The No. 8 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team will close out the regular season this weekend when it heads south to the No. 4 University of Minnesota the last series of Western Collegiate Hockey Association play. The Friday-Saturday series will get underway at Ridder Arena on Friday at 6:00 p.m. before wrapping up Saturday with a 2:00 p.m. puck drop.


THE SERIES: The Bulldogs are upside down all-time against the Gophers with a series record of 32-73-10 and suffered two 3-1 losses to Minnesota back in November on 17-18 at AMSOIL Arena. 

In game one, UMD outshot the Gophers 33-32 but could not put up more than a single goal from Hanna Baskin midway through the third period. Ève Gascon made 30 saves for UMD, who surrendered an empty net goal with 15.5 seconds left in regulation.

In game two, the Gophers used two shorthanded goals to pin in the Bulldogs. UMD's lone goal came from Gabby Krause in the third period, but again, like the night before, Minnesota answered less than two minutes later to  retake the lead. Gascon had 33 saves on the afternoon for a total of 63 in the series.

Addtional Notes: Graduate forward Mannon McMahon, who had an assist in UMD's last series with Minnesota, has reorded four goals and four assists for eight points over the Gophers in the past three seasons.

--Sophomore goaltender Hailey MacLeod has never started in net against Minnesota. MacLeod has seen time against the Gophers however -- she played 27:54 against Minnesota last season on Nov. 5, 2022 at Ridder Arena. A freshman, MacLeod made 15 saves and didn't allow a goal in relief of Emma Soderberg.

UMD vs. Minnesota - 32-73-30 All-Time   (Last 10 games)

Nov. 18, 2023 1-3 Loss Home

Nov. 17, 2023 1-3 Loss Home

Mar. 11, 2023 0-3 Loss Away!

Jan. 28, 2023 3-4 Loss Home

Jan. 27, 2023 0-3 Loss Home

Nov. 5, 2022 3-5, Loss Away

Nov. 4, 2022 2-3, Loss Away

Mar. 12, 2022 2-1 Win Away^

Mar. 5, 2022 1-5 Loss Away*

Dec. 11, 2021 2-6 Loss Away

! 2023 NCAA Regional Finals

^ 2022 NCAA Regional Finals

* 2022 WCHA Final Face-Off Semifinals

 

All-Time Record: UMD leads 32-72-10

Last Meeting: Nov. 18, 2023 (1-3 Loss, Home)

Last Series: Nov. 17-18, 2023 (Swept, Home)

First Meeting: Nov. 4, 1999 (10-0 Win, Away)

Last Season: 0-5-0 

Record this Year: 0-2-0

Last 10 Meetings: 1-9-0

LAST TIME OUT: The Bulldogs clinched home WCHA playoff ice last weekend after taking four points from St. Cloud State University with a 1-0 win Friday before settling for a 0-0 overtime tie Saturday afternoon. 

On Friday afternoon at AMSOIL, senior goaltender Clara Van Wieren finished off a feed from Olivia Wallin for the game-winner at 4:33 of the third period to take down the Huskes. Hailey MacLeod did the rest, making 39 saves to perserve her fifth shutout of the season. 

Saturday, the two sides played to an overtime stalemate before SCSU took the shootout 3-2. Ève Gascon made 39 stops, including on a penalty shot at 3:53 of overtime to preserve the tie.

NOTES FROM THE ST. CLOUD SERIES:  UMD is now 83-15-10 all-time against the Huskies, and finishes the regular season 2-1-1 vs SCSU. The Bulldogs are 7-1-2 against the Huskies in their last 10 meetings.

--UMD is now 1-0-3 in overtime games this season.

--The Huskies outshot the Bulldogs in both games for a total of 78-59. UMD is 6-7-2 when its opponent records most shots on goal.

--Ève Gascons penalty shot save was the first one by a UMD netminder since Maddie Rooney did it against Harvard back on Nov. 25, 2016.

MCMAHON REWRITES THE RECORD BOOK: Graduate senior Mannon McMahon has taken over the career consecutive games played record at UMD after skating in her 166th straight game last Saturday.

McMahon is now also just two games away from tying UMD's all-time games played record that was set last season by Naomi Rogge that stands at 168 games.

GASCON TIES ROOKIE RECORD: UMD freshman goaltender Ève Gascon tied the Bulldog rookie record last Saturday for goaltender shutouts, earning her fifth. Gascon is now knotted up with former UMD great Jennifer Harss, who also record five shutouts en route to leading the Bulldogs to a an NCAA title in 2009-10. 

MACLEOD ATOP THE NCAA: Sophomore goaltender Hailey MacLeod   sits atop the NCAA with a .958 saves percentage, and currently ranks third with a 1.13 GAA. 

MacLeod isn't the only UMD netminder with high marks in the NCAA -- freshman goaltender Ève Gascon ranks third with a .951 saves percentage, and 11th with a GAA of 1.51.

Together the pair, who have five shutouts each, have now put UMD third in the NCAA and tied for first in the WCHA with 10 total shutouts.

SPECIAL TEAMS SHOWDOWN: The Bulldogs will take their WCHA-best penalty kill of 91.1 that also ranks as the fifth ranked pk in the NCAA up against the NCAA's top power play in Minnesota. The Gophers own a 38.1 conversion rate with an extra skater

UMD, which enters the weekend with 17-straight penalties killed off, have not surrendered a power play goal since Jan. 27 -- six games ago. When the Bulldogs and Minnesota last met, the Gophers were 1-of-7 on their power play.

The Bulldogs have allowed just eight  power play goals this season in almost 89 total opponent attempts. 

GOAL GETTERS: UMDs line of senior forwards Olivia Wallin, Clara Van Wieren and graduate forward Reece Hunt have accounted for nine of UMD's last 12 goals over the past four games. Hunt has recorded five of those nine tallies.

SHUTOUT SERIES: The netminding duo of Hailey MacLeod and Ève Gascon have also held opponents scoreless in three series so far this season – the first time UMD has posted three shutout series since the 2010-11 season.

UMD last posted three shutout series back in 2010-11 when Kim Martin and Jennifer Harss both had three each shutouts each in three split series.

MACLEOD AND GASCON EARN WCHA WEEKLY HONORS: Goaltending duo of Hailey MacLeod and Ève Gascon earned WCHA weekly honors Monday, with MacLeod landing WCHA Goaltender of the Week and Gascon grabbing WCHA Rookie of the Week.

MacLeod earned her fifth shutout of the season with a 39 save effort against No 10 St. Cloud St. University Friday night. The sophomore from Abbotsford, B.C. now leads the NCAA (and WCHA) with a .958 saves percentage, and owns the third lowest goals against average in the country (1.13). With five shutouts, MacLeod enters a eight-way tie for the sixth most shutouts by a UMD goaltender in a season.

Gascon tied a UMD program record for most shutouts by a rookie when she earned her fifth of the season Saturday night against the Huskies. The native of Mascouche, Quebec also stopped the first penalty shot against the Bulldogs since 2016 -- in overtime – to keep the game scoreless. The freshman ranks third in the country with a .951 saves percentage and 11th with a 1.51 GAA. 

 This marks MacLeod's second WCHA weekly honor this year -- she was also the WCHA's Goaltender of the Month in November. Gascon -- who was already the reigning WCHA Rookie of the Week after earning it last week, has now been honored four times by the league -- three times as WCHA Rookie of the Week and once as the WCHA's Goaltender of the Week. 

HATS OFF: UMD has now had four hat tricks this season – (Reece Hunt twice, Mannon McMahon and Clara Van Wieren) – the most hat tricks in a single season by a Bulldog squad since the 2010-11 season, when UMD had five (three from Haley Irwin, and one each from Jessica Wong and Perilla Winberg.)

FOUR SCORES AND 20 YEARS AGO: For the first time since the 2003-04 season, UMD has had more than one player score four goals in a game. Reece Hunt's four goal game against St. Thomas on Feb. 9 marks the second four goal scorer after Mannon McMahon netted four against Long Island University Oct. 6, 2023).

While the Bulldog program has had 15 four goal (or more) scorers in a game in program history, no team has had two  players reach the mark in a single season since the 2003-04 season, when Jessica Koizumi (Feb. 14, 2004 vs Bemidji State) and Caroline Ouellette (Nov. 14, 2003 North Dakota). did it. In fact, UMD has had just four total seasons where more than one player logged four goals in a game , including the 2002-03 season, where the Bulldogs had a program-high four players reach the mark (Ouellette, Jenny Potter, and Erika Holst, twice.)

Hunt and McMahon are also two of seven players that reached that mark in all of the NCAA so far this season.