Minnesota–Duluth Bulldogs women's ice hockey


The Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs women's ice hockey team plays for the University of Minnesota Duluth at the AMSOIL Arena in Duluth, Minnesota. The team is a member of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association and competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association 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, 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 and resulted in an 8–0 defeat of the Badgers. Forward Maria Rooth 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 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, 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 and returning Bulldog and 2002 Olympic silver medalist Jenny Potter.
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 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 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, 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 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,, 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
Won ChampionshipLost ChampionshipConference ChampionsLeague Leader

YearCoachWLTConferenceConf.
W		Conf.
L		Conf.
T		FinishConference TournamentNCAA Tournament
2018–19Maura Crowell15164WCHA91144th WCHAWon Quarterfinals vs. Bemidji State
Lost Semifinals vs. Minnesota 		Did not qualify
2017–18Maura Crowell15164WCHA101134th WCHALost Quarterfinals vs. Bemidji State Did not qualify
2016–17Maura Crowell2575WCHA19543rd WCHAWon Quarterfinals vs. St. Cloud State
Won Semifinals vs. Minnesota
Lost Championship vs. Wisconsin 		Lost First Round vs. Minnesota
2015–16Maura Crowell15211WCHA101716th WCHAWon Quarterfinals vs. Bemidji State
Lost Semifinals vs. Wisconsin 		Did not qualify
2014–15Shannon Miller20125WCHA141044th WCHALost Quarterfinals vs. Bemidji State Did not qualify
2013–14Shannon Miller15156WCHA111164th WCHAWon Quarterfinals vs. Ohio State
Lost Semifinals vs. Minnesota 		Did not qualify
2012–13Shannon Miller14164WCHA131324th WCHALost Quarterfinals vs. Ohio State Did not qualify
2011–12Shannon Miller21141WCHA151214th WCHAWon Quarterfinals vs. Ohio State
Won Semifinals vs. Wisconsin
Lost Championship vs. Minnesota 		Did not qualify
2010–11Shannon Miller2293WCHA18733rd WCHAWon Quarterfinals vs. Minnesota State
Lost Semifinals vs. Minnesota 		Lost First Round vs. Wisconsin
2009–10Shannon Miller3182WCHA20621st WCHAWon Quarterfinals vs. North Dakota
Won Semifinals vs. Bemidji State
Won Championship vs. Minnesota 		Won First Round vs. New Hampshire
Won Frozen Four vs. Minnesota
Won Championship vs. Cornell
2008–09Shannon Miller2694WCHA18643rd WCHAWon Quarterfinals vs. North Dakota
Lost Semifinals vs. Wisconsin 		Won First Round vs. New Hampshire
Lost Frozen Four vs. Wisconsin
2007–08Shannon Miller3441WCHA24401st WCHAWon Quarterfinals vs. Bemidji State
Won Semifinals vs. St. Cloud State
Won Championship vs. Wisconsin 		Won First Round vs. Mercyhurst
Won Frozen Four vs. New Hampshire
Won Championship vs. Wisconsin
2006–07Shannon Miller24114WCHA19632nd WCHAWon Quarterfinals vs. St. Cloud State
Lost Semifinals vs. Minnesota 		Won First Round vs. Mercyhurst
Won Frozen Four vs. Boston College
Lost Championship vs. Wisconsin
2005–06Shannon Miller2293WCHA18733rd WCHAWon Quarterfinals vs. Bemidji State
Lost Quarterfinals vs. Minnesota 		Lost First Round vs. St. Lawrence
2004–05Shannon Miller2662WCHA22422nd WCHAWon Quarterfinals vs. North Dakota
Lost Semifinals vs. Wisconsin 		Lost First Round vs. St. Lawrence
2003–04Shannon Miller20122WCHA15813rd WCHAWon Semifinals vs. Wisconsin
Lost Championship vs. Minnesota 		Did not qualify
2002–03Shannon Miller3132WCHA21211st WCHAWon Semifinals vs. Ohio State
Won Championship vs. Minnesota 		Won Frozen Four vs. Dartmouth
Won Championship vs. Harvard
2001–02Shannon Miller2464WCHA16532nd WCHALost Semifinals vs. Wisconsin Won Frozen Four vs. Niagara
Won Championship vs. Brown
2000–01Shannon Miller2854WCHA15542nd WCHAWon Quarterfinals vs. Minnesota State
Won Semifinals vs. Wisconsin
Won Championship vs. Ohio State 		Won Frozen Four vs. Harvard
Won Championship vs. St. Lawrence
1999-00Shannon Miller2553WCHA21121st WCHAWon Semifinals vs. Ohio State
Won Championship vs. Minnesota 		Lost''' First Round vs. Minnesota

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.
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