THE MATCHUP The Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs, who are now 12-13-1, will stay in Duluth for another home series. UMD will be matching up with No. 10 Western Michigan for the second time this season. The teams last saw each other in the first half the season at Lawson Arena, where the series was split. UMD took the win on Friday night 5-4 after five different Bulldogs scored, including freshmen Kyle Bettens and Cole Spicer who recorded their first collegiate goals. The Bulldogs then dropped the game Saturday 5-3, but Ben Steeves and Cole Spicer recorded their second goals of the weekend. Since 2008 UMD has gone 27-15-3 with the Broncos. 
LAST TIME OUT The Bulldogs are coming off a big sweep of the top-ranked team in the nation, St. Cloud. UMD beat the Huskies Friday in a 5-3 game fueled by the special teams. Freshman Ben Steeves scored a hat trick off three power play goals, along with Bettens scoring the fifth goal of the night during a five minute power play. The Bulldogs finished the upset Saturday with a 6-3 final decision. The Bulldogs started the game off with two power play goals and one short handed goal and kept SCSU score through the first period. The deal was sealed in the second period, after Owen Gallatin netted the teams fourth goal. The win was polished off with a goal by Isaac Howard and an empty net goal by Dominic James in the third period. 
UMD IN CONFERENCE PLAY With two wins last weekend UMD secured six conference points last weekend, which bumped them up to the fifth spot and improved them to 7-9-0 in NCHC play. 
BULLDOGS ON THE PP Last weekend against SCSU, the Bulldogs were successful on six of the 10 power plays. With a now .264 power play percentage, UMD is ranked fifth in the nation and third in the NCHC. With the man-advantage, the Bulldogs have now netted 23 goals over 87 attempts. 
CAN'T STOP STEEVES Freshman Ben Steeves recorded four power play goals against No.1 SCSU to improve his goal season total to 16, for a team best. With four assists, Steeves leads the team with 20 points. The freshman will enter this weekend on a three game point streak. With ten, Steeves leads the nation in power play goals. He is also fifth in the country and second in the NCHC for goals per game, as he averages .67 per game. With his performance against the top-ranked team, Steeves was named Rookie of the Week by the NCHC, marking his third weekly honors.  
CAN'T STOP STEEVES II Last weekend Steeves notched his second hat trick of the season. With three back-to-back power play goals, Steeves recorded his second natural hat trick. Steeves is now just the fourth rookie in program history to record two in a season, with the last being Brett Hull in the 1984-85 season. Steeves is also the only rookie to score two natural hat tricks. 
JAMES IS HEATING UP After his four point weekend, forward Dominic James will enter this weekend's series on a three game point streak. His streak started in North Dakota where he tagged an assist Saturday night. 
KAISER ON THE BLUELINE Wyatt Kaiser continues to show a strong defensive game as a blueliner. Kaiser tallied four assists, one block and a +2 rating last weekend.  With his strong efforts against St. Cloud Kaiser was named the NCHC Defenseman of the Week, for the second time this year. 
YOUNG GUNS This year's freshman class has proven to Bulldog Country what they can do. In last weekend's series, over the 11 goals, 29 points were given out to various Bulldogs. Of the 29 points, the rookies on the team recorded 12 of them. The freshmen to record points were Steeves, Isaac Howard, Kyle Bettens, and Cole Spicer.
FIRST OF THE YEAR During the opening game against the Huskies, Carter Loney recorded the first goal of the game and his first goal of the season. His goal was a momentum boost for UMD to end the first period with the lead, and ultimately take game one.  
THAT'S A PLUS Freshman Aiden Dubinsky leads the plus minus category for the Bulldogs with a +6 rating. 
100 POINT CLUB Defenseman Derek Daschke recorded two assists this last Friday, putting him at 100 career points. Daschke hit this milestone after scoring 26 goals and notching 74 assists ove 158 games. 
HOME SWEET HOME The Bulldogs will continue their home stretch this weekend after last weekend's success. The Bulldogs have found much success this season at AMSOIL Arena, as they have gone 9-6. 
THE NATION'S TOP OFFENSE Coming into this weekend, the Western Michigan is the nation's top ranked offense, averaging 4.21 goals per game.
STAYING OUT OF THE BOX Staying out of the box will be crucial for the Bulldogs this weekend. With a .243 power play percentage, the Broncos are ranked 13th in the nation and fifth in the NCHC. 
WMU GOALTENDING The Broncos have played Cameron Rowe in the crease for 27 of the 28 games this season. Rowe has gone 16-9-1 this season with a .901 save percentage. Having allowed 66 goals, Rowe averages 2.55 goals against.
SCOUTING THE BRONCOS The Broncos, having gone 17-10-1 overall, will make the trip to Duluth as the 10th ranked team in the nation and fourth in the conference. Western Michigan is coming off a split with Omaha, where they took the win Friday 6-1, but fell 2-0 Saturday. Senior Jason Polin leads their team in goals with 23. Leading the team in assists and points is Ryan McAllister with 29 and 40, respectively. Back on defense, Aidan Fulp has the most blocks on the team with 40.

HOBEY NOMINEES Three Bulldogs have been named as nominees for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award. The Bulldogs include freshman Ben Steeves, sophomore Dominic James, and junior Wyatt Kaiser. Voting can be done daily at https://hobeybaker.com/awards/vote-for-hobey/ till March 26.