The Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs women's ice hockey team plays for the

University of Minnesota Duluth The University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) is a public university in Duluth, Minnesota. It is part of the University of Minnesota system and offers 16 bachelor's degrees in 88 Academic major, majors, graduate programs in 25 different fields, and a ...

at the AMSOIL Arena in

Duluth, Minnesota , settlement_type = City , nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City , motto = , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...

. The team is a member of the

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

(WCHA) and competes in the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

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

NCAA Championships The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

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 Shannon Lee Miller (born March 10, 1977) is an American former artistic gymnast. She was the 1993 and 1994 world all-around champion, the 1996 Olympic balance beam champion, the 1995 Pan American Games all-around champion, and a member of the g ...

, 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 and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

, 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 who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

, 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 to Don ...

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 sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The university fields a total of 25 (12 men's, 13 women's) teams in both men's and women's sports and competes in the Big Te ...

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, 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 Jennifer Lynn Schmidgall-Potter (born January 12, 1979) is an American ice hockey player. She is a member of the United States women's national ice hockey team. She won a gold medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics, silver medals at the 2002 Winter Ol ...

, 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2010 (A),

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Caroline Ouellette Caroline Ouellette (born May 25, 1979) is a Canadian retired ice hockey player and current associate head coach of the Concordia Stingers women's ice hockey program. She was a member of the Canadian national women's ice hockey team and a member ...

, 2002, 2006 and 2010 (A),

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Tuula Puputti Tuula Katriina Puputti (born 5 November 1977) is a Finnish retired ice hockey goaltender and current general manager of the Finnish women's national ice hockey team and women's national under-18 ice hockey team, and Developer of Girls' Hockey ...

, 2002,

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

* Hanne Sikiö, 2002,

* Kristina Petrovskaia, 2002, 2006 and 2010,

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

Erika Holst Ylva Erika Holst (born 8 April 1979) is a former Swedish ice hockey player. She was a member of the Sweden women's national ice hockey team. She won a silver medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics and a bronze medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Pla ...

, 2002, 2006 and 2010, Sweden *

Maria Rooth Maria Elisabeth Rooth (born 2 November 1979 in Ängelholm, Sweden) is a retired Swedish ice hockey player. She is the only University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey player to have her jersey retired. Rooth was alternate captain and one of ...

, 2002, 2006 and 2010, Sweden * Satu Kiipeli, 2006,

Nora Tallus Nora Tallus, previously Liikanen, (born 9 February 1981) is a Finnish retired ice hockey forward, currently serving as assistant coach to KJT Haukat of the Naisten Mestis. She represented in the women's ice hockey tournament at the 2006 Wint ...

, 2006,

Jennifer Harß Jennifer Sandra "Jenny" Harß (also anglicised Harss; born 14 July 1987) is a German ice hockey coach and retired goaltender for the German national ice hockey team. A two-time Olympian, she represented Germany at the Winter Olympic Games in 2 ...

, 2006,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

* Iya Gavrilova, 2006, 2010 and 2014,

* Haley Irwin, 2010, 2014 and 2018,

* Heidi Pelttari, 2010,

* Mariia Posa, 2010,

* Saara Tuominen, 2010,

Jenni Asserholt Jenni Anna Christina Asserholt (born 8 April 1988) is a Swedish retired ice hockey player and current team physical therapist to HV71 Dam of the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL). She played as a forward with HV71 Dam and Linköping HC Dam ...

, 2006 & 2010, Sweden *

Elin Holmlöv Elin Anna Maria Holmlöv (born 5 August 1987) is a Swedish retired ice hockey player. She plays forward position for the Sweden women's national ice hockey team. She won the bronze medal at the 2007 Women's World Ice Hockey Championships in Win ...

, 2010, Sweden *

Pernilla Winberg Pernilla Margareta Stephanie Winberg (born 24 February 1989) is a Swedish ice hockey retired forward, who currently serves as a commentator for C More. She scored 282 points across her 9 year SDHL career, winning two SDHL championships. She mad ...

, 2010 and 2018, Sweden *

Kim Martin Kim Kristine Martin Hasson (born 28 February 1986) is a retired Swedish goaltender, currently working in the Linköping HC organization. With the Swedish national team she won two Olympic medals, bronze in 2002 and silver in 2006, and two IIH ...

, 2010, Sweden * Jocelyne Larocque, 2014 and 2018,

* Eveliina Suonpää, 2014 and 2018,

* Tea Villilä, 2014,

* Maria Lindh, 2014 and 2018, Sweden *

Lara Stalder Lara Stalder (born 15 May 1994) is a Swiss ice hockey Forward (ice hockey), forward and member of the Switzerland women's national ice hockey team, Swiss national ice hockey team, currently playing with Brynäs IF Dam of the Swedish Women's Hock ...

, 2014 and 2018, Switzerland * Brigette Lacquette, 2018,

Sidney Morin Sidney Emilie Morin (born June 6, 1995) is a Canadian-American ice hockey Defence (ice hockey), defenseman, currently playing in the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) with the Minnesota Whitecaps. As a member of the United States women's national i ...

, 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 *

* Kim Martin Hasson * Haley Irwin * Jocelyne Larocque *

* Mariia Posa *

* Eveliina Suonpää *

* Maddie Rooney *

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

* 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 *

, 2017, First Team All-American *

, 2017, Second Team All-American * Jocelyne Larocque, 2011 and 2009 First Team All-America selection *Emmanuelle Blais, 2010, First Team All-American *

, 2008, First Team All-American * Ritta Schaublin, 2006, First Team All-American *

, 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

, 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 Emmanuelle is the lead character in a series of French erotic films based on the main character in the novel ''Emmanuelle'' (1959), created by Emmanuelle Arsan. Character history Emmanuelle appeared as the pen name of Marayat Rollet-Andrian ...

, 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 *

, 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 Bulldogs Women's Ice Hockey Ice hockey teams in Minnesota 1997 establishments in Minnesota Ice hockey clubs established in 1997