UMD IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: 

UMD heads back into its fourth-straight NCAA Tournament since the program ran up seven straight appearances between 2005-2011.

It also marks the fifth NCAA Tournament of head coach Maura Crowell's nine season tenure. Crowell and Co. are 4-2 in the NCAA First Round/Quarterfinals, and 5-4 in all NCAA Tournament games.

All-time, the Bulldogs are 20-9 in the NCAA postseason, and 8-5 in Regional Final/Quarterfinal games. UMD owns the third most NCAA tourney wins in all of the NCAA at 20.

In just the third season of the expanded NCAA field (where UMD has made the tourney every time), the NCAA now hosts a regional instead of a single quarterfinal that the top-3 seeded teams host. The NCAA didn't adopt a quarterfinal game until the 2004-05 season, and prior to that, UMD had played in and won the first three NCAA titles in 2001, 2002 and 2003, going a perfect 6-0 in the NCAA postseason.

UMD has now made 15 NCAA Tournament appearances, the third most in NCAA history. The Bulldogs have reached the NCAA Frozen Four nine times as a program, including twice in the last three seasons. With seven NCAA Championship game appearances, including the 2022 title tilt, UMD owns the third most NCAA titles in the NCAA with five (2010, 2008, 2003, 2002, 2011), and the only NCAA title three-peat in NCAA Division I history.

UMD IN THE NCAA FIRST ROUND:

Since the NCAA went to a regional tournament three years ago, the Bulldogs have perfect in the first round with a record of 2-0. Here are those results:

March 9, 2022 Clarkson 2-0 Win at Ridder Arena, Minneapolis, Minn.

March 10, 2022 4-0 Harvard, 4-0 Win  at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis, Minn.

Thursday will mark the first NCAA First Round game UMD will have played in outside the state of Minnesota after being sent to Minneapolis both of the previous two seasons.

All told, UMD has scored six goals in two first round games for a 3.00 goals per game average, and has never allowed a goal in first round play, having posted two shutouts -- both by former All-American goaltender Emma Soderberg.

BULLDOGS AGAINST THE TOURNAMENT FIELD: UMD has played 15 games against the 2024 NCAA Tournament field with a record of 2-11-2.  

Rookie defenseman Ida Karlsson leads UMD with seven points on seven assists against the field teams, while sophomore Danielle Burgen is tied for the most goals (3) and has a total of six points. Sophomore goaltender Hailey MacLeod just edges out Ève Gascon with a team-best 1.95 against in those games and a .945 saves percentage. MacLeods record this season against those squads was 2-3-2.

In those 15 games, the Bulldogs have averaged 1.27 goals per game while allowing 2.67 GAA. A fourth of the 40 goals against were scored on the power play (10), while another three were scored on an empty UMD net.  The Bulldogs also gave up four shorthanded goals against the field. 

In fact, UMD, has currently has given up the fifth-fewest power plays in the country this season at 11 -- 10 of those now against teams that made the 2024 NCAA Tournament.

BEEN THERE, DONE THAT: In all, just four players currently on the roster have been a part of UMD's four-straight tournament appearances. Those four include graduate senior Mannon McMahon -- the only returning Bulldog player to have ended a season without an NCAA berth (as a freshman in 2019-20), and senior forwards Clara Van Wieren, Katie Davis and senior blueliner Nina Jobst-Smith.

TOURNAMENT TOUCH: Graduate senior Mannon McMahon and senior center Clara Van Wieren lead UMD with two points each in eight NCAA Tournament games. McMahon has notched two goals, while Van Wieren has recorded two assists.

THE SERIES: 
All-Time Record: UMD leads 8-0-1

Last Meeting: Nov. 30, 2019 (5-1 Win, Neut.)

Last Series: Sept. 26-27, 2014 (4-4, 3-0 Away)

First Meeting: Oct. 22, 2010 (8-0 Win, Home)

Last Season: N/A

Record this Year: N/A

Last 10 Meetings: 8-0-1

Notable:  The Bulldogs and Huskies haven't met since 2019, and UMD has not met a Hockey East opponent in two seasons --since the 2022 NCAA Frozen Four semifinal -- a 2-1 win over Northeastern that sent the Bulldogs into the national title tilt. 

 
UMD and UConn have met just nine times in program history, and the Bulldogs are unbeaten in those eight meetings at 8-0-1. 

The two sides last met in the Nutmeg Classic at Quinnpiac University int he Third Place game on November 30, 2019, a 5-1 win for the Bulldogs. Graduate senior Mannon McMahon is the lone current UMD player to have ever skated against the Huskies.

UMD VS HOCKEY EAST: Not only has UMD not played UConn in over a decade, the Bulldogs haven't gone head-to-head with a Hockey East member -- the conference the Huskies play in -- since the 2022 NCAA Frozen Four semifinal game against Northeastern University.

That game -- almost two years ago -- was a  2-1 win for UMD on March 18, 2022 in  Pegula ice Arena in University Park, Penn.

All-time, UMD has played in a total of 36 games against teams in UConn's conference -- Hockey East -- and own a 24-8-4 all-time record against the league.  UMD has played Hockey opponents 12 times since the 2015-16 season, and have gone 5-6-1 over that span.

BULLDOG AND HUSKIES COMMON OPPONENTS: While UMD and UConn haven't played recently and the Bulldogs haven't faced a Hockey East opponent in two years, the two sides did play two common opponents.

Both the Bulldogs and Huskies played Quinnipiac University, and both played the University of Minnesota. 

UMD suffered a 2-1 loss before settling for a 2-2 against Jan. 5-6 in Hamden, Conn. against the Bobcats. Back on Nov. 24, 2023, the Huskies lost 4-2 to QU at home.

The same weekend the Bulldogs played in Connecticut against Bobcats in January, the Huskies were at Ridder Arena skating in a series with the Gophers. Minnesota swept UConn by scores of 5-3 and 3-1. 

UMD has faced the Gophers four times this season in conference play, going 0-3-1. Minnesota swept UMD at AMSOIL Arena was back on Nov. 17-18 by scores of 3-1 both nights. Most recently, UMD tied the Gophers at Ridder on Feb. 24 1-1 before dropping a 4-2 decision - that included an empty net tally by Minnesota, the following afternoon.

UMD vs. UConn -  8-0-1 All-Time

(Last 8 games)

Nov. 30, 2019 5-1 Win Neutral+

Sept. 27, 2024 3-0 Win Away

Sept. 26, 2014 4-4 Tie Away

Oct. 5, 2023 6-1 Win Home

Oct. 4, 2013 7-0 Win Home

Oct. 15, 2011 6-1 Win Away

Oct. 14, 2011 5-4 Win Away

Oct. 23, 2010 4-0 Win Home

Oct. 22, 2010 8-0 Win Home

+Nutmeg Classic at QU

LAST TIME OUT, WCHA FINAL FACEOFF: UMD women's hockey team was defeated 5-0 by No. 1 Ohio State University at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis, Minn. in game one of the WCHA semifinals.

The Bulldogs fell behind 2-0 in the first period when the Buckeyes scored two goals just 44 seconds apart at 11:03 and 11:47. But OSU outshot UMD 19-4 in the second period and added two goals to hold the Bulldogs at bay. The Buckeyes added one final goal at 3:29 of the third period.

Sophomore goaltender Hailey MacLeod made 39 saves for UMD, which was outshot 44-17 in the contest. Rayan Kirk had 17 saves for the Buckeyes, who had five different goal scorers and improved to 32-3-0 on the season.

NOTES FROM THE OSU SEMIFINAL: UMD is 49-27 in all WCHA postseason games and now 8-12 in WCHA semifinal games.

--Against OSU in the WCHA postseason, the Bulldogs are now 12-6 all-time, but 1-4 in semifinal games.

--In all, UMD is 74-32-9 against the Buckeyes in program history, and 0-5 in the current season.

MACLEOD TOP IN NCAA STATS: Sophomore goaltender Hailey MacLeod sits second the NCAA with a .954 saves percentage, and currently ranks sixth with a 1.27 GAA. 

MacLeod isn't the only UMD netminder with high marks in the NCAA -- freshman goaltender Ève Gascon ranks fourth with a .951 saves percentage, and 10th with a GAA of 1.51.

Together the pair, who have six shutouts each, have the Bulldogs third in the NCAA with 12 total shutouts.

SHUTOUT SEASON: With its 12 shutouts, UMD joins its 2022-23 season (13 and the program record) and 2010-11 season (12 shutouts) as the only three teams in program history to record 12 or more shutouts. Both Ève Gascon and Hailey MacLeod are tied for the fourth most shutouts in a single season

GASCON SETS ROOKIE SHUTOUT  RECORD: UMD freshman goaltender Ève Gascon set the Bulldog rookie record last Saturday for goaltender shutouts, earning her sixth. Gascon surpassed former UMD great Jennifer Harss, who recorded five shutouts en route to leading the Bulldogs to a an NCAA title in 2009-10.

20 WINS AND COUNTING FOR A THIRD-STRAIGHT SEASON: The Bulldogs have reached the 20 win mark for a third-straight season (Covid shortened their 2020-21 NCAA Frozen Four run season to just 19 games total).

UMD finished with 26 triumphs last season and 27 (and an NCAA runner-up finish) in 2021-22.