The 2023-24 Bulldogs women's hockey season by the numbers

DULUTH — The 2023-24 Minnesota Duluth women’s hockey season is officially in the books following a loss to Ohio State in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament.

The Bulldogs finished fourth in the WCHA during the regular season, reached the WCHA Final Faceoff semifinals, drew the No. 8 seed in this year’s NCAA tournament and won a dramatic double-overtime first round game before falling to the Buckeyes for a sixth time in six meetings this season.

Here’s a look back, and a bit ahead, at the 2023-24 Bulldogs women’s hockey season by the numbers.

The number of consecutive games Mannon McMahon played over five seasons at UMD. That’s a school record. It’s also a school record for total games played at UMD.

McMahon’s 14 goals, 17 assists and 31 points all ranked second on the team. Her 14 goals and 31 points were both career highs. Her last goal as a Bulldog was the double overtime game-winner against UConn in the NCAA regional semifinals at Ohio State.

The number of goals UMD scored this season, for an average of 2.3 per game. That’s down by almost a goal from a year ago, when the Bulldogs averaged 3.2 goals per game and scored 125 total.

The drop-off was expected, as UMD lost eight players last year to graduation or the transfer portal who combined for 81 of those 125 goals. As of now, only four players who combined for 36 goals are moving on this offseason.

The number of points UMD’s leading scorer Reece Hunt posted this season. A fifth-year senior transfer from Bemidji State, Hunt also had the team high of 18 goals after notching a pair of hat tricks against the Beavers on Jan. 13 and scoring four goals against St. Thomas on Feb. 9.

Hunt posted career highs in goals, assists (16) and points this year as a Bulldog, and got to experience several firsts that she didn’t get to do as a Beaver — win a WCHA playoff series, play in the WCHA Final Faceoff, play in the NCAA tournament and win an NCAA tournament game.

That’s how many points the Bulldogs' top returning scorers — senior forwards Clara Van Wieren and Olivia Wallin — will bring back to the team in 2024-25. Van Wieren will be the top returning goalscorer after posting 13 this season. Wallin, a transfer from Penn State who still has another season of eligibility left, led the Bulldogs in assists with 18.

Wallin and Van Wieren will be joined by senior defenseman Nina Jobst-Smith as fifth-year seniors next year. The Bulldogs are currently projected to bring back 15 players from the 2023-24 team after graduating four and losing two sophomores to the transfer portal.

The number of wins for UMD this season after the team finished 21-14-4 overall and 15-11-2 in the WCHA. Since the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season — when UMD only played 19 games despite reaching the NCAA Frozen Four — the Bulldogs have won more than 20 games in three consecutive seasons.

The 74 wins over the last three seasons is the most during a three-season stretch since the program won 74 games combined in 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12, with 31 of the 74 wins coming during the 2009-10 season when the Bulldogs won the WCHA regular and postseason titles, and the NCAA title.

That’s how many shutouts UMD goaltenders Hailey MacLeod and Eve Gascon combined for in 2023-24 — tied for most in the NCAA. Gascon had seven of the 13 shutouts, a record for a freshman at UMD and tied with Riitta Schaublin (2004-05) for third-most in a single season at UMD.

Gascon’s seventh shutout was the 1-0 double-OT win over UConn in the NCAA tournament, in which she made 33 saves. Gascon is the first Bulldog since Jenny Harss to start an NCAA tournament game as a freshman and one of three UMD goalies to post a shutout in an NCAA tournament game, joining Emma Soderberg and Kim Martin.

Gascon, who started 21 of 39 games, and MacLeod, who made 18 starts and 19 appearances, combined for a .947 save percentage and 1.53 GAA in 2023-24. MacLeod (.948) was fourth in the NCAA in save percentage and Gascon (.946) was fifth. Only Gascon will return, with MacLeod in the transfer portal.

The number of consecutive NCAA tournament appearances the Bulldogs have now made dating back to the 2020-21 season.

UMD is 4-0 in its opening game, starting with a quarterfinal win over Colgate in 2021 in Erie, Pennsylvania. Since the tournament expanded from eight to 11 teams in 2021-22, UMD is 3-0 in the first round with wins over Harvard, Clarkson and UConn.