It's been 47 days since the No. 8/9 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team last hosted an outside opponent in AMSOIL Arena, but Friday, that streak ends when the Bulldogs host No. 2 Ohio State University.  The Western Collegiate Hockey Association series will get underway Friday at 6:01 p.m. and will resume Saturday at 3:01 p.m.  Following Saturday's contest, UMD hockey will offer a post-game skate, and all fans are welcome to bring their own skates and hit AMSOIL's ice with the Bulldogs.

THE SERIES: UMD went 1-2 against the Buckeyes last season, the fewest meetings between the two programs in program history. The Bulldogs are 71-20-8 all-time and 7-5-1 in their last 13 games against OSU. In their last meeting, suffered a 7-2 loss to No. 3 Ohio State in the second game of the WCHA Final Face-Off semifinals back on March 6, 2021.

UMD is 10-2 against OSU at home in  Maura Crowell's UMD career. In UMD/OSU's 12 games at AMSOIL since Crowell took the helm, the Bulldogs   have outscored the Buckeyes, 45-23. Overall, Crowell has maintained a 14-8-1 advantage against the Buckeyes over her seven seasons.

Gabbie Hughes leads all current Bulldogs with 15 points (6g, 9a) in just 11 games for a 1.50 ppg against the Buckeyes. Hughes is followed closely by senior forward Naomi Rogge, who in 11 games against OSU has notched 12 points (7g, 5a) for a 1.20 ppg.  Senior winger Anna Klein has posted eight goals and four assists for 12 points in 15 skates for a 0.85 ppg, .

Emma Soderberg made a then career series-high 78 saves against the Buckeyes back in last January, making 34 in the 2-0 UMD win before turning away 44 in the game two 0-1 loss.

In the WCHA Final Faec-Off semifinal last March, UMD took a 1-1 tie into the first intermission, courtesy of a breakaway goal from Katie Davis, the first of her career, but was overwhelmed offensively by the Buckeyes offense in the second frame.

The second period ice tipped entirely in the favor of the Buckeyes, however, and OSU used four goals over a 5:37 span to dig a hole the Bulldogs would not recover from.  the Buckeyes a 3-1 advantage. Clara Van Wieren cut into the Buckeyes lead at 10:22 to make it a 5-2 game, but OSU added another goal in the period and a seventh in the third period to push the game out of reach.

Then freshman goaltender Jojo Chobak played 32:03 of the contest and made 15 saves, while Soderberg had 10 stops in the first 27:57.

A QUICK LOOK AT THE BUCKEYES:  OSU enters the weekend with the No. 1 scoring offense in the nation at 5.19 goals per game.  The Buckeyes, who are the only team with a higher power play percentage than UMD, have a 37.5% success rate with an extra skater.

While freshman forward Jennifer Gardiner leads OSU with 29 points (10g, 19a), senior defenseman Sophie Jaques leads the NCAA with eight power play goals.

Former Bulldog standout Zoe Hickel is in her second year as an assistant coach for the Buckeyes.  The former captain finished her career with 93 career points (46g, 47a) over 138 games.

LAST TIME OUT:  The Bulldogs split in Arlington, Virginia last weekend, dropping a 3-2 decision to Penn State last Friday before defeating St. Lawrence 4-3 in overtime Saturday.

Friday, UMD got two goals from senior Anna Klein, and two assists from her linemates Elizabeth Giguere and Gabbie Hughes in UMD's 3-2 loss.  The main story was penalties for the Bulldogs, who lost Kylie Hanley at 11:18 of the first and had to ward off a five-minutes major after that.  UMD just edged PSU 26-25 in shots on goal, but the Bulldogs were bogged down by 29 penalty minutes on nine penalties, a whopping 6.5 more infractions than UMD has been used to in WCHA play entering Friday's skate.  In all, there were 17 penalties called against both sides -- UMD went 1-of-7 on the power play, while PSU went 1-of-6.  Emma Soderberg had 22 stops -- including 11 on the penalty kill.

On Saturday, the Bulldogs overcame a 3-1 deficit before defeating the Saints 4-3 in overtime.  Klein cashed in UMD's first goal and made her own history at 5:27 of the first period, but from there SLU scored three unanswered tallies. UMD used its nationally ranked power play to score two goals with the extra skater -- including Giguere's overtime winner.  Hughes added a goal, as well as McKenzie Hewett. Both Klein and Giguere led UMD with a goal and two assists.

Soderberg made 20 saves for UMD, who outshot SLU 30-23 and went 2-of-5 on its power play.

NOTES FROM THE D1 IN DC SERIES: UMD is now 2-1 all-time against Penn State and 10-3 all-time against St. Lawrence.  With the loss against the Nittany Lions, UMD fell to 12-3-1 against CHA opponents, while the Bulldogs improve to 39-19-4 in the ECAC, the home conference of the Saints.

--The Bulldogs went 3-of-12 on its power play on the weekend, but spent a whopping 37:42 down a skater on the weekend.

--UMD's nine penalties for 29 minutes on Friday against PSU was the most by a Bulldog squad since it posted an identical nine infractions for 29 minutes back on Feb. 22, 2014 against Minnesota.

NATIONALLY OFFENSIVE: Senior forward Élizabeth Giguère leads the nation with 1.42 assits per game (17 assists in 12 skates), while Gabbie Hughes sits second with a 1.25 average (15 helpers in 12 games).  Giguère and Hughes are also tied for third in the NCAA with 1.92 points per game average with 23 points in just 12 games.

Anna Klein sits fifth in the nation with a 0.75 goals per game average with nine goals in 12 gmaes.

HIGHLY OFFENSIVE BULLDOGS:  UMD has been on an offensive tear, having now compiled 48 goals through its first 12 games.  The Bulldogs rank sixth nationall with a 4.00 goals per game average --which only ranks them fourth in the WCHA.

POWERED PLAY:  UMD's power play conversion rate is 32.4 -- the second-highest power play in the NCAA.  The Bulldogs have gone 13-of-37 through their first 12 games.

Six players have logged power play goals, including Naomi Rogge, with a team-high three and Gabbie Hughes and Élizabeth Giguère, who each have recorded two.

Rogge's three power play goals ties her for seventh in the NCAA.

KLEIN CLOSES IN ON 100 CAREER POINTS:  Senior winger Anna Klein is closing in on 100 career points, and will enter the weekend at 98 on 50 goals and 48 assists in 137 career contests.

Klein -- who would become the 22nd player in program history to hit the mark, would be the second player on the team to reach it as a Bulldog -- Klein's linemate Gabbie Hughes reached the milestone on Jan. 21, 2021.

GIGUERE BY THE (CAREER) NUMBERS:  Élizabeth Giguère currently ranks first among all active players in the NCAA for career assists (150) and second in points (255).  Giguère also ranks second in points per game (1.71), first in assists per game (1.01) and second in goals (105) and first in game-winning goals (24).

Only Wisconsin's Daryl Watts has more career points and goals that Giguère.

HUGHES' CLIMBING ACTIVE NUMBERS: Bulldog senior center Gabbie Hughes has cracked the top-10 among all active NCAA players and ranks seventh in the D-I with 132 career points.  Hughes also ranks eighth in career assists (75) and fifth in assists per game (0.75).

Among all active players, Hughes also ranks sixth overall with 1.33 points per game, and 10th with 57 career goals.

Hughes currently ranks 15th all-time in career points for UMD, just six points shy of taking over the 14th spot (138).

HUGHES STREAKS ON: Gabbie Hughes is currently on a seven-game scoring streak, and has compiled four goals and 12 assists for 16 points over her last seven skates.

That ties Hughes longest-scoring streak -- she has twice before reached seven consecutive games with a  point in her career in a season.

Hughes' longest total scoring streak began on  Feb. 22, 2019 of her rookie year and ran all the way into the following season, ending on Nov. 1, 2019.  Over those 12-straight games, Hughes recorded 10 goals and eight assists for 18 points.

KLEIN SCORES 50th CAREER GOAL: Anna Klein cashed in UMD's first goal -- and made her own history -- 5:27 into the first period last Saturday against St. Lawrence.

The senior winger became the 15th member of the 50 goal club, joining teammate Gabbie Hughes, who reached the milestone Oct. 1, 2021.  Klein now has 50 career goals to go with 48 assists, and is now just two points shy of the 100 point club

KLEIN'S DURABILITY CLIMB:  Senior winger Anna Klein has never, in her previous four years of college hockey, missed a game.  The fifth-year senior is now at 137 consecutive games played.  Klein is chasing former standout defenseman Sidney Morin, who skated in 147 consecutive games between 2013-17.

GIGUERE REACHES ANOTHER NCAA MILESTONE:  Senior forward Élizabeth Giguère became the tenth player in NCAA history* to reach the 250 career points on Nov. 19 against Bemidji State.  Giguère entered the game needing four points, and ended up dishing off five assists to bring her career grand total to 251 points so far. Giguère has netted five goals and added 13 assists in her first 10 games with the Bulldogs.

(*Note: NCAA women's hockey officially began in the 2000-01 season.  Former UMD All-American Jenny Potter accured 256 points in just 102 career games between 1999-2003, but is not credited for the 1999-00 season in the NCAA record books).

Giguère had already cemented her name into another record book on Oct. 2, scoring the 100th goal of her storied collegiate career.  Giguère's goal came at 14:56 of the third period, and puts her as only the 24th NCAA Division I women's hockey player to have scored 100 or more goals.

BULLDOGS NOTES: Gabbie Hughes has had seven multiple point games this season, while Elizabeth Giguere and Anna Klein have had six... UMD senior goaltender Emma Soderberg has three shutouts so far this season, ranking her in second in the WCHA and tied for third in the NCAA...UMD's nine goals against BSU on Nov. 19th was the sixth-most goals scored by a team nationally so far this season... Elizabeth Giguere's five assists in that game also doubles as the third-most points by a player in the NCAA this year...With a 59.2 face-off win percentage, Hughes currently has a career-high winning percentage from the dot...Last season, Hughes had a career-best 57.4, winning 298 face-offs out of 519...Hughes has won 164 out of 277 so far this season.