DULUTH 鈥� Minnesota Duluth鈥檚 senior third-year co-captain Sydney Brodt has played in four regular season tournaments thus far in her four seasons with the Bulldogs, going 6-2 with two tourney titles.
Brodt鈥檚 fifth career tournament, and third this season, will be a bit different because for the first time in her college career, it鈥檚 at home.
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The No. 10-ranked Bulldogs will host Minnesota State-Mankato, St. Cloud State and Bemidji State in the second annual Minnesota Cup on Saturday and Sunday at Amsoil Arena. The Huskies and Beavers play the first semifinal at 1 p.m. on Saturday with UMD and the Mavericks playing at about 4 p.m.
The winners and losers will square off on Sunday at Amsoil, with the Mavs in the early game at 1 p.m. and UMD in the late game about 4 p.m.
The Bulldogs are 4-2 this year against this year鈥檚 Minnesota Cup entrants 鈥� the defending champion Minnesota Golden Gophers are the team left out this year 鈥� having swept the Mavericks and Huskies at Amsoil during the first half. The Bulldogs were swept by the Beavers in Bemidji.
鈥淭oo bad the Gophers aren鈥檛 in it, but I鈥檓 super excited,鈥� Brodt said. 鈥淭o be able to host a tournament my senior year is a big deal. It鈥檒l be fun to get home ice advantage. It鈥檒l be a good atmosphere and a really fun weekend.鈥�
Bulldogs sophomore wing Gabbie Hughes has emerged as a top-10 scorer in the WCHA with 10 goals and 15 assists in the first half. Brodt has been an offensive threat, as well, with nine goals and 10 assists while junior Ashton Bell is back to scoring like she did as a freshman, despite her move to the blue line.
Bell, who just this year moved from forward to defenseman, has six goals and 11 assists in 18 games after posting five goals and 12 assists in 35 games as a sophomore. She was second on the team in scoring as a freshman with 11 goals and 12 assists.
UMD assistant coach Ashleigh Brykaliuk said Bell鈥檚 transition to defenseman has really helped bolster the Bulldogs鈥� depth on the blue line.
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鈥淪he鈥檚 had a tremendous first half of the year and she鈥檚 just settling in,鈥� said Brykaliuk, who was filling in Thursday during media availability for head coach Maura Crowell, who was busy leading Team USA to gold at the Under-18 Women鈥檚 World Championship in Slovakia. 鈥淪he outskates anyone in our league so when she rushes the puck up ice it adds quite a bit of offense and it鈥檚 showed on the scoresheet for sure.鈥�
UMD 鈥� which expected to have Crowell back this weekend, pending any travel delays 鈥� will play the Beavers again two weeks from now when it returns to WCHA play at Amsoil Arena. UMD then heads to St. Cloud the following week. It won鈥檛 see the Mavs again until mid-February.
This weekend鈥檚 games at Amsoil won鈥檛 count toward the WCHA standings, but the series rematches in the second half will.
The Bulldogs currently sit fifth in the conference standings, three points back of the fourth-place Beavers. UMD went 0-6-2 against the top four teams in the league in the first half 鈥� Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio State and BSU 鈥� getting a 3-on-3 OT win against the Gophers and falling in a shootout to the Buckeyes.
Senior goaltender Maddie Rooney said she believes the Bulldogs can take a big jump in the second half. That confidence comes from the fact that UMD led in every one of those series against the top four, including both games against Wisconsin before the holiday break.
鈥淲e played all those top teams really tough,鈥� Rooney said. 鈥淎 lot of those games could have gone either way. Against the Gophers we beat them in 3-on-3. Wisconsin we had down by a goal in both games. A lot of it came down to the last minute. I think we can definitely look to make a jump in the second half of the season and prove our place.鈥�
