The No. 8 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team will skate in its last regular season Western Collegiate Hockey Association series of the season this Friday and Saturday when it travels to Bemidji, Minn. to face Bemidji State University at the Sanford Center. Friday's game will get underway at 3:00 p.m., while Saturday's game will get underway at 2:00 p.m.

Date: February 17-18, 2023,  3:00 p.m. Friday, 2:00 p.m. Saturday 

Site:  Robert H. Peters rink at Sanford Center (4,373) Bemidji, Minn.

          UMD: 21-8-3 (15-8-3)

          BSU: 5-26-1  (2-24-0)

Radio: http://beaverradionetwork.com/
Video: https://www.bigtenplus.com
Live Stats: https://bsubeavers.com/sidearmstats/whockey/summary

THE SERIES: UMD moved to 86-22-4 all-time against the Beavers after sweeping them last month, and has beaten BSU in its last seven head-to-head contests. The Bulldogs outscored the Beavers 13-1 in the series while having outshot them 71-20. Of any team UMD has played in its program history, the Bulldogs have the most wins (86) against the Beavers.

In game one on Jan. 13, UMD unloaded three goals in the first period, including one just 57 seconds into the game from Clara Van Wieren, and rolled from there, adding another three in the second period and two in the third.

The Bulldogs rung up their second-highest scoring output of the season behind four players that recorded three or more points and six that compiled two or more, while a total of 11 different players got on the score sheet. Junior defenseman Nina Jobst-Smith, led all scorers with four points (1g, 3a), while Anneke Linser (1g, 2a), Mannon McMahon (3a) and Gabbie Hughes (1g, 2a) all contributed three points in the game.

Freshman Hailey MacLeod picked up her fourth win in as many starts with 11 saves on the night.

Saturday, UMD's fifth-year players carried the day, with four of them contributing two points – Linser (2g), Ashton Bell (1g, 1a), Kylie Hanley (2a) and Maggie Flaherty (2a) led the way offensively, while fifth-year graduate student goaltender Emma Soderberg picked up her sixth shutout of the season, stopping all eight shots she faced.

Bell scored at 5:59 of the first period, and Linser struck at 8:08 and 16:45 of the first period, giving UMD a 3-0 lead at the intermission that they never relenquished.  The Bulldogs outshot BSU 34-8.

UMD-BEMIDJI STATE SERIES HIGHLIGHT: On Feb. 29, 2020, BSU etched out a 2-1 win over the No. 9 UMD at AMSOIL Arena in the second game of the WCHA First Round in the second-longest game in NCAA history, as well as the longest WCHA game ever.  The contest, which began at 4:07 p.m. and lasted until 8:57 p.m. was in its entirety four hours and 50 minutes long (4:50) with an on ice time of 128:43 minutes. The game blew past UMD's previous length record of 4:24 (119:26 minutes) set back on March 21, 2010 in the NCAA title game. UMD went on to defeat the Beavers the following day, March 1, 2020, 4-1 to advance to the WCHA's Final Face-Off.

A QUICK LOOK AT THE BEAVERS: Reece Hunt leads BSU with nine points on five goals and four assists, while Claire Vekich has a team-high six goals. In net, Hannah Hogenson has played 27 games with a 4.04 GAA.

LAST TIME OUT: The Bulldogs earned a shutout win and shootout triumph last weekend at AMSOIL Arena against St. Cloud State University.

On Friday night, UMD outshot the Huskies 44-21, but had to settle for a 1-1 tie after 65 minutes of action. Gabbie Hughes scored UMD's lone goal, a power play tally at 16:26 of the second period to push the Bulldogs into a 1-0 lead, but the Huskies broke through themselves late in the third period to tie the game at 16:48.

After the game went into the book officially as a tie, Maggie Flaherty scored in the WCHA shootout and Emma Soderberg blanked all three shooters she faced for the extra league point.

Saturday afternoon, UMD took the lead at 15:52 of the second frame and never relquinshed it. Ashton Bell scored the 21st power play goal of her career on a secondary assist from Hughes, her 207th career point for a 1-0 lead. Then, late in the third period, Taylor Anderson ice the game with an empty-net goal on a pass from Ashton Bell at 17:54 for the 2-0 final.

Soderberg earned her ninth shutout of the season and the 20th of her career on 15 saves on 15 shots. 

NOTES FROM THE ST. CLOUD STATE SERIES: The Bulldogs are unbeaten in their last 16 games with SCSU and 10-0-2 against the Huskies in their last 12 skates. UMD finishes up the regular season 3-0-1-1 against the Huskies.

--While UMD outscored SCSU 10-2 in four games this season but outshot the Huskies 126-69. 

--With 10 overtime games, UMD has a record of 5-2-3-2, and has won two of the three WCHA shootouts its skated in, including posting back-to-back shootout wins in the last two weeks with Maggie Flaherty netting the winner.

--The Bulldogs went 2-of-7 on its power play against SCSU.

--With Soderberg's shutout Saturday, UMD now has 11 for the season, just one shy of the Bulldog team record of 12 set over the 2010-11 season.

--The Bulldogs have now also played in 10  overtime games, one short of tying the program record of overtime skates set over the 2019-20 season. UMD's five overtime wins is the second most by a team in the NCAA in history.
 

A SHOT AT SOLE POSSESSION OF THE SHUTOUT RECORD: The reigning Western Collegiate Hockey Association's Goaltender of the week is in the midst of the one the most awarded season's by a Bulldog goaltender since, well, Emma Soderberg did it two seasons ago. Soderberg currently is in a tie for the most shutouts in the NCAA this season with nine, and owns the most career shutouts by any active goaltender in the NCAA with 20. Among goaltenders who have played 1,500 or more minutes, Soderberg ranks foruth in the NCAA with a GAA of 1.47, which would be the fourth lowest in program history if it stands.

Soderberg, who became the sixth Bulldog netminder to earn 50 wins in a career last Saturday, also became tied for the UMD shutout program record with 20.  Soderberg is tied with Kayla Black, who owns the single-season record of 10, reached the mark of 20 over 121 games. Soderberg has recorded 20 shutouts in just 81.

HIGH FIVE! Gabbie Hughes, who has put up the most career points by a Bulldog since the 2007-2011 career of Haley Irwin, took over fifth place on the all-time scoring chart from Irwin last Saturday with an assist on Ashton Bell's power play goal. Hughes now has 207 career points in 158 games, and  moved into a tie for the third most career assists in program history with 127, tying her with Irwin. Hughes surpassed Irwin with 80 career goals Friday night and now ranks eighth all-time at UMD.

NO GOAL'S THE GOAL: The Bulldogs rank second in the NCAA with 11 shutouts, and sit fourth in the nation with a 1.44 goals against average. Both marks lead the WCHA.

ALL THE (EXTRA) TIME: The Bulldogs five overtime wins has put them in a tie for the second most in a single season in NCAA history. UMD has 10 overtime games -- one short of the program record of 11 set in 2019-20.

CROWELL CREEPS TOWARD 150 WINS AT UMD: Head coach Maura Crowell is near the 150 win mark at UMD, currently sitting at 148 heading into the weekend series against Bemidji State University. Crowell already ranks eighth among all-time WCHA coaches in overall wins, and seventh in WCHA games with 97 wins over her eight year tenure behind the Bulldog bench. 

 

WINNING WAYS: With 21 wins already, the Bulldogs have tied their third-most wins of the Maura Crowell era and second-straight 20-plus win season. (UMD posted 27 last season and 25 in 2016-17.)

UMD's 20th win is the 17th time in program history a Bulldog squad has pocketed 20 or more triumphs.

POWERED PLAY: The Bulldogs power play currently ranks third in the NCAA with a percentage of 24.5 and fifth in power play goals with 23. The WCHA currently owns the top-three spots (Ohio State, Minnesota, UMD, in that order. 

DUG IN DEFENSE: UMD continutes to be one of the stingiest teams in the nation on defense, and with a scoring defense of 1.50, ranks second in the WCHA and fifth in the NCAA.  With nine shutouts this season as a team (the second most in the NCAA), UMD has allowed the fifth fewest goals against so far this -- 45 -- over 30 games. Emma Soderberg leads the WCHA and is tied for second in the NCAA with eight shutouts so far, and ranks fourth in the NCAA among goaltenders with 1,300 or more minutes with a 1.55 GAA.

OFFENSIVE DEFENDERS: While UMD's blueliners have helped hold their opponents to just 45 goals in the last 30 games (the second lowest goals against in the WCHA), those same defenseman have accounted for more than a quarter of the Bulldogs scoring so far this season.

In all, UMD's seven defenseman have notched 25 goals -- averaging just short of a goal a game (0.83) for a UMD squad averaging 3.40 an outing.

MAKING A CAREER OF IT: Gabbie Hughes ranks in the top-five among all active NCAA players in points at third  (207), fourth in points per game (and first in the WCHA 1.31), third in assists (127) sixth in assists per game (0.80), and fifth in game-winning goals (17).  

HONOR THY DEFENSE: With Nina Jobst-Smith's Defender of the Month award for January, UMD has now grabbed three of the five available Defender of the Month honors. (and all five Bulldog WCHA Player of the Month of honors have gone to defensemen or goaltenders. In addition, of the 14 WCHA Player of the Week awards earned by the Bulldogs, seven have gone to defenseman and five to a goaltender. 

BLUEPRINT BLUELINERS: In Ashton Bell and Maggie Flaherty, UMD has its most dominant defensive pair in a decade, and the numbers to back the claim. 

Bell stormed into the top-10 list of all-time scoring defenseman in December, and now sits seventh all-time with 75 points (25g, 50a) in just 86 games from the blueline. Bell ranks second among defensemen in goals scored with 25, and right now has the third most in a single-season with 11 -- a number she already compiled over the 2019-20 season.)

Flaherty has 71 career points (15g, 56a) over 146 games, and sits eighth for the  most points by a defenseman in program history.  With 56 career assists, Flaherty is tied for fifth all-time by a blueliner.

With 19 goals between them this season, they have scored the most goals by a pair of defensemen in a season since Krista McArthur scored 15, and both Larissa Luther and Navada Russell netted five apiece. Pick either bluliner to pair with McArhtur, and the last time a defensive duo scored 19 or more points was the 2002-03 season at 20.

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 161th game last Saturday, making her just the second-ever Bulldog to have played in 159 or more games. Gabbie Hughes and Anneke Linser are tied for the third most games ever played (158), while Ashton Bell is at 157 in fifth (Bell also now has the second most consecutive games played in program history). Taylor Anderson, with 154 games, is now tied for seventh all-time in games played, while Kylie Hanley sits in 9th with 151.

In all, UMD has nine players that have played over 124 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.