It's a top-10 battle ahead this weekend for the No. 9 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey this weekend as it heads to No. 2 Ohio State for a Western Collegiate Hockey Association clash in the OSU Ice Rink in Columbus, Ohio. Friday, the puck will drop at 5:00 p.m. CST, while Saturday's skate will get underway at 2:00 p.m. CST.


GASCON NOW TIED THIRD ALL-TIME IN CAREER SHUTOUTS AT UMD: Ève Gascon -- the Western Collegiate Hockey Association's reigning Goaltender of the Week -- posted a double-shutout weekend in Mankato, Minn. move her into a tie for third all-time with former All-American Riitta Schaublin with 17 career shutouts. Schaublin reached the mark in 84 career games -- Gascon picked up 17 in 74.

Gascon has now reached six or more shutouts in a season two out of her three seasons at UMD -- just the second UMD goaltender in program history that has put up six or more shutouts in multiple seasons. (The other? Emma Soderberg, who owns the all-time shutout record of 23).

Gascon is in a tie for the most shutouts in the WCHA so far this season (6) and tied for third in the NCAA.

KRAEMER FACES OFF: No player in the WCHA and just one in all of the WCHA (who has also played in four more games) has more faceoffs wins so far this season than top-line center Caitlin Kramer. The sophomore leads the WCHA with 353 wins and an overall record of 353-269 for a total of 622. 

Kraemer has been dominate over the past five games for UMD, outdrawing opponents 97-42 over that span. Against the Mavericks last weekend, Kraemer went  38-14, including a whopping 21-7 Friday night. Those 21 wins was the second most the center has piled up this weekend -- she  had 24 against St. Cloud State on Jan. 16.

Last season Kraemer ranked third in the WCHA after winning 455 faceoffs out of 833 for a .546 win percentage. UMD has had impactful faceoff winners before, including Mannon McMahon, who led the WCHA with 522 wins out of 922 in 2023-24 and Gabbie Hughes, who had the second most wins for two seasons in row (2022-23 and 2021-22).

 

KARLSSON AND JOHANSSON MAKE SWEDISH OLYMPIC TEAM: Ida Karlsson and Thea Johansson begin their absence from the UMD team this weekend as two current and two former women's hockey players who were named to Sweden's 2026 Winter Olympic roster. Johansson and Karlsson join former goaltenders Tindra Holm former and All-American Emma Soderberg -- Soderber is a repeat Olympian after also leaving midseason in 2022 to represent her country.

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 34 blocks through 26 games. Karlsson is nearing 30 career points as a Bulldog at 28 (7g, 21a).

Johansson is tied for the team lead in scoring for the Bulldogs with 21 on a team-high 15 goals. The Ljungby, Sweden product has a +8, which leads the Bulldogs and has over 115 career points over her collegiate career so far, with 66 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 15 goals, but the Bulldog underclassmen are making their scoring mark this season.

Underclassmen scored 2-of-3 goals last weekend in Mankato (Zoey Krock and Maddie Burr) and two weeks ago, 3-of-4 goals against St. Cloud State, and the week previously, against Wisconsin, UMD's only goals against the Badgers were freshmen (Maddi Burr and Rae Mayer).

Since being shutout by Minnesota on Oct. 24, underclassmen have scored 19-of-37 goals. Johansson and Mayer have both posted seven over that span. UMD's rookies have scored 19 goals so far this season, led by Mayer with 11.

NOT SO SWEET HOME: UMD had a travel heavy first half to the season, with just eight games out of a possible 24 in Duluth. But AMSOIL hasn't been entirely friendly to the Bulldogs -- UMD has been just 2-6-2 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).

THE SERIES: UMD is 73-36-9 all-time against the Buckeyes, and finished last season against OSU at 2-2, with each team sweeping the other on the road. The Buckeyes barely outscored UMD on the season at 9-8.

This season, OSU swept the Bulldogs at AMSOIL back on Nov. 21-22 by scores of 3-1 and 4-1. In game one, the Buckeyes scored a goal in the first and second period before Rae Mayer netted on at 3:35 in the third. The Bulldogs tried to knot the game late, but gave up an empty net goal with 49 seconds left in the third. OSU outshot UMD 53-25 in the game, and Eve Gascon made 50 stops in net.

In game two, the Buckeyes scored four unanswered goals -- two in the first period and two in the second before the Bulldogs got on the board at 14:49. Danielle Burgen scored UMD's lone goal. UMD outshot OSU 32-31 in the skate.

The Bulldogs are 2-8-0 against OSU in their last 10 games, and since November of 2013, UMD is 10-10-2 in Columbus in regular season games. 

Junior goaltender Ève Gascon has been in net for nine regular season games against OSU prior to this weekend, and is averaging 39.6 saves a game in those outings. Four times she has made more than 40 saves, and twice 50 or more, with a career-best 58 against OSU on Jan. 17, 2025 (a 3-1 loss that included an empty net goal.)

Top-3 Scorers vs OSU

Caitlin Kraemer 6 GP, 3g, 2a, 5 points

Ida Karlsson 12 GP, 1g, 2a, 3 points 

Tova Henderson 16 GP 1g, 3a, 4 points

UMD vs OSU, last 10 games (2-8-0)

Nov. 22, 2025 1-4 Loss Home

Nov. 21, 2025 1-3 Loss Home

Jan. 18, 2025 1-2 Loss Home

Jan. 17, 2025 1-3 Loss Home

Sep. 22, 2024 4-3 Win Away

Sep. 21, 2024 2-1 Win Away

Mar. 16, 2024 0-9 Loss Away^

Mar. 8, 2024 0-5 Loss Neutral*

Jan. 20, 2024 0-1 Loss Away

Jan. 19, 2024 0-3 Loss Away

^NCAA Regional Final

*WCHA Final Face-Off Semi

LAST TIME OUT: UMD earned five points on the road in Mankato, Minn. last weekend with back-to-back shutouts over MSU. Friday night, the Bulldogs and Mavericks tied 0-0 through overtime before UMD won the shootout on Caitlin Kraemer's shootout goal.

Saturday, UMD's Thea Johansson scored in the first and Zoey Krock and Danielle Burgen added goals in the second period en route to a 3-0 shutout with 24 saves from Eve Gascon.

NOTES FROM THE MINNESOTA STATE SERIES: UMD is 95-9-12 all-time against the Mavericks and its 17-game unbeaten streak against MSU that dates back to Feb. 27, 2022.

--The Bulldogs finish out the regular season 3-0-1 against the Mavericks and outscored them 12-1 -- three games were UMD shutouts.

--The Bulldogs have skated into overtime in four of their last eight games, and posted a record of 0-1-3 over that span. 

--UMD has now had five games go into overtime where the Bulldogs are 1-2-2 and 0-2-2 in WCHA play.

--UMD had a 0-0 tie Friday for the first time since it had the same score at Mankato on Feb. 4, 2023.