BY JIMMY GILLIGAN | The Statesman
The second half of the season has been an uphill climb for the UMD women’s hockey team.
The Bulldogs (9-14-1, 6-11-1 WCHA) host No. 7 Bemidji State (15-7-2, 10-5-3-1 WCHA) at Amsoil Arena this weekend in their third consecutive series against a ranked opponent.
Overall, six of their eight opponents this season are currently ranked in the top ten in the USCHO poll.
“I think our schedule has been very hard coming out of the break,” head coach Maura Crowell said.
The first year head coach wants her team to play better in all facets of the game this weekend against the Beavers, a team who beat UMD twice earlier in the season in two close games.
“It’s going to take better goal scoring and better goaltending and better defense and better everything,” Crowell said. “So our motto has always been work hard and get better every day. I’m excited, I think those are winnable games. We played very closely with them earlier in the season.”
A key to this weekend’s series will be the Bulldogs getting off to a quick start offensively. In last weekend’s pair of losses to North Dakota, three of UMD’s four overall goals came within the last 2:30 of the game.
“I think hockey is a game of momentum, so if you get those goals earlier in the game you’re going to play with more confidence,” Crowell said.
That task will likely fall on UMD’s first line (Brykaliuk, Cava and Stalder), who together account for 31 of UMD’s 55 total goals. Brykaliuk, who is currently riding a 10-game point streak, leads UMD in scoring with nine goals and 20 assists.
Bemidji State heads to Duluth after being swept in Madison by No. 2 Wisconsin this past weekend.
Puck drop at Amsoil arena is scheduled for 7:07 pm on Friday, and 4:07 pm on Saturday.