UMDbulldogs.com playoff preview

The University of Minnesota Duluth will host St. Cloud State University this Friday and Saturday (Feb. 23-24) in the first-round of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs. The puck is set to drop at 7:07 p.m. at Mars Lakeview Arena for Friday and Saturday's contests. If needed, a third game will be played on Sunday at 5:37 p.m. The playoff series between the two squad's will mark the first time UMD and SCSU have faced one another in the playoffs.

THE RECORDS: The Bulldogs clinched the No. 2 seed in the WCHA by defeating instate rival the University of Minnesota 7-1 last Saturday (Feb. 17) and sweeping the Gophers with 5-1 win on Sunday (Feb. 18). The series sweep avenges a sweep to the Gophers earlier in the season. No. 7 seed St. Cloud State enters enters this weekend's WCHA playoff series fresh off a 6-1 and 3-1 sweep over the University of North Dakota.

BULLDOG NOTES: Senior captain Noemie Marin enters the series against St. Cloud State as the second leading point scorer in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. Marin has 21 goals and 20 assists for 41 points in 28 league games. Her team-leading 21 goals land her first in the league in goal scoring. Marin is tied for 14th in the nation in power play goals with eight in 32 contests. Senior forward Jessica Koizumi is second on the team in points scored with 16 goals and 16 assists for 32 points in 29 games played. Freshman forward Saara Tuominen has 31 points, having scored nine goals and 22 assists. Freshman goalie Kim Martin sports the WCHA’s top save percentage with a .960 in league play. Martin is the No. 2 goalie in the nation in saves percentage with a .951. She is second in the WCHA in goals against average with a 1.10.

HUSKY NOTES: Freshman forward Holly Roberts leads St. Cloud State in points this season with 30. She has scored 15 goals and 15 assists in 34 games for the Huskies. Junior forward Laura Fast is second on the team in points with 27, having scored 14 goals and 13 assists in 34 games. Fast finished the regular-season tied for 17th with UMD’s Emmanuelle Blais for point scoring in the WCHA with 24. She scored 13 goals and 11 assists in WCHA contests this season.Freshman forward Caitlin Hogan and senior forward Hailey Clarkson have five power play goals in league play. Roberts finished the regular-season tied for second place in the WCHA in short-handed goals with two. Freshman forwards Meaghan Pezon and Roberts finished tied for sixth in the WCHA for freshman scoring with 19 points.

THE SERIES: Minnesota Duluth holds a 26-6-1 record in the all-time series with St. Cloud State. The Bulldogs won all four regular-season games against the Huskies this season.

WCHA ROOKIE OF THE WEEK: For the second week in a row, UMD freshman forward Elin Holmlov has been named the Western Collegiate Hockey Association’s Rookie of the Week. Holmlov had two goals and two assists in the Bulldogs’ two wins (7-1, 5-1) over the University of Minnesota last weekend (Feb. 17-18) that clinched a second place league finish for UMD. The Knivista, Sweden, native is averaging a point per game in 22 WCHA games this season for Minnesota Duluth and her 20 assists are second on the team.


ON THE AIR: For the eighth year, you can hear all the action for the Bulldogs home and away games live. This weekend the games will be covered on 970 AM (WGEE). Ray Schow will be handling the play-by -play duties this weekend. The broadcast can be heard via the internet at: www.umdbulldogs.com. Click on the “Bulldogs on the Air” link. Follow the link to WARP radio and enter in the call letter “WDSM,” then hit “Go.” Finally, click the “Click Here to Listen” link.