After earning its third-straight trip to the NCAA Tournament, the No. 7 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team will hit the ice against Clarkson University Thursday night at Ridder Arena in the NCAA Regional opening round. The puck will drop on the first-ever postseason showdown between the two programs at 6:00 p.m.

Date: March 9, 2023,  6:00 p.m. Thursday

Site:  Ridder Arena (3, 400) Minneapolis, Minn.

          UMD: 25-9-3 (17-8-3 - WCHA Finish, Fourth)

          Clarkson: 30-4-2  (15-1-2 - WCHA Finish, First)

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Live Stats: https://gophersports.com

IT'S TOURNAMENT TIME!: UMD's third-straight NCAA Tournament is the fourth NCAA Tournament Team of head coach Maura Crowell's eight-season tenure. Crowell and Co. are 3-1 in the First Round/Quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament, and 5-3 in all NCAA Tournament games.

The Bulldogs outscored their opponents 5-1 in two Regional NCAA games just one season ago, including four goals in two games from now graduate senior Gabbie Hughes. On the other side of the ice, UMD has the all-time single NCAA Tournament save record holder in Emma Soderberg, who just on her own in two previous seasons has an NCAA Regional/Quarterfinal record of 3-0 and that includes two shutouts.

AGAINST THE 2023 NCAA FIELD: The Bulldogs have an overall record of 7-9-0 against teams that landed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament field, including 3-1 against non-WCHA teams. 

Junior defenseman Nina Jobst-Smith led UMD in those 16 games with 14 points on four goals and 10 assists. Graduate senior center Gabbie Hughes had 13 points in those same games (4g, 9a), while senior forward Mannon McMahon and fifth-year Anneke Linser each led the Bulldogs with five goals each (McMahon 5g, 7a), Linser 5g, 5a).

As a team, the Bulldogs posted three shutouts against NCAA squads, with Emma Soderberg a part of all three of them. Soderberg averaged 25.3 saves a game against tourney participants in 915:42 minutes.

UMD IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: 

UMD heads back into its third-straight NCAA Tournament since the program ran up seven straight appearances between 2005-2011.

All-time, the Bulldogs are 18-7 in the NCAA postseason, and 6-4 in Regional Final/Quarterfinal games. With just one season in the expanded tournament under their belt, the Bulldogs are 2-0 in regional NCAA tournament games after winning both games at Ridder Arena one season ago.

In just the second season of the expanded NCAA field, the NCAA now hosts a regional instead of a single quarterfinal that the top-3 seeded teams host. The NCAA didn't adopt a quarterfinal game until the 2004-05 season, and prior to that, UMD had played in and won the first three NCAA titles in 2001, 2002 and 2003, going a perfect 6-0 in the NCAA postseason.

CURRENT BULLDOGS IN THE BOOK - UMD'S NCAA TOURNAMENT MARKS: Last season in the NCAA First Round on March 10, 2022, Gabbie Hughes joined UMD legend Maria Rooth as the only two players in program history to score a hat trick in the NCAA Tournament Against Harvard.  Rooth also netted one against Harvard in the NCAA Frozen Four semifinals on March 23, 2001, a 6-3 Bulldog victory (en route to the program's first NCAA title).

--Hughes has the only natural NCAA postseason hat trick in program history.

--Hughes is also just one of nine UMD players with three points in a single NCAA game (3g).  It's actually been done 10 total times -- Emmanuelle Blais managed it twice in her career.

--Emma Soderberg has been brilliant in the NCAA Tournament, and owns a 4-2 record to prove it, including a program-tying three wins in a single tournmanet, set last season. The Jarved, Sweden native posted a NCAA Tournament record 146 saves over four games and 277:38 of action to help backstop the Bulldogs into their first NCAA Championship game in 12 seasons.  Soderberg went 3-1, including one shutout in the NCAA postseason, and had a 1.08 goals against average, in addition to a .957 saves percentage. For her NCAA Frozen Four heroics, which included a career-high 46 saves in double-overtime in the semifinal win.

--Two UMD players have scored game-winning overtime tallies in the NCAA Tournament -- Ashton Bell against Colgate in the 2021 NCAA Quarterfinal to send the Bulldogs to the 2021 NCAA Frozen Four, and Naomi Rogge, who sent UMD into the NCAA title game a season ago.

--Graduate senior forward Taylor Anderson holds the distinction as the only player in program history to have scored goals in back-to-back Frozen Fours.

A BULLDOG AND GOLDEN KNIGHT SERIES BREAKDOWN: Not only have the Bulldogs and Golden Knights never met in the postseason before, their four all-time meetings have happened within the past five years.

Clarkson is a rarity in that it is the only ECAC school that UMD is upside down against in its all-time series record at 1-3. The first-ever meeting between the two programs was during the current fifth-year seniors first year, where the Golden Knights swept the Bulldogs on Nov. 23-23, 2018 in Potsdam, N.Y. by scores of 4-1 and 4-2 -- the same season Clarkson would move on to claim its third NCAA title in four seasons.  Then freshman Gabbie Hughes had a two goals and an assist in the first ever series between the two programs.

The following season of 2019-20, UMD hosted the Golden Knights at AMSOIL Arena and split with the defending NCAA champions. CU took a 4-2 win on Oct. 4, 2019, while UMD goaltender Maddie Rooney shutout Clarkson 2-0 the following day, Oct. 5, 2019. Current UMD defenseman Ashton Bell was one of two UMD players and the only current Bulldog to post four points against CU in the series (four assists), while Hughes had the third most points and tied for the most goals with two, and with an additional assist, finished with three points.

Hughes leads UMD all-time among all players in scoring against Clarkson with four goals and two assists for six points for an average of 1.50 points per game against the Golden Knights in four appearances. Bell has four assists in four games against CU, while Anneke Linser has three points (1g, 2a) over those same four skates.

UMD AGAINST THE ECAC: Because the Bulldogs and Golden Knights haven't faced since UMD's fifth-year seniors were rookies, the next best way to compare the two squads is to look at conference crossover games this season.

The Bulldogs have played 67 games against ECAC teams in program history. (Known as the Eastern College Athletic Conference until 2004 and the ECAC Hockey League until 2007, it is now just referred to as the ECAC). UMD went 3-0 this season again ECAC foes, with a 3-2 overtime win against St. Lawrence University on the road Sept. 29, before sweeping Harvard University at AMSOIL  on Nov. 18-19 by scores of 4-0 and 9-0. The Bulldogs outscored  ECAC opponents 16-2 in those four games, with Gabbie Hughes leading all UMD players with eight points (1g, 7a), while Anneke Linser and Maggie Flaherty each posted a team-high three goals against those teams.

Clarkson faced St. Lawrence four times in two series over the season in league playe, and was unbeaten with a record of 3-0-1, which included two overtime games. The Golden Knights outscored the Saints 11-7 in those showdowns. CU also faced Harvard on two seperate occassions, resulting in two wins and outscoring the Crimson 9-3 in those games.

The Golden Knights did skate with one WCHA opponent during the regular season -- they host Bemidji State University back on Sept. 30-Oct. 1, earning a win and a tie with the Beavers in Potsdam, N.Y. by scores of 5-0 and 2-2 in overtime.

THE GIGUERE CONNECTION: The Bulldogs and Golden Knights share something far greater than a four game head-to-head history -- the third all-time point getter in NCAA history, Élizabeth Giguère suited up both for both programs. Giguère led CU to an NCAA title as a freshman in 2018, and was the 2020 Patty Kazmaier winner for the Golden Knights. Giguère was a graduate transfer to the Bulldogs last season as a Second Team All-American and Patty Kaz Top-10 Finalist, and turned in 62 points on 22 goals and 40 assists to help lead UMD back to the NCAA Frozen Four for a second-straight season and to its first NCAA title tilt in over a decade.

A QUICK LOOK AT THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS: CU is led by two players who have both reached the 52 point mark this season -- Anne Cherkowski, who also leads the team with 23 goals, and Gabrielle David (21g, 31a). Michelle Pasiechnyk has a goals against average of 1.68 in 34 games started in between the pipes, and has post nine shutouts. Head coach Matt Desrosiers is in his 13th season at the helm of Golden Knights.

LAST TIME OUT: The Bulldogs played just won game last week, a WCHA Final Face-Off semifinal game against Ohio State Univeristy on Friday. The Bulldogs rallied late in the third period, but suffered a 2-1 setback to the top-ranked Buckeyes at Ridder Arena.

After a scoreless first period that UMD fought through two Buckeye power plays to maintain, the Bulldogs had a 7-2 shots on goal advantage early in the second period. UMD fended off its third OSU power play of the game until 7:36 of the second, but just over three minutes later, the Buckeyes finally broke through on goaltender Emma Soderberg. Brooke Bink capitalized on a rare UMD mishap in front of its own net at 10:50, and 1:04 later, Emma Maltais made it a 2-0 game.

UMD refused to go away however, and after pulling Soderberg at 16:13 of the third period, junior defenseman Nina Jobst-Smith broke through the Buckeye defense to cut the lead to 2-1 at 17:12. Skating from the top of the left circle to the slot, Jobst-Smith sniped it through the lane for her second goal against the Buckeyes in as many games and fifth of the season. But despite the Bulldogs late efforts and a 8-7 shots on goal advantage in the period, UMD would get no closer.

Soderberg capped off her award laden week with a brilliant 34 save performance.

NOTES FROM THE OHIO STATE SEMIFINAL: UMD is 1-4 in five games now against OSU this season. The Bulldogs and Buckeyes have now played in six-straight games that have been decided by just a single goal (including two that have taken overtime to decide.)

--The Buckeyes outshot UMD 36-27 overall, but the Bulldogs held the nation's No. 1 power play in check, holding OSU scoreless in three attempts with the extra skater. 

--Nina Jobst-Smith led all UMD players in scoring against the Buckeyes this season, posting two goals and three assists in five games for a 1.00 points per game average against OSU.

--OSU snapped an eight-game unbeaten streak by the Bulldogs, which had dated back to Feb. 3. UMD has allowed eight goals over its last nine games.

SPECIAL TEAM SPECIALISTS: UMD currently ranks fouth in the NCAA and third in the WCHA with a power play percentage of 26.7, and have the fifth-most power play goals in the NCAA with 28. The Bulldogs also rank first in the WCHA and eighth in the nation in penalty kill percentage, which sits at 88.4,  and the Bulldogs have allowed just two goals on its penalty kill over its past 17 games.


NO GOAL GALS: The Bulldogs rank first in the NCAA with 13 shutouts -- a program record. UMD sits second in the nation with a 1.33 goals against average (both double as the best in the WCHA). That goals against average, if it stands at the end of the season, would be the lowest in program history, topping the 1.48 mark set in 2007-08, which is also the 18th lowest GAA in WCHA history. UMD's current mark of 1.33 would  check in as the 14th lowest in the WCHA's tenure.