Minnesota Duluth women’s hockey coach Shannon Miller said she prefers starting her season with an exhibition contest before diving into regular-season play.
The veteran UMD coach doesn’t have that luxury this season, however, with the No. 10-ranked Bulldogs set to open 2014-15 on the road against Connecticut at 6 p.m. today and 2 p.m. Saturday at Freitas Ice Forum in Storrs, Conn.
And she’s OK with that.
“With the talent that we have this year and the experience that we have, even the freshmen that came in like Maria Lindh and Michelle Lowenhielm - these kids played at the Olympics (for Sweden) - I’m happy to be going on the road and playing a good opponent, an opponent that matters in the NCAA rankings,” Miller said.
UMD returnees include last season’s leading scorer in senior forward Jenna McParland (11 goals, 22 assists), senior defenseman and captain Emma Stauber (appeared in all 36 games on the blue line) and junior starting goaltender Kayla Black (2.31 goals-against average, .919 save percentage).
With forward Jamie Kenyon (17 goals, 14 assists), last season’s top goal-scorer having graduated, UMD will be looking for goal production elsewhere - maybe even from the pair of rookie Swedish Olympians.
Both put up points at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, with Lowenhielm scoring a goal and two assists while Lindh was credited with two assists for fourth-place Sweden.
“They come with confidence,” Miller said. “The Swedes are Olympians, but they are freshmen.
“They are still (acting like) deer in the headlights. Once they get comfortable and once they get going, they are going to score goals for us. Yeah, they are freshmen, but they are going to be key for our offense.”
The Huskies, who were slotted sixth in the 2014-15 Hockey East preseason coaches poll, finished fifth in the league last year after going 9-24-2 overall. Two of those 24 losses came in Duluth where the Bulldogs swept UConn, 7-0 and 6-1, to open the 2013-14 season.
While another sweep of the Huskies won’t make UMD’s season, a loss could damage their chances at another NCAA tournament run.
“Every game is important and we can’t have like last year where we lost against teams we should have won against,” said Lara Stalder, UMD’s defenseman-turned-forward who played for Switzerland in Sochi. “This year that’s not possible for us.”
Those teams UMD “should have won against” included a trio of sub-.500 Western Collegiate Hockey Association rivals who all got the best of the Bulldogs in Duluth. UMD tied two games against Ohio State, split a series with Bemidji State and garnered just a tie against four-win St. Cloud State. The Bulldogs swept all three teams on the road, outscoring the Buckeyes, Beavers and Huskies by a 2-to-1 margin.
“We have to beat every opponent if we want to win a national championship and that’s what we want to do this season,” Stalder said. “We can’t have a bad start.”
-- UMD is without starting senior defenseman Brigette Lacquette, who is attending the Canadian National Women’s Team Fall Festival in Calgary, Alberta. Bulldogs sophomore forward Ashleigh Brykaliuk and freshman defenseman Jessica Healey also were invited, but are remaining at UMD. Lacquette, who was centralized with the Canadian national team last season, will be back for the WCHA-opening series against Wisconsin in Duluth.
Minnesota Duluth vs. Connecticut What: Nonconference regular-season opener
When: 6 p.m. today/2 p.m. Saturday
Where: Freitas Ice Forum, Storrs, Conn.
2013-14 Records: UMD 15-15-6; UConn 9-24-2
Rankings: UMD tied Quinnipiac for No. 10 in the preseason USCHO.com poll; UConn is unranked.
Series: Bulldogs lead all-time series 6-0 after sweeping UConn in Duluth last season 7-0 and 6-1.
Coaches: Shannon Miller, in her 15th season at UMD, is 363-132-45; Chris MacKenzie, in his second year at UConn, is 9-24-2.
Internet:
http://www.uconnhuskies.com/collegesportslive/?media=460121
(videostreaming)
UMD update: The Bulldogs are coming off a fourth-place finish in the WCHA in 2013-14 and lost their second-leading scorer and top goal-scorer to graduation, Jamie Kenyon (17 goals, 14 assists, 31 points). Three of the team’s top four scorers are back, including Zoe Hickel (13-14-27), Ashleigh Brykaliuk (11-12-23) and leading scorer Jenna McParland (11-22-33). The Bulldogs also return starting goaltender Kayla Black, who posted a 2.31 goals-against average and .919 save percentage last season. UMD added seven freshmen this season, including two members of the 2014 Swedish Olympic team in Michelle Lowenhielm and Maria Lindh.
UConn update: Two of the three Huskies who scored 10 or more goals a year ago are back, including leading goal-scorer Sarah MacDonnel (12-15-27). She is joined by Kayla Campero (10-8-18). Elaine Chuli, who started 24 of 37 games last season, returns after posting a 2.57 GAA and .929 save percentage as a sophomore. Behind her are two inexperienced netminders in senior Emily Walsh and freshman Annie Belanger from Team Quebec’s U-18 program. MacKenzie is only the second coach in program history, having served previously as an assistant at Ohio State, Niagara and eight seasons with the Massachusetts-Lowell men’s program. The program’s signature win in MacKenzie’s first season was a 2-0 home win over then-No. 7 Boston College. It was the program’s first win over a ranked opponent since 2010.
Matt Wellens, News Tribune
