The UMD women’s hockey team hits the road again this upcoming weekend in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) battle with the St. Cloud State Huskies.
The No. 4 Bulldogs picked up a pair of wins this past weekend against Harvard University, storming through the Thanksgiving weekend with a 4-1 win Friday night and 2-1 win Saturday afternoon.The Dogs hit the road again this upcoming weekend in a conference series with St. Cloud State.
The Huskies are currently 3-5-0 at home this year and are looking to bounce back from a pair of losses this past weekend. UMD looks to pick up some substantial WCHA points this weekend.
UMD head coach Maura Crowell sat down on Wednesday afternoon at the weekly press conference to discuss some of the key things her team needs to do to continue this road success.
One cause for concern for the Bulldog players during this upcoming road series is playing on the larger Olympic size ice arena in St. Cloud. This poses an added challenge annually when the Bulldogs travel to St. Cloud.
“I think it’s going to be a tough series, going to St. Cloud on the big sheet (Olympic size ice rink) it’s always a benefit to them because that’s their home rink.” Crowell said. “For us, I think we have a lot of speed, good depth, and move the puck really well so on the big sheet it should help us in a lot of ways too.”
This time of year, conference play starts to become crucial to the outcome of postseason play. Picking up every point available can is crucial to teams and a certain level of play is required to succeed in the WCHA.
“With us being being third in the league, now all teams are excited to play us, they want to take us down. We need to, again, play consistently, use our speed, use our passing, put pucks on net, play tight defensively and hopefully good things will happen.” Crowell said.
Both games will take place at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud. Friday’s (12/2) puck drop is set at 7:07pm and Saturdays (12/3) afternoon game is at 3:07pm.
