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 Duluth Entertainment Convention Center in Duluth , Minnesota . The team is one of the members of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association ( WCHA ) and competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association ( NCAA ) in the Division I tier . The Bulldogs have won five NCAA Championships in the ten year history of the Women ' s NCAA Frozen Four . RHistory . 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 , the head coach of the Team Canada at the 1998 Winter Olympics , was hired as the head coach for the Bulldogs Women ' s Hockey Team . 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 ever Women ' s WCHA conference game at the Kohl Center in Madison , WI . It was the highest attended game of the season ( 3 , 892 ) and resulted in an 8 - 0 defeat of the Badgers . Forward Maria Rooth ( Angelholm , Sweden ) , 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 on January 22 , 2000 , that was hosted by St . Lawrence University . 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 ( Duluth , MN ) on February 11 , 2000 . The Bulldogs ' clinched the Women ' s WCHA Regular Season Championship title on February 26 , 2000 . This was accomplished with a sweep of Minnesota State - Mankato . The result was that the Bulldogs 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 marks the first ever 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 Bulldogs were the first ever 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 , a 2001 - 2002 newcomer and Olympic gold medallist Caroline Ouellette ( Canada ) and returning Bulldog and 2002 Olympic silver medallist Jenny Potter ( USA ) . The 2002 NCAA National women ’ s hockey champion Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs were recognized by the Minnesota Twins baseball team at the H . H . H . Metrodome in Minneapolis on May 6 , 2002 . On March 22 , 2010 , the Mayor of Duluth , 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 ( January 22 ) , 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 - Potter , ( whose 93 points in 1999 - 2000 would lead the nation ) , 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 Western Collegiate Hockey Association tournament . Season by season results . " Note : GP = Games played , W = Wins , L = Losses , T = Ties "