The Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs women's ice hockey team plays for the University of Minnesota Duluth at the AMSOIL Arena in

Duluth, Minnesota Duluth ( ) is a Port, port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of St. Louis County, Minnesota, St. Louis County. Located on Lake Superior in Minnesota's Arrowhead Region, the city is a hub for cargo shipping. The population ...

. The team is a member of the

Western Collegiate Hockey Association The Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) is a college ice hockey conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a women's-only conference. From 1951 to 1999, it operated as a me ...

(WCHA) and competes in the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA) in the Division I tier. The Bulldogs have won five NCAA Championships.

History

On September 10, 1997, University of Minnesota Duluth Chancellor Kathryn A. Martin and Athletic Director Bob Corran announced that women's Division I hockey would be making its debut at UMD for the 1999–2000 season. On April 20, 1998, Shannon Miller, head coach of Team Canada at the 1998 Winter Olympics, was hired as the head coach. On October 1, 1999, the Bulldogs played their first exhibition game in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt ...

, against the Olympic Oval Team from Calgary, Alberta. This game opened the new hockey facility for the 2002 Olympic Games. The Bulldogs played the Wisconsin Badgers on October 8, 1999, in the first women's WCHA conference game at the Kohl Center in Madison, WI. It was the highest attended game of the season (3,892) and resulted in an 8–0 defeat of the Badgers. Forward Maria Rooth (Ängelholm, Sweden) was selected as Player of the Week in the WCHA on November 22, 1999, the first for UMD. The Bulldogs season-starting winning streak of 12 games was snapped by Princeton University with a 2–2 tie in Princeton, NJ on December 10, 1999. UMD won the Lake Placid Tournament hosted by St. Lawrence University on January 22, 2000. Freshman goalie Tuula Puputti, freshman forward Hanne Sikio and junior defenseman Brittny Ralph were named to the All-Tournament Team. Sikio was also selected as the Tournament Most Valuable Player. The Minnesota Gophers hand the Bulldogs their first conference loss 4–3 in a sold-out game at Pioneer Hall (Duluth, MN) on February 11, 2000. The Bulldogs clinched the women's WCHA regular season championship on February 26, 2000, with a sweep of Minnesota State-Mankato and earned the number one seed for the 2000 WCHA playoffs. UMD took the inaugural NCAA Division I national championship on March 25, 2001, by defeating St. Lawrence University by a score of 4–2. This marked the first NCAA team championship for the Bulldogs. Maria Rooth was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament while her teammates Tuula Puputti and Brittny Ralph were named to the All-Tournament team. On June 25, 2001, the Bulldogs were honored at the White House by President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

, the first women's hockey team to be invited to the White House. Five Bulldogs traveled to Salt Lake City to compete with their national teams at the 2002 Winter Olympics. From the 2001–2002 roster, forwards Maria Rooth and Erika Holst played for bronze medal winner Sweden while forward Hanne Sikio and goaltender Tuula Puputti skated for fourth-place Finland. Kristina Petrovskaia finished fifth with Team Russia. UMD also had two players in the Olympic final game, 2001–2002 newcomer and Olympic gold medalist Caroline Ouellette (Canada) and returning Bulldog and 2002 Olympic silver medalist Jenny Potter (USA). The Bulldogs, 2002 NCAA national women's hockey champions, were recognized by the Minnesota Twins baseball team at the H.H.H. Metrodome in Minneapolis on May 6, 2002. Jenny Potter set an NCAA record (since tied) for most goals in one game with 6. This was accomplished on December 18, 2002, versus St. Cloud State. Ouellette set an NCAA record for most shorthanded goals in one game with 2. This was accomplished on November 14, 2003, versus North Dakota. On March 22, 2010, Duluth Mayor

Don Ness Don Ness (born January 9, 1974) is an American politician who served as the 38th mayor of Duluth, Minnesota from 2008 to 2016. He is a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. Early life and education Ness was born in Duluth, Minne ...

presented Shannon Miller with a proclamation declaring Friday, March 26, 2010, as "Shannon Miller Day." On January 21, 2011, The top-ranked Badgers defeated the Bulldogs on the opening night of AMSOIL arena in front of 1,639 fans. The Badgers defeated the Bulldogs 4–1, extending their 11 game-winning streak, best in the NCAA. The Bulldogs still lead the all-time series 26–21–9. A ceremonial puck drop featured Bulldog legends Jenny Potter, Caroline Ouellette and Maria Rooth. In both games, the Bulldogs wore special edition black jerseys. The following day (January 22), for only the second time this season, the Bulldogs found themselves in a two-goal deficit after the first period of play. Despite trailing the No. 1 University of Wisconsin by two goals in each of the three periods, the Bulldogs scored three goals in the final 11 minutes of regulation to earn a 4–4 draw with the top-ranked Badgers in AMSOIL Arena.

Rivalries

Minnesota–Duluth, a traditional rival to the

Minnesota Golden Gophers The Minnesota Golden Gophers (commonly shortened to Gophers) are the college athletics, college sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The university fields a total of 21 (9 men's, 12 women's) teams in both men's and women's sports and com ...

in men's hockey, would start its own rivalry in the women's game. The school gave a three-year, $210,000 contract to Shannon Miller, who coached Canada to the 1998 Olympic final in Nagano. Miller recruited players from Canada, Finland and Sweden, including four Olympians. The rivalry grew as Miller recruited a pair of players away from Minnesota: star forward Jenny Schmidgall, (whose 93 points in 1999–2000 would lead the nation), and defenseman Brittny Ralph, who would serve as the Bulldogs' first ever captain. In the first season, Duluth would lose just once to the Gophers in their first five meetings, which included a 2–0 Bulldogs victory in the final of the WCHA tournament.

Attendance

When the program still played at the DECC, despite the team's success, UMD women's hockey rarely drew a large crowd to its home ice. According to the website US College Hockey Online, the women's hockey team averaged 610 people out of an official 5233 seats, an 11.6% capacity. Even while winning five national titles, more than any other program at that time, the Bulldogs averaged sixth in attendance in women's Division I hockey. The men's team, however, averaged an attendance of 4253 per game having won one national title, an 86.2% capacity rating. They moved in with the men's team in 2010 to the new AMSOIL Arena.

Season by season results

''Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties''

Olympians

The UMD Bulldogs program has had more Winter Olympians than any other program in the history of NCAA Division I Women's Ice Hockey; 33 current or former Bulldogs have competed in the Olympic Women's ice hockey tournament. * Jenny Schmidgall-Potter, 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2010 (A),

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

* Caroline Ouellette, 2002, 2006 and 2010 (A),

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

* Tuula Puputti, 2002,

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

* Hanne Sikiö, 2002,

* Kristina Petrovskaia, 2002, 2006 and 2010,

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

* Erika Holst, 2002, 2006 and 2010,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

* Maria Rooth, 2002, 2006 and 2010,

* Satu Kiipeli, 2006,

* Nora Tallus, 2006,

* Jennifer Harß, 2006,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

* Iya Gavrilova, 2006, 2010 and 2014,

* Haley Irwin, 2010, 2014 and 2018,

* Heidi Pelttari, 2010,

* Mariia Posa, 2010,

* Saara Tuominen, 2010,

* Jenni Asserholt, 2006 & 2010,

* Elin Holmlöv, 2010,

* Pernilla Winberg, 2010 and 2018,

* Kim Martin, 2010,

* Jocelyne Larocque, 2014 and 2018,

* Eveliina Suonpää, 2014 and 2018,

* Tea Villilä, 2014,

* Maria Lindh, 2014 and 2018,

* Lara Stalder, 2014 and 2018,

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

* Brigette Lacquette, 2018,

* Sidney Morin, 2018,

* Maddie Rooney, 2018,

There are only two Bulldogs players who have won gold in the midst of their college eligibility: Haley Irwin with Team Canada in 2014 and Maddie Rooney with Team USA in 2018.

Postseason history

* Won the first three NCAA Division I women's ice hockey national championships in 2001, 2002, and 2003. *On March 18, 2007, the Bulldogs lost in the NCAA Frozen Four championship game to Wisconsin 4–1. *The Bulldogs won their fourth national title in 2008 by defeating two-time defending champion Wisconsin 4–0 in Duluth. The victory capped a memorable season for UMD, which went 33–4–1 and also scored an overtime victory over Wisconsin to win the title of the WCHA Final Face-off, the league playoff championship. * Won their fifth NCAA Division I women's ice hockey national championship in 2010.

Current roster

As of August 21, 2022.

Notable alumni

* Iya Gavrilova * Jennifer Harß * Kim Martin Hasson * Haley Irwin * Jocelyne Larocque * Caroline Ouellette * Mariia Posa * Maria Rooth * Jenny Schmidgall-Potter * Eveliina Suonpää * Nora Tallus * Maddie Rooney * Pernilla Winberg

Awards and honors

*Ashton Bell, 2020–21 WCHA Defenseman of the Year *Maria Rooth, Player of the Week in the WCHA on November 22, 1999 *Emma Soderberg, 2020–21 WCHA Goaltender of the Year

All-Americans

Source: * Emma Soderberg, 2020–21 Second Team CCM/AHCA All-American *Ashton Bell, 2020–21 Second Team CCM/AHCA All-American, 2022–23 First Team CCM/AHCA All-American * Lara Stalder, 2017, First Team All-American * Sidney Morin, 2017, Second Team All-American * Jocelyne Larocque, 2011 and 2009 First Team All-America selection *Emmanuelle Blais, 2010, First Team All-American * Kim Martin, 2008, First Team All-American * Ritta Schaublin, 2006, First Team All-American * Caroline Ouellette, 2005 and 2004, First Team All-American *Julianne Vasichek, 2005 and 2004, Second Team All-American * Jenny Potter, 2004, 2003 and 200, First Team All-American *Maria Rooth, 2002 and 2001, First Team All-American; 2003, Second Team All-American

Division I Player of the Month

* Lara Stalder, Women's Hockey Commissioners' Association National Division I Player of the Month, January 2017

Frozen Four honors

*Jessica Koizumi, 2007 NCAA Frozen Four All-Tournament Team * Emmanuelle Blais, 2010 NCAA Frozen Four All-Tournament Team *Jessica Wong, 2010 NCAA Frozen Four All-Tournament Team *Laura Fridfinnson, 2010 NCAA Frozen Four All-Tournament Team

Patty Kazmaier Award nominees

* Noemie Marin, Top 10 Finalist, 2006 Patty Kazmaier Award *Noemie Marin, Top 10 Finalist for 2007 Patty Kazmaier Award * Riitta Schaublin, Top 3 Finalist, 2006 Patty Kazmaier Award * Emmanuelle Blais, 2010 Patty Kazmaier Award nominee *Laura Fridfinnson, 2010 Patty Kazmaier Award nominee

Statistical leaders

* Caroline Ouellette, NCAA leader, 2003–04 season, Points per game, 2.38 * Caroline Ouellette, NCAA leader, 2003–04 season, Assists per game, 1.47 * Patricia Sautter, NCAA leader, 2001–02 season, Goalie winning percentage, .868

WCHA All-Star teams

*Brigette Lacquette, 2015 All-WCHA Second Team *Zoe Hickel, 2015 All-WCHA Second Team *Ashton Bell, 2020–21 WCHA First Team All-Star *Emma Soderberg, 2020–21 WCHA First Team All-Star * Gabbie Hughes, 2020–21 All-WCHA Second Team *Anna Klein, 2020–21 All-WCHA Second Team

Bulldogs in elite ice hockey

Retired numbers

*Maria Rooth is one of two University of Minnesota Duluth female athletes in any sport to have her jersey number retired.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Minnesota Duluth College ice hockey teams in Minnesota 1997 establishments in Minnesota Ice hockey clubs established in 1997 Sports in Duluth, Minnesota