The No. 7/9 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team will wrap up 2021 Western Collegiate Hockey Association play this weekend when the Bulldogs head south to Minneapolis, Minn. to face the No. 3/4 University of Minnesota at Ridder Arena. UMD will face-off against the Gophers at 7:01 p.m. Friday night before hitting the ice for game two on Saturday at 3:31 p.m. While the Bulldogs will face Harvard on Jan. 31, this series marks the last WCHA action for UMD in the 2021 calendar year.
BULLDOG QUICK HITS
KLEIN HITS 100 -- Senior forward Anna Klein became the 22nd player in program history to join the 100 career point last Friday night. Klein scored two goals to reach the milestones before adding an assist, and sits at 101 career points (52g, 49a) in 140 games.
HUGHES LEADS NATION IN POINTS PER GAME -- Senior center Gabbie Hughes leads the nation with a 1.93 points per game average, and is tied with senior forward Élizabeth Giguère with 1.29 assists per game. Klein ranks second in the nation in goals per game with 0.79 GPG, while GIguere ranks fourth in points per game in the NCAA at 1.86.
HUGHES STREAKS ALONG -- Hughes extended her current scoring streak to nine games and has compiled five goals and 15 assists for 20 points over that span … This marks the longest-scoring streak in her career in a single 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.)
THE GREAT GIGUERE -- 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).
COMING UP HUGHES AGAINST THE GOPHERS -- Hughes leads all UMD players in scoring against Minnesota, and has notched nine goals and eight assists for 17 points in 14 career skates against the Gophers. Hughes posted two goals and an assist in UMD and Minnesota's last series back in October.
THE SERIES: The Gophers own the all-time series 64-30-10, but the Bulldogs split at AMSOIL to start the season back on Oct. 8-9.
The Bulldogs dropped the first game, a 3-1 decision Friday night before bouncing back for a 5-4 overtime win the next day (Saturday).
In the opening game, Minnesota scored early -- 2:36 early -- and added a second to secure a 2-0 lead in the first period.
The Bulldogs fought their way back, and finally broke through, late in the second stanza. Élizabeth Giguère scored her second goal in as many games and first-ever at AMSOIL, and the tally cut Minnesota's lead in half.
That 2-1 score would hold -- despite UMD outshooting Minnesota 9-5 in the final frame -- until the Gophers added an empty-net goal by Emily Oden at 18:42. The Bulldogs edged the Gophers on the final shot count 25-24, and Emma Soderberg had 21 saves in the game.
On Saturday, UMD rebounded from a early Gopher goal, and the end result was three unanswered goals by the first intermission.
Gabbie Hughes scored two power play goals set up by Giguère at 4:07 and 16:45 to take a 2-1 lead, and Mannon McMahon shoveled home UMD's third goal at the 19:41 mark, and sent the Bulldogs into the locker room with a 3-1 lead after one period.
Anna Klein extended UMD's lead 11:04 into the second period, but Minnesota answered just 27 seconds later and roared back late in the third period with goals at 16:22 and again with an extra skater at 19:29 to send the game into overtime. Soderberg made 18 saves in just the third period alone, and Minnesota peppered the Bulldogs late, outshooting UMD 20-7 in the final regulation frame.
But overtime belonged to Maggie Flaherty, who just 2:09 into extra time sniped a shot from below the extended goal line.
Soderberg made 31 stops for UMD, who went 2-of-2 on its power play.
Hughes leads all UMD players in scoring against Minnesota, and has notched nine goals and eight assists for 17 points in 14 career skates against the Gophers. Hughes posted two goals and an assist in UMD and Minnesota's last series back in October.
A QUICK LOOK AT THE GOPHERS: Minensota is coming of a ranking-buster weekend, taking five points from No. 1 Wisconsin last weekend in Madison with a 3-2 win Friday night before earning a 2-2 tie and shootout win Saturday.
The Gophers are led by senior forward Taylor Heise, the reigning National Player of the Month. Heise has 31 points, including 14 goals in 18 games so far with the Gophers.
LAST TIME OUT: The Bulldogs split with the No. 2 Ohio State University last weekend at AMSOIL,
UMD stunted the nation's top offense and knocked off the Buckeyes 5-2 at AMSOIL Arena in UMD's first game in front of a Duluth, Minn. crowd in 47 days. The Buckeyes, who entered the weekend on an eight-game winning streak and with the nation's best 5.19 goals per game average, gave up a season-high five goals to the Bulldogs, who cashed in three goals in the opening 10 minutes of the game.
UMD's offense exploded almost immediately, and 1:45 into the game, senior Naomi Rogge tucked in her sixth goal of the season. A little over six minutes later, Anneke Linser scored from the doorstep at 8:01.
Only 2:20 later, UMD's defense led to offense when Gabbie Hughes carried the puck up the right boards from her own end, skating it to OSU's zone before sliding it across to Klein. Klein went backhand to forehand and then five-hole for her 10th goal of the season, but importantly, her 51st career goal, drawing her to 99 career points. In just 10:21 minutes played, the Bulldogs already had scored as many goals on OSU as the Buckeyes had given up in a single game in all their previous 16 outings.
Klein and the Bulldogs extended their lead to 4-0 12:19 into the second period. Klein again went five-hole, this time on OSU's Amanda Thiele, to complete her march to 100 career points. With her second goal of the contest, Klein became the 22nd member of UMD's exclusive 100 career point club.
OSU drew the game to 4-2 with an empty-net extra skater at 16:42, but UMD closed any talk of a comeback down at 18:20 when Giguere smacked in a Klein rebound that came off the boards to push the Bulldogs back up 5-2.
The Bulldogs, outshot in the skate 41-28, held OSU's nation-leading power play scoreless in three attempts, while the Buckeyes kept UMD's second-best power play without a goal for the first time in six games (0-of-3). Soderberg was outstanding between the pipes for UMD, making a season-high 39 saves.
Game two Saturday was a complete flip of Friday night, and OSU's turn to showcase its firepower led to a 6-2 setback for the Bulldogs.
OSU used a power play at 12:13 of the first period to pull ahead 1-0, and doubled that with a goal at 15:20. The Buckeyes scored just one goal a little over a minute into the second period, and after the second intermission, OSU led the Bulldogs 3-0.
The Buckeyes struck twice at 5:08 and 7:10 of the third period, but UMD finally broke through 47 seconds later when Hughes clipped the puck through traffic back to Giguere for the Bulldogs first goal at 7:47. UMD made it a 5-2 game at the 16:34 mark when Hughes trickled one through, with assists credited to Clara Van Wieren and Brenna Fuhrman. The points secured the ninth-straight game Hughes has notched at least a point, extending her career-single season scoring streak.
OSU added an empty net tally with just 1:03 remaining, the seventh time this season the Buckeyes have scored six or more goals in a game. Soderberg had 34 saves for UMD for a total of 73 in the series.
NOTES FROM THE OHIO STATE SERIES: UMD is now 72-21-8 all-time against the Buckeyes and 5-4-1 over their last 10 meetings.
--UMD head coach Maura Crowell is 11-3 at AMSOIL Arena against OSU, and in 14 games at AMSOIL since Crowell took the helm, the Bulldogs have outscored the Buckeyes 50-29. Overall, Crowell has maintained a 15-9-1 record against OSU over seven seasons.
--The OSU series was the first one all season that UMD did not score a power play goal. The Bulldogs were 0-of-7 on the weekend, and now rank sixth in the NCAA with a 27.3 conversion rate on 12-of-44 attempts.
NATIONALLY OFFENSIVE: Senior center Gabbie Hughes leads the nation with a 1.93 points per game average, and is tied with senior forward Élizabeth Giguère with 1.29 assists per game. Anna Klein ranks second in the nation in goals per game with 0.79 GPG, while Giguere ranks fourth in points per game in the NCAA at 1.86.
Because UMD has played four-to-seven fewer games than all but six teams in the NCAA, the points per game statistic is the most accurate in comparing Bulldog players against the nation's other top offensive skaters.
HIGHLY OFFENSIVE BULLDOGS: UMD has been on an offensive tear, having now compiled 55 goals through its first 14 games. The Bulldogs rank fifth nationally with a 3.92 goals per game average --which only ranks them fourth in the WCHA.
POWERED PLAY: Despite not scoring a power play goal last weekend, the Bulldogs rank sixth in the NCAA with a 27.3 conversion rate on 12-of-44 attempts.
Senior Naomi Rogge is tied for 10th in the NCAA with three power play goals.
FAST START, BEST START: UMD is 7-2 overall when it scores first and 5-3 with a lead after the first period. The Bulldogs are almost untouchable with a lead after two periods of play -- UMD is 7-1 in thos games so far this season.
HOME AWAY FROM HOME: The Bulldogs are 6-2 this season outside the confines of AMSOIL Arena, and just 2-4 on home ice.
UMD has only played top-five teams at home so far, however. Four of the Bulldogs six home games have been against the No. 1 or No. 2 team in the country.
THE CENTURY CLUB: When Anna Klein joined the 100 career point club last Friday, she joined fellow teammates Gabbie Hughes (136 career points) and Elizabeth Giguere (258 career points).
They are the first trio of 100 points club members since the 2012-13 season (Jessica Wong, Pernilla Winberg and Katie Wilson, and Audrey Cournoyer all had 100 or more points over that season.) In all, UMD has had three or more members of the 100 career point club on its roster eight times in program history.
HUGHES STREAKS ON: Gabbie Hughes extended her current scoring streak to nine games and has compiled five goals and 15 assists for 20 points over that span last Saturday with a goal and an assist. This marks the longest-scoring streak in her career in a single 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.)
GIGUERE BY THE (CAREER) NUMBERS: Élizabeth Giguère currently ranks first among all active players in the NCAA for career assists (151) and second in points (258). Giguère also ranks second in points per game (1.71), first in assists per game (1.00) and second in goals (107) and first in game-winning goals (24).
Only Wisconsin's Daryl Watts has more career points and goals than 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 136 career points. Hughes also ranks seventh in career assists (78) and in assists per game (0.75).
Among all active players, Hughes also ranks fourth overall with 0.57 goals per game, fifth in points per game (1.35), and 10th with 58 career goals.
Hughes currently ranks 15th all-time in career points for UMD, just two points shy of taking over the 14th spot (138).
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 139 consecutive games played. Klein is chasing former standout defenseman Sidney Morin, who skated in 147 consecutive games between 2013-17.
KLEIN HITS 100 CAREER POINTS: Anna Klein became the 22nd player in UMD history to record 100 or more points last Friday night against Ohio State. Klein currently ranks 22nd all-time in UMD's scoring with 52 goals and 49 assists for 101 points over 139 games.
In all, UMD currently has three players who have posted 100 or more points over their college careers (Klein, Gabbie Hughes and Elizabeth Giguere). Hughes reached the milestone back on Jan. 21, 2021.
