University of Minnesota Athletics
No. 1 Women's Hockey Takes on Rival Minnesota-Duluth
1/6/2004 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
- Click Here For the Full Minnesota/Minnesota-Duluth Notes
Gophers Begin Second Semester Against Rival UMD
The No. 1 University of Minnesota women's hockey team will play its first series in over a month Friday and Saturday night. The Golden Gophers travel north to face in-state rival Minnesota-Duluth in a WCHA series. Both games are slated for a 7:05 p.m. start at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center in Duluth, Minn.
Tom Witschen will provide a live audio feed for the road series. Fans can access the audio webcast by clicking on the gameday women's hockey section located on gophersports.com.
The All-Time Series
Minnesota trails the Bulldogs by two games in the all-time series with UMD holding a 9-7-3 advantage. In the last two seasons, Minnesota has a record of 3-5-1 against UMD. Minnesota-Duluth won four of five games against the Gophers last year, including the WCHA Final Five Championship game.
National Statistics
Natalie Darwitz holds the top spot in the nation in points per game, averaging 2.71. She also leads the nation in assists per game (1.79) and tied for first in power-play goals (7). Lyndsay Wall ranks second in the nation in defensemen scoring and rookie scoring, averaging 1.43 points per game. As a team, Minnesota proves to be one of the best in the nation. The Maroon and Gold average 5.36 goals per game ranking them the best in the country. The Golden Gophers hold the highest power-play conversion percentage in the nation sitting at a 35.8 clip capitalizing on 24 of 67 chances. Minnesota also leads the country in the penalty kill stopping 54 of 56 opponent opportunities and a near perfect 96.4 percent.
On the Docket
The Maroon and Gold host the next two series at Ridder Arena. The Gophers will host No. 7 Mercyhurst Jan. 16-17, both starting at 7:05 p.m. in Ridder Arena. Minnesota returns to WCHA action facing Minnesota State University, Mankato, Jan. 24-25 at 1:05 p.m.
