates.

POWERED PLAY:  The Bulldogs rank fifth in the NCAA with a 25.0 conversion rate on 14-of-56 attempts.

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 8-2 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 9-1 in those games so far this season.

HOME AWAY FROM HOME: The Bulldogs are 9-3 this season outside the confines of AMSOIL Arena, and just 2-4 on home ice.

UMD has only played top-five teams at home so far, however.  Four of the Bulldogs six 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 (144 career points) and Elizabeth Giguere (265 career points). Klein currently has 107 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.

GIGUERE BY THE (CAREER) NUMBERS:  Élizabeth Giguère currently ranks first among all active players in the NCAA for career assists (156) and second in points (265).  Giguère also ranks second in points per game (1.71), first in assists per game (1.01), second in goals (109) and first in game-winning goals (25).

Only Wisconsin's Daryl Watts has more career points and goals than Giguère.

HUGHES' CLIMBING ACTIVE NUMBERS: Bulldog senior center Gabbie Hughes has cracked the top-10 among all active NCAA players and ranks in a tie in fifth in the D-I with 144 career points.  Hughes also ranks seventh in career assists (81) and fifth assists per game (0.77).

Among all active players, Hughes also ranks fourth overall with 0.60 goals per game, fifth in points per game (1.37), and ninth with 63 career goals.

Hughes currently ranks 14th all-time in career points for UMD.