The No. 4 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team will open up 2025 Western Collegiate Hockey Association play this weekend when it hosts No. 8/9 St. Cloud State University at AMSOIL Arena in a Friday - Saturday series. The puck will drop Friday at 3:00 p.m. and then followed by a 2:00 p.m. Saturday start.
SOPHIE'S SQUAD SATURDAY: UMD will host its fourth-annual Sophie's Squad event Saturday in a double-header with the men. The organization that encourages talking about mental health was created in 2021, by a group led by former UMD All-American and current PWHL star Gabbie Hughes. Hughes went on to win the 2023 Hockey Humanitarian Award for her work with the organization. For more information on Sophie's Squad, click here. For a look at back at Gabbie Hughes and her work in the cause, click here.
BULLDOGS UNBEATEN IN LAST EIGHT GAMES: UMD is unbeaten over its past eight games (7-0-1, with the Huskies the long team to snap the win streak). It marks the longest unbeaten streak since the Bulldogs had a nine-game unbeaten streak (8-0-1) in 2022-23.
THE 50 CAREER GOAL CLUB: Graduate forward Clara Van Wieren will take to the ice Friday with 49 career goals, and looking to become the 16th UMD player to have played their entire career with the Bulldogs to reach the 50 goal mark.
Senior forward Olivia Wallin hit 50 last Thursday against Syracuse (and added a second to get to 51). 38 of Wallin's career tallies were netted at Penn State University. Wallin isn't the only 50 goal player on UMD -- Olivia Mobley owns 53 career goals, 10 of which have come with the Bulldogs.
Once Van Wieren hits the mark, the three players will become the first trio of 50 career goal scorers since the 2021-22 season. In 2021-22, Gabbie Hughes had 71 career goals at that point of her career, Anna Klein had 60, and Elizabeth Giguere had whopping 121 (22 of which came that season).
NO SHORTHANDED PROBLEMS:Â
UMD has four team shorthanded goals this season -- the most since the 2013-14 season.
Olivia Mobley is in a nine-way lead for the most shorthanded goals in the nation, and leads the WCHA with two shorthanded goals. Mobley is has scored the most shorthanded goals since Anna Klein recorded two in 2020-21 in just 19 skates. Over the past 10 years, just three players have scored two shorthanded goals over a season -- Mobley, Klein and Sydney Brodt (2019-20).Â
UMD's single-season shorthanded goal record is seven, set by Maria Rooth before NCAA sanctioned play in 1999-00. In the NCAA era, two players scored four shorthanded goals in a season -- Jenny Potter (twice, 2002-03, 2003-04) and Caroline Ouellette (2003-04).
NET POSITIVE BULLDOGS: UMD is averaging 3.25 goals a game -- the eighth most goals a skate in the NCAA.
Over UMD's first 20 games this season, the Bulldogs have rung up 65 goals -- the third most over the past decade. The whole two seasons UMD has scored more goals through the halfway point? 2022-23 (73) and their NCAA runner-up finish season of 2021-22 (70).
Goals Through 20 Games:
65 G 2024-25 48 G 2019-20
50 G 2023-24 40 G 2018-19
73 G 2022-23 39 G 2017-18
70 G 2021-22 55 G 2016-17
55 G 2020-21+ Â Â 43 G 2015-16
+Covid shortened season of only 19 games
JOBST-SMITH'S CAREER ASSIST: Last weekend, Nina Jobst-Smith moved into the a tie for the ninth all-time spot for career assists with Brigette Lacquette and Satu Kiipeli with 49 helpers. Jobst-Smith is now one of 11 UMD defenseman to dish 49 or more assists as a Bulldog.
GAMERS: VAN WIEREN AND JOBST-SMITH ENTER THE TOP-10 FOR GAMES PLAYED: Both graduate senior Clara Van Wieren and fifth year senior Nina Jobst-Smith had now skated in 155 consecutive games -- the 10th most in program history. Currently, the pair has also played in the fourth-most consecutive games in Bulldog history.
UMD is 86-15-11 all-time against the Huskies after picking up five points on a win and a tie and shootout win back on Dec. 6-7.
Among UMD's returners, three players have logged five or more points against the Huskies over their careers --
Top-5 Players vs St Cloud State
Clara Van Wieren GP=22 G=9 A=6 P=15
Nina Jobst-Smith GP=22 G=1 A=6 P=7
Tova Henderson GP=14 G=1 A=5 P=6
Mary Kate O'Brien GP=14 G=3 A=1 P=4
Olivia Wallin GP=8 G=1 A=3 P=4
Eve Gason 3-0-1 152/155 saves/shots for a .980 saves percentage.
Current redshirt is a defenseman Devyn Millwater spent three seasons with the Huskies.Â
86-15-11 All-Time (Last 10 games)
Dec. 7, 2024 3-1 Win Away
Dec. 6, 2024 1-1Tie, SW Win Away
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*
*WCHA Quarterfinals
In their last series on Dec. 6-7, The Bulldogs picked up an all-important five points from then No. 8 St. Cloud State University on Dec. 6-7 in St. Cloud, Minn. In the Friday afternoon skate, UMD settled for a 1-1 comeback tie before winning the WCHA shootout.
Despite UMD having outshot SCSU 21-14 after the first 40 minutes, the Bulldogs didn't solve SCSU goaltender Sanni Ahola until 5:40 of the first period. Senior forward Olivia Wallin fed Olivia Mobley from behind the net, and Mobley shoveled it past Ahola to knot the game 1-1. The two teams stayed deadlocked 35-23 through the ensuing 14:20 of play in the third period and a 3-on-3 five minute overtime, which allowed for each team to pocket a crucial WCHA point.Â
But the league shootout was all UMD, with Mobley netting the lone goal by either team, and Eve Gascon, whose play was epic when it mattered most for the Bulldogs Friday, made all three stops against all three players she faced to secure the extra point for UMD. Gascon had 23 saves during the game, and the Bulldogs outshot the Huskies 35-23 on the night, including 4-2 in overtime. Ahola had 34 stops for UMD and St. Cloud, who were held scoreless in three power play attempts against the Bulldogs.Â
--Of note, SCSU had five penalties on Dec. 6, 2024, which remains the most any team has taken against the Bulldogs in a single game all season.
In game two Saturday, for all of 3:27, UMD led the Huskies, and it turns out, 3:27 is all that was needed to return to Duluth with five league points.
The Bulldogs stunned the Huskies, scoring three unanswered goals in the third period to upend SCSU 3-1 and in the process, move into second place in the WCHA, passing Ohio State University by two points to head into the winter break. Saturday's game was a mirror image of Friday's contest through two periods – UMD trailed the Huskies for the first two periods of play. An opening frame goal by SCSU midway through the period at the 11:17 mark gave the Huskies a 1-0 lead that would last just over 44 minutes of action.
Hot handed Mobley extended that heat into Saturday, however, and the senior equalized with a shorthanded goal at 4:29 to put the belief back in the Bulldogs and a 1-1 tie on the board. Then, at 16:33, senior forward Clara Van Wieren put the maroon squad on her back, skating the puck across all three lines before unleashing a nasty wrist shot that beat Ahola to take UMD's first lead of the entire series. A late penalty by the Huskies limited their extra skater attempt at 18:34 to a 5-on-5, and redshirt junior Mary Kate O'Brien made SCSU pay with an empty netter just under a minute later to seal the 3-1 win for the Bulldogs.
Outshot in the first two periods, UMD riddled Ahola in the third period, outshooting the Huskies 12-4 in the final frame alone to help secure the 29-28 shot chart of the entire game. Gascon made 27 of the 28 shots she faced for her eighth win of the season. The Bulldogs also held the Huskies scoreless in three power play attempts for a total of six on the weekend.
LAST TIME OUT: UMD swept Syracuse University at AMSOIL Arena last week in the first-ever meeting between the two programs with a 6-2 win Thursday before sweeping the series with a 2-1 triumph Friday.
UMD's first outing in 2025 picked right back up where it left off a month ago. Freshman center Caitlin Kraemer opened up the game's scoring on the power play at 16:23 to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.
Syracuse responded with a power play tally of their own 2:21 into the second period, but UMD netted three unanswered goals in the second to blow up the score. Less than four minutes after the Orange scored, UMD retook the lead for good on the 50th collegiate career goal of Olivia Wallin, who shoveled the puck in from the doorstep at 6:19 for the 2-1 lead.Â
Graduate forward Clara Van Wieren made it a 3-1 game with authority at the 19:31 mark, a three-line full on skate to the Syracuse net that included a toe drag before putting it past Kelley. UMD wasn't done yet, however, and just 28 seconds later with less than a second left in the frame, Jenna Lawry delivered a backbreaking goal against the Orange, backhanding home a rebound to extend the Bulldogs advantage to 4-1 after 40 minutes.
Syracuse managed one final goal early in the third, but UMD again responded with two more goals in the third to push the game far out of reach. Kraemer found Mary Kate O'Brien alone in the right circle, and O'Brien wristed it through for her third goal of the season at 6:40. Wallin then added her second goal of the afternoon at 16:47, burying it from the left circle for the final tally of the game.
In all, five players posted two or more points, with Van Wieren posting a game-high three points (1g, 2a). Wallin (2g), Kraemer (1g, 1a), Hanna Baskin (2a) and Ida Karlsson (2a) all added two points in the skate, while 10 players logged at least a point, including goaltender Eve Gascon.
Gascon, named the Western Collegiate Hockey Association's Goaltender of the Month for December as the puck was dropped Thursday, made 13 saves to pair with the second assist of her career. UMD outshot the Orange 50-16, and each team netted a goal on the power play (UMD 1-of-3, SU 1-of-4.Â
On Friday, Van Wieren stretched her current scoring streak to three games 4:39 into the first period. The Orange capitalized on a power play at 11:30 to pull even with the Bulldogs and both sides were deadlocked at 1-1 after 20 minutes.
The second period presented multiple challenges for the Bulldogs, but the biggest was overcoming seven minutes of an Orange power plays in the middle of the frame after Baskin was called for a five minute major for contact to the head at 4:43. Less than a minute later after that penalty expired, Brenna Furhamn was called for interference, but UMD's penalty kill was in full force, allowing just a single shot in the five minute infraction and two total over the entire seven minutes.
Still tied up after two periods, the Bulldogs poured on the offense with a whopping 26 shots on goal in the final frame to Syracuse's three. But it took just 3:19 into the period for Kraemer to call the game. Sprung at the redline up the left boards on a pass from Danielle Burgen, Kraemer drove to the net, crossed the crease and calmly backhanded the puck around Orange goaltender Kelley for the eventual game-winner – the third of her career. That 2-1 score would be all UMD would need to finish 5-0-1 in non-conference play this season and keep the Bulldogs rolling, unbeaten in their last eight skates (7-0-1-1).
Tindra Holm earned the fourth win of her Bulldog career with 16 saves, while Kelley stood on her head for Syracuse, making 54 saves on 56 UMD shots. Â
NOTES FROM THE SYRACUSE SERIES:Â
UMD is 2-0 all-time against the Orange … the Bulldogs are 15-3-1 all-time against Atlantic Hockey Association (AHA), the conference Syracuse is now a member of after College Hockey America (CHA) merged with them ahead of this season.
--The Bulldogs have outscored their opponents a whopping 31-5 over their past six games.
--Clara Van Wieren led all scorers with four points in the series (2g, 2a) … both Cailtin Kraemer and Olivia Wallin finished with three points against the Orange … both had two goals and an assist.Â
--UMD's 56 shots last Friday is the most it put in a game since Oct. 6, 2023 against Tindra Holm and Long Island University.
