After four-straight games in the state of New York, the No. 4/5 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team is heading back to AMSOIL Arena in Duluth, Minn. The Bulldogs will open their Western Collegiate Hockey Association schedule against Minnesota State University, Mankato in a Friday-Saturday series that will get underway at 6:00 p.m. Friday night and conclude Saturday at 3:00 p.m.
Date: October 7-8, 2022, Friday 6:00 pm, Saturday 3:00 PM
Site: AMSOIL Arena (6,600), Duluth, Minn.
UMD: 4-0-0 (0-0-0)
MSU: 0-2-0 (0-2-0)
TV: My9
Video: https://www.bigtenplus.com/en-int/page/home
Live Stats: https://umdbulldogs.com/sidearmstats/whockey/summary
JUMP START: New York was good to the Bulldogs. UMD is off to a 4-0 start, the most wins a Bulldog squad has had since the 2007-08 season. The Bulldogs were unbeaten (3-0-1) through its first four games to start the season in 2016-17 -- the best start of the Maura Crowell era.
STREAKY STARTS: Gabbie Hughes and Mannon McMahon have now scored in all four of UMD's games so far this season. Hughes has one goal and six assists for seven points, while McMahon has two goals and three assists for five points. Hughes, along with Ashton Bell (4g, 3a), lead the Bulldogs with seven points total points.
SAVES BY SODERBERG: With 12 career shutouts after blanking No. 11 Penn State University last Friday, Emma Soderberg took over sole possession of the No. 5 spot for all-time shutouts by a Bulldog netminder. Soderberg also has moved into the seventh spot for all-time minutes player by a goaltender with 3,223:56, as well as the sixth spot for career saves with 1337.
Soderberg ranks third among all active NCAA's goaltenders with 37 career wins -- just three shy of the current leader Ava Boutilier of New Hampshire. Her 12 shutouts also rank her fourth among all active netminders and she sits fifth with a 0.933 career saves percentage.
BULLDOGS GET DEFENSIVE: UMD has held its first three opponents to under a goal a game at 0.75 goals per game, the third lowest goals against average in the NCAA and lowest in the WCHA. The Bulldogs are also just one of six teams in the NCAA to have turned in two or more shutouts on the young season.
POWERED UP: The Bulldogs continue to dazzle with an extra skater-- UMD leads the NCAA with six power play goals so far this season and owns a 30.0 conversion rate.
Ashton Bell has put up the most power goals in the NCAA -- three. Bell also leads all defensemen in the NCAA in scoring with seven points in September -- the only defenseman in the top-11 in scoring in the nation.
THE SERIES: UMD finished last season 5-2 against the Mavericks. All-time, the Bulldogs are 78-9-9 against the MSU, and wrapped up the regular season 3-1 in 2021-22 before defeating the Mavericks in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association Quarterfinals. The Bulldogs outscored MSU 27-18 in those seven skates after outshooting them 235-166.
UMD punched its ticket to the 2022 WCHA Final Face-Off with an overtime victory on Sunday, February 27, 2022 over Minnesota State to win the best-of-three series against the Mavericks 2-1.
In the first game (Feb. 25), UMD defeated MSU 5-4. On Friday, Elizabeth Giguere and Kylie Hanley each added first period goals, helping UMD equalize the Mavericks 2-2 after the opening frame. The second period belonged to Naomi Rogge, however, who started her natural hat trick with a power play goal at 2:04 of the second period and finished it off at the 16:58 mark. When the dust settled, Rogge has pushed the Bulldogs into a 5-3 lead by the end of the second stanza. MSU scored late, but would get no closer. Jojo Chobak earned the win after entering the game in the second period and making 31 saves for the Bulldogs.
In game two Saturday, the Mavericks handed the Bulldogs a 3-1 loss, recording two power play goals to sneak past UMD. Gabbie Hughes had UMD's lone goal, but it was surrounded by power play tallies by MSU. The Bulldogs outshot the Mavericks 42-20, including 16-2 in the third period. Chobak made 17 stops for UMD in her first postseason setback.
The Bulldogs never trailed in game three Sunday, striking at 4:48 on a power play to open the first period (Anna Klein). Taylor Anderson made it a 2-0 game at 2:08 of the second period, but an MSU goal at 7:45 of second period and 2:45 of the third knotted the skate at 2-2. Into overtime both sides went, but only for 2:30. Giguère drove to the net, patiently evaded a sliding Maverick defenseman in the slot and then juked MSU goaltender and tucked the puck behind her left skate for the game-winning, postseason ticket-punching goal. Chobak had 21 saves for UMD, which outshot MSU 29-3 in the skate.
Hughes led all scorers against MSU a season ago, recording four goals and 10 assists for 14 points in seven games for a 2.00 points per game average. Rogge had five goals and four assists for nine points over those seven games 1.28 ppg.
UMD averaged 3.86 goals a game a season ago against the Mavericks, while allowing 2.57.
LAST TIME OUT: New York was good to the Bulldogs. UMD stayed unbeaten last week in Canton, N.Y. with a 3-2 overtime win against St. Lawrence University at home Thursday before knocking down No. 11 Penn State University 4-0 on Friday.
On Thursday, Maggie Flaherty scored 1:55 into overtime to push the Bulldogs past the Saints in a come-from-behind thriller.
UMD went down 2-1 after the first period of play before Ashton Bell notched a power play goal at 5:31 to draw the game even. Gabby Krause had UMD's other goal, while Bell and Gabbie Hughes (2a) each had two points on the evening. Emma Soderberg had 21 stops for UMD and allowed just one even strength goal.
The Bulldogs broke through in the second period against the Nittany Lions and never looked back Friday, getting two goals seniors Anneke Linser and Mannon McMahon in the 4-0 shutout.
Jenna Lawry had a career-best two points on two assists, while Naomi Rogge added two assists in the win. Soderberg's 12 career shutout came after 24 saves against PSU.
CANTON, NY NOTES: UMD went 4-0 in New York over its 10-day road trip. It marked the Bulldogs longest road trip to begin a season since UMD had its first six games on the road over the 2015-16 season-- Crowell's first year at the helm.
--As a program, the Bulldogs are now 3-1 all-time against PSU and 13-3-1 against CHA opponents. All three of UMD wins against PSU have been shutouts. Overall, UMD has outscored Penn State 10-3 in four games since 2017.
--UMD has now played in a total of 67 games against teams in the Saints conference -- the ECAC -- and own a 44-19-4 alltime record against the league to go with a 12-3 record against SLU. The Bulldogs have not lost against St. Lawrence since March 18, 2006, an NCAA Quarterfinal game.
-- UMD has outscored its first three opponents 16-3. Eight -- exactly half -- of those goals have been scored in the third period of play.
-- The Bulldogs are averaging a sweltering 48.7 shots per game, while holding their opponents to just 15.
WATCH PARTY: Super senior Naomi Rogge has 96 career points (52g, 44a) over 133 games, just four shy of the UMD 100-point club.
Ashton Bell is right behind Rogge on the career climb. The converted defenseman has 93 career points (35g, 58a) and 39 of them have come from the blueline over 59 games.
Maggie Flaherty sits in the 10th spot with 44 assists by defensemen in a career.
Gabbie Hughes, already the seventh-highest point getter in UMD history (72-103=175), will look to climb in career goals, where she sits one out of the 10th slot with 72. The Lino Lakes, Minn. native is tied with Elin Holmlov in 7th for all-time for assists, and just one back from the sixth slot currently held by Erika Holst.
OFFENSIVE DEFENSEMAN: Six of the Bulldogs 18 goals have come from defenseman, whose jump into the play has lifted UMD's offense.
Ashton Bell leads all blueliners in the nation with four goals, three of which have come on the power play. Maggie Flaherty's game-winner was on a power play tally, while Taylor Stewart finally broke through against LIU in the season opener to help push UMD to it's 4-1 final.
HANG ANOTHER ONE UP FOR HUGHES: Gabbie Hughes continued one of the most remarkable careers of any Bulldog in program history Sunday when the graduate senior dished out her 100th career assist against LIU on Sept. 25. Hughes became the eighth player to ever hit the century mark for helpers.
ALL THE ALL-AMERICANS: For the first time in program history, the Bulldogs are returning three All-Americans to their roster. An impressive feat, especially considering UMD has had a total of 26 All-Americans -- including 15 First Team selections.
Those returners are 2021-22 CCM/AHCA First Team All-American Gabbie Hughes, 2020-21 CCM/AHCA Second Team All-American, as well as a USCHO First Team All-American Ashton Bell and Emma Soderberg, who was both a USCHO Second Team All-American and a 2020-21 CCM/AHCA Women's University Division Ice Hockey All-American.
