The No. 6 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team will host the No. 3 University of Minnesota in a Friday-Saturday matinee series at AMSOIL Arena, a clash of two top-10 teams each riding significant unbeaten streaks ahead of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association games. The Bulldogs will enter the showdown unbeaten in nine games, while the Gophers are winners of their last 10. A series with serious playoff implications, both games will get underway at 3:00 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
UMD, hosting its annual alumni weekend, will also honor the 2003 NCAA title team as it approaches the 20th anniversary of the NCAA's only three-peat champions in college women's Division I hockey, as well as its 2008 NCAA title. Both NCAA titles were won in Duluth, Minn. at the DECC Arena.
Date: January 27-238, 2023, 3:00 p.m. Friday & Saturday
Site: AMSOIL Arena (6,600) Duluth, Minn.
UMD: 19-6-1 (13-6-1)
Minnesota: 20-3-2 (17-2-2)
TV: My9 (both days) Fox9+ (Saturday only) Radio: KDAL, 610 AM
Video: https://www.bigtenplus.com/en-int/page/home
Live Stats: https://umdbulldogs.com/sidearmstats/whockey/summary
THE SERIES: UMD's all-time series count is currently at 32-68-10 against Minnesota and 3-7 over their last 10 meetings.
In the last series between the two sides on Nov. 4-5, UMD was swept by then No. 1 Minnesota at Ridder Arena, by scores of 3-2 (overtime) Friday and 5-3 on Saturday.
On Friday night, the Gophers scored twice in the opening six minutes, but sophmore Gabby Krause cut the deficit in half at 5:24 of the second period. Nina Jobst-Smith then drew the game to a 2-2 tie with a power play goal 3:03 into the third period. Minnesota finally scored just 15 seconds into overtime to foil UMD's comeback with a 3-2 win. Emma Soderberg had 29 saves for the Bulldogs.
Saturday, the Bulldogs could not overcome multiple goal deficits the Gophers handed out. Minnesota struck first in the opening 35 seconds to take a 2-0 lead before Maggie Flaherty netted her second power play goal at 5:51 to pull UMD within one at 2-1.
Minnesota then scored three unanswered goals in a span just over four minutes in the second period to open up a 5-1 advantage on UMD. The Bulldogs did get goals from Mannon McMahon at 6:26 of the third period and a power play tally from Clara Van Wieren with 30 seconds remaining to make it a 5-3 final.
Soderberg played 31:24 minutes, making 12 saves over that span, while freshman Hailey MacLeod, making just her second appearance in a Bulldog jersey, had 15 saves and no goals against the 27:54 of action.
Gabbie Hughes, who was atypically held to just one assist in the last series, leads the Bulldogs with 21 career points against Minnesota (11g, 10a) in 20 skates, a 1.05 ppg average against the Gophers.
OF NOTE: Minnesota's five goals against UMD on Nov. 5 the was a season-high for the Bulldogs and the most given up by UMD since the Gophers netted five last March in the WCHA's Final-Faceoff semifinals (5-1 loss).
--UMD scored three of its five goals on the power play in the series.
UMD-MINN HISTORIC HIGHLIGHT: In two programs as storied as UMD and Minnesota, multiple moments qualify as historic, and the most recent postseason meeting between the sides surely meets that criteria.
2022 NCAA Regional Final: Last spring, UMD knocked out the then No. 2 University of Minnesota Saturday 2-1 at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis, Minn. to advance to their second Frozen Four in as many seasons back on March 12, 2022.
Despite falling behind 1-0 at 9:50 of the first period, UMD fought back and equalized at 14:48 of the second period on a goal from then sophomore Mannon McMahon. The Bulldogs then took the lead for good at 5:24 on a snipe from the right circle from Gabbie Hughes, her fourth goal of the NCAA Tournament in two games.
Emma Soderberg had 37 saves for UMD.
A QUICK LOOK AT THE GOPHERS: Taylor Heise leads Minnesota with 47 points through 25 games, while Grace Zumwinkle has posted a team-best 21 goals. Skylar Vetter has logged most of Minnesota's minutes between the pipes with a record of 17-3-2 and five shutouts. The Gophers currently lead the WCHA by two points over Ohio State (53 to 51).
LAST TIME OUT: UMD picked up its second series sweep in a row and seventh of the season against St. Thomas last Saturday and Sunday at Mendota Heights, Minn. by scores of 3-0 and 5-1.
Saturday night, UMD shutout the Tommies for their ninth shutout of the season and seventh for Emma Soderberg. Anneke Linser book ended a power play goal by Naomi Rogge, with a goal at 10:24 of the first period and and 18:29 of the third, while Rogge's struck at 1:50 of the third period.
But the night belonged to Gabbie Hughes, whose between the skates, from the boards pass to Linser on the game's opening goal pushed her career point haul to 200 points, just the seventh player ever to reach the mark in program history.
Saturday, it was more Rogge and plenty of fifth-year offense, with two goals by Rogge in the first period scored on either side of Linser's tally at 8:23 of the first for a 3-0 lead after one. UMD added a goal from Clara Van Wieren in the second period and another in the third by Taylor Anderson, the eighth time this season UMD has compiled five or more points. Soderberg had 18 saves on the afternoon.
NOTES FROM THE ST. THOMAS SERIES: UMD moved to 7-0-1 all-time against the Tommies in the two seasons the two programs have gone head-to-head and 3-0-1 over the current regular season. UMD outscored UST 17-3 in four games but outshot them 186-60 this season.
--In all eight of their meetings combined, the Bulldogs have outscored the Tommies 20-5.
--UMD held UST scoreless in 10 power play attempts in the series.
--The Bulldogs sweep was their seventh of the season, the most by a UMD squad since the 2016-17 season.
--Ashton Bell led all scorers against UST this season, posting eight points (2g, 6a) in four games for a 2.00 ppg average. Hughes ran up six points against UST (1g, 5a).
--For her efforts over the weekend, Bell earned her third WCHA Defender of the Week nod, tying for the most points among league blueliners (3a).
THE BULLDOGS STREAK ON: UMD's nine-game unbeaten streak equalizes the previous long by a Maura Crowell squad from Jan. 13, 2017 to Feb. 11, 2017 -- a nine-game unbeaten span. The Bulldog program has run up unbeaten streaks of nine or more games just four times in the last decade
The last time the Bulldogs put up a 10-game or more unbeaten streak was Dec. 1, 2012-Jan. 26, 2013 for a record of (8-0-2).
LINSER'S LOADED OFFENSE: Fifth-year forward Anneke Linser, who is currently on a seven game scoring streak, has recorded eight goals over that span, which have come over her last six games consecutively. Linser's career-best season has also pushed her towards 100 career points – the fifth-year now has 90 through 152 games played (41g, 49a).
HUGHES HITS A HISTORIC 200 CAREER POINTS: Senior graduate center Gabbie Hughes reached the 200 point mark Saturday at 10:24 of the first period against St. Thomas, passing the puck between her legs from the back boards to high school linemate Anneke Linser for the milestone.
Now one of just 23 players in the WCHA ever to reach the 200 career point mark, Hughes, Hughes already ranks 15th the WCHA for all-time assists with 124.
Hughes has also now cracked into the NCAA's career top-25 list for assists with 124. Three other Bulldogs are in that heralded club -- Jenny Potter (148), Caroline Ouellette (137) and Haley Irwin (127).
DUG IN DEFENSE: UMD continutes to be one of the stingiest teams in the nation on defense, and with a goals against average of 1.35, ranks first in the WCHA and fourth in the NCAA. With nine shutouts this season as a team (the second most in the NCAA), UMD has allowed just five goals over its last eight games, which includes three shutouts. Emma Soderberg leads the WCHA and sits third in the NCAA with seven shutouts so far, and ranks fourth in the NCAA among goaltenders with 1,200 or more minutes with a 1.49 GAA.
SAVES BY SODERBERG: Emma Soderberg added more to her legacy last weekend, logging her seventh shutout of the season to move into second all-time with 17. (Soderberg also had five shutouts in a season in 2021-22, and had six in 2020-21 - for the record, no goaltender in program history besides Soderberg has had two, six or more shutout seasons.) With her 49th career win Saturday, Soderberg now has the sixth-most wins in program history.
LEAGUE LEADERS: Gabbie Hughes is currently tied for the most assists in the WCHA with 27, which also puts her in a tie for assists per game at 1.08. Hughes ranks fourth in points (34), while Anneke Linser is seventh with 16 goals. Linser now ranks second in the league with five game-winning goals, while Maggie Flaherty and Ashton Bell sit tied for fifth with four power play goals. Flaherty ironically is the only player from a team in fourth or higher place in the league to have a player rank in the top-10 for blocked shots -- the fifth-year defenseman is tied for sixth with 43 blocks.
GAMES GALORE: A plethora of Bulldogs have now ascended on to the top-10 list for all-time games played in program history. Naomi Rogge played in her 155rd game Sunday, making her just the third-ever Bulldog to have played in 155 or more games. Gabbie Hughes and Anneke Linser are tied for the fifth most games ever played (152), while Ashton Bell is at 151 in 7th (Bell also now has the second most consecutive games played in program history). Taylor Anderson, with 149 games, is now tied for eighth all-time in games played.
In all, UMD has nine players that have played over 120 or more career games. Even more impressive, UMD boasts 18 players who have played in an NCAA Championship game and 12 that have skated in back-to-back NCAA Frozen Fours.
OFFENSIVE DEFENDERS: While UMD's blueliners have helped hold their opponents to just 35 goals in the last 26 games (the lowest goals against in the WCHA), those same defenseman have accounted for most than a quarter of the Bulldogs scoring so far this season.
In all, UMD's seven defenseman have notched 24 goals -- averaging just short of a goal a game for a UMD squad averaging 3.62 an outing.
