The No. 8 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team will continue its invite of only nationally ranked teams to AMSOIL Arena in Duluth, Minn. so far this season when No. 15 St. Cloud State University comes to town this Friday and Saturday. Friday the puck is set to drop at 6:02 p.m., while Saturday the game is set to get underway at 3:02 p.m. Both games will also be available to watch on tape delay on My9 Sports.
UMD Weelky Press Conference fo Jan. 14, 2026 -- Head coach Laura Schuler and Junior Defenseman Ida Karlsson --
KARLSSON AND JOHANSSON MAKE SWEDISH OLYMPIC TEAM: Two current and two former women's hockey players were named to Sweden's 2026 Winter Olympic roster officially Monday -- junior defenseman Ida Karlsson, senior forward Thea Johansson, and former goaltenders Tindra former and All-American Emma Soderberg.
The group has been called up to national duty for all of 2025, but the Olympic nod will be a first for Karlsson, Johansson and Holm. The trio will run UMD's all-time Olympians to 44.
Karlsson, a native of Avesta, Sweden, has blossomed at UMD. Currently in her third season, she leads all UMD defenseman with eight points and has tied her career-best for goals in a season with three so far. Karlsson has a one game-winning goal, a power play goal and a shorthanded goal to pair with 30 blocks through 22 games. Karlsson is nearing 30 career points as a Bulldog at 28 (7g, 21a).
Johansson ranks second in scoring for the Bulldogs with 19 on a team-high 13 goals. The Ljungby, Sweden product has a +7, tied for best among all Bulldogs and has over 113 career points over her collegiate career so far, with 64 of her points goals.
Holm has played her way on the Olympic team after joining the Bulldogs last season, while forner All-American Soderberg returns as Sweden's starter after an outstanding 2022 Olympic debut.
UMD head coach Laura Schuler expects Karlsson and Johansson to miss most of February with the Swedish Olympic Team.
The four current and former Bulldogs on the Swedish Olympic Team ties a program record of UMD players on a single Swedish Olympic Team roster. The Bulldog program has long had ties to the Swedish Olympic Team -- a program-high 14 UMD players has suited up for Sweden in the Olympics, including multiple players who have skated multiple times.
KRAEMER REACHES 50 POINT MILESTONE: Sophomore center Caitlin Kraemer became just the second UMD sophomore in the past decade and fifth player in the past 15 years to reach 50 career points as a sophomore.
Kraemer is the first Bulldog since Gabbie Hughes -- who needed just 42 games to hit 50 points -- to reach it so quickly. The Waterloo, Ontario native hit 50 points in 55 career games.
She joins Hughes as the only players this decade. Former All-American Lara Stalder and current UMD associate head coach Ashleigh Brykaliuk reached the mark as sophomores in 2014-15, while Jenna McParland got to the mark in 2012-13.
All-time, UMD as a program has had 22 players surpass 50 points -- or more -- in their second seasons of college eligibility with the Bulldogs. (Of note, that does exclude players that transferred -- Jenny Potter, Elizabeth Giguere, and current forward Thea Johansson all reached the mark with either a freshman season somewhere else (Potter at Minnesota), or their first two seasons in another program (Giguere at Clarkson, Johansson at Mercyhurst).
OFFENDED YOUTH: Thea Johansson may lead UMD with 13 goals, but the Bulldog underclassmen are making their scoring mark this season.
Freshmen scored UMD's only goals last weekend against the Badgers (Maddi Burr and Rae Mayer), while a rookie has landed a goal in 8-of-12 games for the Bulldogs.
Since being shutout by Minnesota on Oct. 24, underclassmen have scored 14-of-31 goals. Johansson has posted the most over that span with six, while Mayer has turned in five.
NOT SO SWEET HOME: UMD had a travel heavy first half to the season, with just eight games out of a possible 22 in Duluth. But AMSOIL hasn't been entirely friendly to the Bulldogs -- UMD has been just 2-5-1 so far in its home rink.
Notably, every home game the Bulldogs have played has been against nationally ranked teams, and six of the eight games has come against top-3 teams.
Only twice in UMD program history has a team finished the season with a losing record at home -- over the 2012-13 season (7-8-3) and again in 2015-16 (5-10-1).
CALLING IT A CAREER: Multiple UMD players own marks that make them among the top-10 in the NCAA among all active players.
Thea Johansson currently sits in ninth with 64 career goals -- just four from the eighth spot with 68. Johansson also sits eighth for career shorthanded goals with three.
Eve Gascon is tied for third with a .942 saves percentage, and seventh with 15 career shutouts.
THE SERIES: UMD brings a 12-game unbeaten streak in against the Huskies this weekend and a 90-15-11 all-time record.
In fact, the Bulldogs are unbeaten in their last 20 games at AMSOIL against SCSU. No current member of the team has ever lost to the Huskes at home, and UMD's last home setback against SCSU came on Feb. 9, 2019, a 2-3 loss.
In their last meeting, a Bulldog sweep on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, UMD won by scores of 5-3 and 3-2.
UMD was without junior goaltender Eve Gascon and sophomore center Caitlin Kraemer in the series -- both were at Canadian Olympic Camp that weekend.
In game one and confidently backstopped by freshman Sophie Villanueva and her 31 saves en route to her first collegiate win, the Bulldogs got five different goals from five different players, including balanced scoring off their top-three lines. In all, 10 players landed on the scoresheet, while senior forward Thea Johansson led the team with two points on a goal and two assists.
The Huskies scored just 2:58 into the first period, but the Bulldogs rattled off three unanswered goals (Molly Cole, PP, Rae Mayer and Johansson) in the third period to push ahead and never surrender back the lead.
The Huskies outshot the Bulldogs in the first two periods of play 22-14, but both sides put 12 shots on net in the third. SCSU finished with a 34-26 shot on goal advantage. The Bulldogs went 1-of-4 on their power play while holding the Huskies scoreless in two attempts. Despite missing faceoff leader Caitlin Kraemer, UMD out dueled SCSU from the dot 31-25.
In game two, Johansson led the way in a 3-2 win with two goals and brought her goal total for the series to three.
Again, the Huskies scored first, this time at 14:18 of the first period, but again, UMD rallied and scored a goal in each period unanswered to run their tally total to three. Villanueva made 32 saves to preserve the sweep -- her first as a Bulldog. Villanueva became one of only two UMD goaltenders ever to earn a series sweep in her first two starts.
UMD vs St. Cloud State, last 10 games (9-0-1)
Nov. 1, 2025 3-2 Win Away
Oct. 31, 2025 5-3 Win Away
Mar. 1, 2025 2-1 Win Home*
Feb. 28, 2025 3-2 Win Home*
Jan. 11, 2025 3-0 Win Home
Jan. 10, 2025 3-0 Win Home
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*
*WCHA Quarterfinals
Top-3 Returning Scorers vs St. Cloud St.
Tova Henderson GP=18 G=1 A=7 P=8
Mary Kate O'Brien GP=18 G=3 A=3 P=6
Caitlin Kraemer GP=6 G=2 A=3 P=5
Eve Gascon -- 7-0-2, 1.22 GAA, 4 SO
LAST TIME OUT: UMD earned two points against top-ranked Wisconsin last weekend, earning a tie 1-1 and a shootout win Friday night before suffering a 5-1 loss Saturday night. Maddie Burr had UMD's lone goal Friday, and UMD's defense and goaltender Eve Gascon did the rest, with 38 saves and three stops in the WCHA shootout. Josie St. Martin scored the shootout winning goal for UMD.
Saturday, the Badgers scored three power play goals to overwhelm UMD in a 5-1 loss. The Bulldogs struggled to stay out of the penalty box, and UW went 3-of-7 with an extra skater and added another goal shorthanded. Rae Mayer had UMD's lone goal, a shorthanded tally at 7:34 of the third period that made it a 3-1 game.
Gascon had 44 saves in the game – equalizing her average in four games against Wisconsin this season. Despite the five goals, Gascon only gave up two at even strength in the contest. Outshot 49-17 in the game, UMD's 17 shots tied a season-low and was just two shots more than the Badgers had on just power play shots over the entire game.
NOTES FROM THE WISCONSIN SERIES: -- UMD is now 37-68-16 all-time against the Badgers. While the Bulldogs defeated UW in the shootout, the Badgers are still unbeaten in 11 games against the Bulldogs.
--Friday's tie was UMD's first against a No. 1 team since it tied Minnesota 2-2 back on Nov. 22, 2019.
--Eve Gascon is averaging 44 saves a game over her career against Wisconsin -- Friday was Gascon's first tie against the Badgers of her career.
NOTABLE AVERAGE STAT LINES: UMD ranks as the 14th team in the NCAA with 32.6 saves per game, but also the 17th with 32.5 shots per game.
The Bulldogs sit 18th with 60 goals but 17th in fewest goals against (50).
