The No. 4 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team will put its seal on 2024 this weekend when the Bulldogs head to St. Cloud, Minn. and the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center to face No. 8/9 St. Cloud State University. The Friday-Saturday series gets underway Friday at 3:00 p.m. before concluding at 1:00 p.m. Saturday.


ROOKIE OF THE WEEK ON REPEAT: For a whopping third time this season, Caitlin Kraemer picked up WCHA Rookie of the Week honors, this time for her career weekend against the University of Vermont.

Kraemer, who is stockpiling WCHA awards, and who along with the three weekly honors has a WCHA Rookie of the Month award for September, scored her first collegiate hat trick Saturday, while also recording a new career best effort of five points in a game (3g, 2a) -- figuring in more than half of UMD's nine goals in the game. Overall, the freshman had six points in the series (3g, 3a).

NET POSITIVE BULLDOGS: With help from a scoring spree over their last four games of 23 goals -- a 5.75 goal per game average -- the Bulldogs have impressively pocketed 53 goals through just 16 games so far this season.

Currently, that ranks UMD seventh in the NCAA and second in the WCHA with a 3.31 goals a game average.

How hot of an offensive start is that for the Bulldogs? Over the past 10 seasons, UMD has registered 53 or more goals through its first 16 games just twice -- in 2022-23 (54) and 2021-22 (59).
 

Goals Through 16 Games:

53 G 2024-25 44 G 2019-20

43 G 2023-24 34 G 2018-19

54 G 2022-23 35 G 2017-18

59 G 2021-22 51 G 2016-17

50 G 2020-21 34 G 2015-16

Of note, UMD also already has three team shorthanded goals this season -- the most since the 2020-21 season.

 

CENTURY MARKERS: Graduate forward Clara Van Wieren joined Olivia Wallin and Olivia Mobley last Friday night to become the third player currently rostered to log 100 or more career points. Van Wieren, who has 46 goals and 56 assists for 102 career points, become the 25th player that has had 100 or more points over their career only in a UMD sweater.

In all, UMD has had a total of 28 players skate through the program that have compiled 100 or more points over their collegiate hockey carere.

Wieren, Wallin and Mobley are the first trio of 100 career point players since  Ashton Bell, Naomi Rogge and Gabbie Hughes in 2022-23. The season before that (2021-22), Hughes joined Elizabeth Giguere and Anna Klein, another trio of Bulldogs in the club.. In all, UMD has had three or more players on a team with 100 or more points now 10 times over its 26 year history.

JOBST-SMITH CAREER ASSIST: Fifth-year defenseman Nina Jobst-Smith, who along with Clara Van Wieren is sitting two games outside the top-10 list with 151 career games played and fourth all-time for consecutive games played, is also about to write her name into another section of the UMD record books.

Jobst-Smith is sitting at 47 career assists -- just two shy of Brigette Lacquette and Satu Kiipeli, who currently sit tied in the 10th all-time spot for career assists by a defenseman.

UMD is 85-15-10 all-time against the Huskies after sweeping SCSU in the WCHA First Round in the first two days of March. The Bulldogs finish the 2023-24 season against SCSU 4-1-1 and on a four-game unbeaten streak.

In fact, in those four last games between UMD and the Huskies, SCSU was held scoreless in 245 minutes of action. The Huskies also never scored a power play goal against the Bulldogs all last season, with UMD's penalty kill a perfect 19-of-19 against SCSU extra skater attempts.

Among UMD's returners, three players have logged five or more points against the Huskies over their careers --

Top-3 Players vs St Cloud State

Clara Van Wieren GP=20 G=8 A=6 P=14

Nina Jobst-Smith GP=20 G=1 A=5 P=6

Tova Henderson GP=12 G=1 A=4 P=5

Eve Gason 2-0-1 103/104 saves/shots

85-15-10 All-Time (Last 10 games)

Mar. 2, 2024 2-0 Win Home*

Mar. 1, 2024 5-0 Win Home*

Feb. 17, 2024 0-0 OT Tie Home

Feb. 16, 2024 1-0 Win Home

Dec. 9, 2023 1-5 Lost Away

Dec. 8, 2023 2-1 Win OT Away

Feb. 25, 2023 5-1 Win Home*

Feb. 24, 2023 1-0 Win Home*

Feb. 11, 2023 2-0 Win Home

Feb. 10, 2023 1-1 Tie Home (SW)

*WCHA Quarterfinals

In their last series on March 1 and 2 at AMSOIL Arena, UMD swept then No. 10 SCSU -- and shutout them out to advance to the WCHA Final Face-Off semifinals.

On Friday night, the Bulldogs put up a 5-0 win over the Huskies. UMD exploded offensively in the second and third period and shut down the Huskies defensively in a statement 5-0 win to take game one of the best-of-three series. Behind five points from graduate forward Reece Hunt (1g, 4a), two point performances from new record holder Mannon McMahon (2a), Clara Van Wieren (1g,1a) and Olivia Wallin (1g,1a), UMD reached the five goal mark for the fifth time this season.

It was UMD's defense that helped shut out the Huskies, however, starting with Hailey MacLeod, who turned away all 20 shots she faced, including 10 in the first period when SCSU had some early pressure. The Bulldogs defense took it from there, allowing just 10 more shots in the final 40 minutes and only four in the third period. UMD once again held the Huskies scoreless in three power play attempts.

In game two, the Bulldogs put up a 2-0 win with two goals from McMahon. McMahon scored at the end of the second period to make it a 1-0 game, and then added an insurance goal just 25 seconds into the third period.

The Bulldogs held SCSU scoreless on three power play attempts in the game, and were six-of-six on the series. Ève Gascon and UMD's blueliners also fought off 3:01 of an extra attacker to end the third period, but the rookie only bent, making all 27 saves she faced in the outing. The Huskies outshot UMD 27-23 in the contest.

*Ironically, Hunt's five points on March 1, 2024 against the Huskies was the last time a Bulldog posted five points until Caitlin Kraemer did last Saturday against Vermont (3g, 2a).

LAST TIME OUT: UMD swept Vermont in the two programs first-ever series but scores of 4-0 and 9-1.

Friday night, UMD had a 4-0 win against the Catamounts.

Just a week after Olivia Wallin reached the 100 point mark, graduate forward Clara Van Wieren joined her current linemate with a goal at 12:17 of the first period. Van Wieren, wasn't the only player to add their name to the books – fifth-year Olivia Mobley scored the 50th goal of her NCAA career, the 17th total Bulldog player to have reach the milestone at some point in their collegiate career. But it wasn't just the offense that clicked for UMD Friday night, as sophomore Eve Gascon earned her ninth career shutout as proof – the seventh most of any goaltender in program history.

The scoring started with Danielle Burgen, who tucked in a Caitlin Kraemer rebound at 10:39 of the opening frame. UMD doubled that less than two minutes later on Van Wieren's 100 career point to take a 2-0 lead that would hold through the first period.

A mere 1:17 into the second period, sophomore defenseman Ida Karlsson ripped a shot from the low point to add a third goal to the Bulldogs advantage, and then at 16:40, Mobley hammered a power play goal – the 50th score of her career – from the face-off dot to extend UMD's count to 4-0. 

Gascon did the rest, making saves on all 19 shots she faced for her second shutout of the season and UMD's fourth as a team. The Bulldogs outshot Vermont 39-19.

On Saturday, Behind five points and the first collegiate hat trick of Kraemer, UMD skated past Vermont 9-1. The Bulldogs wasted no time popping the lid off its offense, and it took just 3:57 for Zoey Krock to net the first goal of her collegiate career, and just 17 seconds later, Van Wieren doubled the UMD goal count after tracking down a Tova Henderson rebound. 

Far from done, the Bulldogs took a 3-0 lead when Payton Holloway sniped her first goal of her college career at the 17:00 mark. Van Wieren then atoned from an initial miss and secured her netfront presence to bury a pass from Olivia Wallin to stretch UMD's goal total to four with four seconds until the first intermission.

A power play goal by the Catamounts 45 seconds into the second period broke a 171:54 shutout streak dating back to Nov. 22 for the Bulldogs, but UMD rebuilt its four-goal lead at 6:43 on a shorthanded goal from Kraemer, who intercepted a breakout pass from Vermont. Burgen made it 6-1 game at 13:43 when she tipped Nina Jobst-Smith shot from the point into the twine.

Kraemer and the Bulldogs were far from satisfied, however, and the freshman center cleanly wristed a pass from Krock in the slot for a 7-1 lead at 16:03. Red-hot junior defenseman Tova Henderson took missed Catamount clear on a Bulldog power play 14:21 into the third period to score her sixth goal of the season, and it was Kraemer again with just 2:04 left in the game,the first UMD rookie to notch a hat trick in a decade and a half.

UMD was a blistering 2-of-4 on its power play, and had six players record two or more points on the day. Tindra Holm pocketed the win in net for UMD, her third of the season behind 27 saves. 

NOTES FROM THE VERMONT SERIES:  UMD is now 3-0 all-time against the Catamounts and owns a 27-8-4 against Hockey Easy opponents, the conference Vermont belongs to.

--The Bulldogs have outscored their opponents a whopping 23-2 over their past four games, including a 13-1 advantage over the Catamounts.

--Caitlin Kraemer is the first UMD rookie to since Katie Wilson did it on Nov. 28, 2009 to register a hat trick. On Saturday, six Bulldogs recorded multiple point games -- in addition to Kraemer, who logged a five point night (3g, 2a), Zoey Krock and Danielle Burgen each had a goal and two assists for three points … Tova Henderson (1g, 1a), Clara Van Wieren (2g), and Nina Jobst-Smith (2a) each had two points in the skate.

--All but one UMD skater has now logged at least a point for the Bulldogs so far this season. OF the 20 players rostered, 18 have recorded at least a point (which includes Eve Gascon and her assist).

--UMD has won its last four games and stayed unbeaten in games against non-ranked teams at 7-0-1.

--The Bulldogs are 7-0 when it has the lead after two periods of play, and its 7-0 when it holds team to one or fewer goals in a game.