Jan. 30, 2005

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MADISON, Wisc. - St. Cloud State (7-15-4/5-12-3) earned three out of four points against Ohio State to move into sixth place with 13 points. Minnesota (23-1-2/18-0-2) and Minnesota Duluth (20-2-2/18-2-2) kept pace with one another as each swept its home series to remain deadlocked in first place with 38 points. Wisconsin (18-7-1/12-7-1) maintains its hold on third place with 25 points while Ohio State (12-12-2/9-12-1) is in fourth place with 19 points and Minnesota State (8-12-6/7-10-3) holds onto fifth place with 17 points. North Dakota (7-16-3/4-15-1) with nine points and Bemidji State (6-18-2/2-17-1) with five points round out the standings.

Friday, St. Cloud State posted a 4-2 over the visiting Buckeyes to pick up two points. Four different Huskies scored while goaltender Lauri St. Jacques made 30 saves in the win. The two teams then skated to a 2-2 tie Saturday. Laura Fast and Kristy Oonincx scored for St. Cloud State while Jeni Creary and Tessa Bonhomme tallied the Buckeyes' goals.

Minnesota remained unbeaten in league play as they completed a home sweep of Wisconsin. Saturday, the Golden Gophers bested the Badgers 4-1. Natalie Darwitz (2-1-3) and Krissy Wendell (1-2-3) set the pace for Minnesota while Jody Horak earned her school-record 75th career victory. Cyndy Kenyon scored for Wisconsin. Sunday, the Gophers special teams led the way as Andrea Nichols and Erica McKenzie each scored on the power play. The Gophers also held Wisconsin scoreless on three power play chances. Wisconsin goaltender Meghan Horras stopped 34 of the 36 shots faced while Jody Horak of Minnesota posted her second victory on the weekend.

Minnesota Duluth completed the season sweep of Bemidji State. The Bulldogs posted a 6-2 victory Saturday and then extended their home winning streak to 14 games with a 4-0 win Sunday. The line of Jessica Koizumi, Noemie Marin and Caroline Ouellette provided the offensive spark for the Bulldogs Saturday. Ouellette had two goals and three assists while Marin scored two goals and Koizumi added two goals and two assists. Ouellette added two more goals and an assist Sunday to lead Minnesota Duluth. Patricia Elsmore earned her first victory since the 2003 NCAA Championship game as she made 18 saves in the shutout. North Dakota and Minnesota State were idle.

All eight WCHA teams hit the ice this week. Bemidji State hosts Ohio State and St. Cloud State hosts Minnesota on Friday and Saturday. The two Saturday-Sunday series feature Minnesota State at Wisconsin and Minnesota Duluth at North Dakota.

This Week in the WCHA
Games for Friday, February 4: Ohio State at Bemidji State, 2:05 p.m.; Minnesota at St. Cloud State, 7:05 p.m.; Games for Saturday, February 5: Ohio State at Bemidji State, 2:05 p.m.; Minnesota Duluth at North Dakota, 2:05 p.m.; Minnesota State at Wisconsin, 2:05 p.m.; Minnesota at St. Cloud State, 7:05 p.m.; Games for Sunday, February 6: Minnesota Duluth at North Dakota, 2:05 p.m.; Minnesota State at Wisconsin, 2:05 p.m.

Last Week in the WCHA

Results of Friday, January 28:
Ohio State 2 at St. Cloud State 4

Results of Saturday, January 29:
Ohio State 2 at St. Cloud State 2 OT
Wisconsin 1 at Minnesota 4
Bemidji State 2 at Minnesota Duluth 6

Results of Sunday, January 30:
Bemidji State 0 at Minnesota Duluth 4
Wisconsin 1 at Minnesota 2

BEMIDJI STATE BEAVERS
Bemidji State dropped both games of a weekend series at Minnesota Duluth. The third-ranked Bulldogs downed the Beavers 6-2 and 4-0 on January 29-30...Bemidji State jumped out to an early 1-0 lead against Minnesota Duluth on Saturday night with a power play goal from Tara Hiscock. The special teams goal, against the first-ranked penalty kill team in the WCHA, was assisted Jenny Schnickel and Kate Robinson. The Bulldogs were able to tally a goal to even the game at 1-1 to end the first period. Bemidji State battled back to even the score at two apiece after an early second period goal from the Bulldog's Jessica Koizumi. The Beavers' second goal was scored by Helena Tageson with helpers from Mandy Bambrough and Nikki Eckebrecht. This, however, would be the last of the scoring for BSU as the Bulldogs put up four more goals of their own while holding the Beavers scoreless the rest of the way to secure a 6-2 victory...The Sunday afternoon tilt was a one-sided affair for Minnesota Duluth. Bemidji State was shutout 4-0. Two first period goals, scored by Jessica Koizumi and Karine Demeule, were amidst a period where the Bulldogs outshot the Beavers 18-4. The second period was similar as Bemidji State was again heavily outshot (11-4) as UMD added another goal to run the score to 3-0. Capping off the scoring in the third period was Caroline Ouellette with her second tally of the game. Minnesota Duluth goalie Patricia Elsmore, in her first start of the season, had 18 saves while holding Bemidji State scoreless. Freshman netminder Emily Brookshaw had 35 stops for the Beavers...Kelly Hart's three-game point scoring streak was snapped Sunday. The Bulldogs have shutout the Beavers in six of the last eight meetings. The two goals scored by the Beavers on Saturday were the most since they scored three on Feb. 23, 2003 in an 11-3 loss. Minnesota Duluth swept the Beavers in a weekend series for the sixth straight time. The all-time record for the Beavers versus Minnesota Duluth fell to 0-21-1...The Beavers will look to get back on track at the John S. Glas Fieldhouse when they take on the Ohio State University Buckeyes. The WCHA conference games will take place on February 4-5 with both games slated for 2:05 p.m....Head Coach Bruce Olson holds a 2-5-2 record vs. Ohio State ...Olson has posted a 12-53-9 record against current members of the WCHA...BSU owns a 31-111-18 record against current members of the WCHA...The all-time series record versus the Buckeyes stands at 7-12-3. Last season the Beavers were only able to come away with one win in four games against Ohio State. The win was 4-3 overtime victory for the Beavers at John S. Glas Fieldhouse. Earlier this season the Buckeyes claimed two more victories over BSU. The games, played at Ohio State, were 4-1 and 4-2 victories for OSU. Bemidji State holds a 5-3-2 record home record, 2-9-1 on the road, and 0-2-0 neutral site mark against Ohio State.

MINNESOTA GOLDEN GOPHERS
The No. 1 Golden Gopher women's hockey team earned a series sweep over No. 4 Wisconsin, Saturday and Sunday, at Ridder Arena. With the sweep, the Gophers earned four Western Collegiate Hockey Association points and hold 38 points in 20 league games. On the weekend, the Gophers had five players score a goal in the series sweep...In Saturday's game, Natalie Darwitz and Krissy Wendell each tallied three points to lead the Gophers to a 4-1 win over the Badgers. Darwitz scored two goals and an assist, while Wendell scored a goal and two assists. Erica McKenzie supplied the other Gopher goal. The second goal for Darwitz was an empty-netter...The Gophers scored two power-play goals to earn a 2-1 win and the sweep on Sunday. Bobbi Ross scored a power-play goal, while Andrea Nichols supplied the game-winning, power-play goal for the win. On Ross' goal, there was just :10 remaining with the extra attacker. Nichols scored her power-play tally with :04 on the power-play. The Gophers converted on two of three power-play opportunities in the game...Darwitz added an assist on Ross' power-play goal. With her point, she tied Krissy Wendell's record of points in a season with 78. Wendell accomplished the feat in 36 games last season, while Darwitz tallied 78 points in just 26 games played. Darwitz also set the school record in single season assists. Wendell and Kelly Stephens had 42 in the championship season, while Darwitz already has 50 assists on the season...For the first time in the second semester, Jody Horak started in both games, picking up her 15th and 16th wins of the season. On Saturday, Horak became the school record holder for career wins. In 96 games played, Horak holds a 75-13-6 record, surpassing former Gopher Erica Killewald's record of 73-23-9 in 111 career games...Erica McKenzie has scored a point in the last six of seven games. She started her streak, scoring a goal against Bemidji State (1/8). She added a goal in each of the games against Brown (1/14-15) and a goal in the second game of the Ohio State series (1/22). She followed with a goal in the 4-1 win against Wisconsin, and set up Andrea Nichols for the game-winning goal on Sunday...The Golden Gophers hit the road, heading to St. Cloud, Minn., to face St. Cloud State, Feb. 4-5. Both games begin at 7:05 p.m. At the National Hockey Center. Minnesota opened its home season against the Huskies, winning 7-0 and 7-1. The Gophers own a 23-1-0 record against the Huskies, dating back to 1999.

MINNESOTA DULUTH BULLDOGS
The No. 3 Bulldogs skated away with the ninth series sweep of the season and the second of Bemidji State University with 6-2 and 4-0 victories this weekend...Senior Caroline Ouellette was back in the line-up after missing a game while at Team Canada training camp...Ouellette tallied seven points on the weekend, including her 200th career mark during Friday's competition...Ouellette also moved up to fourth on the all-time points list at UMD with 207 so far in just two and a half years of competition. She also ranks second on the assists charts with 121 career helpers...Friday, all six goals were spread out evenly among those on the Bulldogs top line (Noemie Marin, Jessica Koizumi, and Ouellette)...Saturday saw more of the same as Ouellette nabbed two and Koizumi one...The only difference was Karine Demeule's first career goal...Friday's game was delayed four minutes after the power to the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center was disrupted three minutes into the game. The teams played with half of the lighting for most of the first period after it was determined that it would take 10-15 minutes for full lighting to be restored...With the two victories, the Bulldogs kept their home winning streak alive. UMD has not lost a home contest since Feb. 6, 2003, a fourteen game span...Sophomore netminder Anna-Kaisa Piiroinen made her first appearance in net for UMD since Nov. 26, 2004 on Saturday...Piiroinen recorded 18 saves...Sunday's game saw a familiar face in net as Patricia Elsmore (formally Sautter) made her first start since March 23, 2003 when she helped the Bulldogs to their third-straight NCAA Division I National Championship...Elsmore played like she did two years ago and earned her sixth career shut-out and the sixth for UMD during the 2004-05 season...Up next for the Bulldogs will be a two-weekend road swing starting with the University of North Dakota on Feb. 5-6 at 2:05 p.m....The Fighting Sioux are the only Western Collegiate Hockey Association rival that the Bulldogs have a perfect record against...The all-time series stands at 6-0-0 in favor of UMD...This will be the first time that the Bulldogs will play North Dakota at Ralph Engelstad Arena...The last meeting between the two schools was on Oct. 15-16, 2004 when UMD earned its first sweep of the season 8-1 and 9-1...Ouellette tallied a total of 11 points in that series, while Marin earned seven, Julianne Vasichek and Koizumi got six, and Nora Tallus garnered five to lead Bulldog skaters.

MINNESOTA STATE MAVERICKS
Minnesota State (8-12-6, 7-10-3 WCHA) was idle this past weekend. The Mavericks will return to action next weekend with a conference road series against Wisconsin on Saturday and Sunday. Game times at the Kohl Center are slated for 2:35 p.m.

NORTH DAKOTA FIGHTING SIOUX
The Fighting Sioux (7-16-3, 4-15-1 WCHA) return to action with a home series against third-ranked Minnesota Duluth. UND had last weekend off. UND enters the weekend in seventh place with nine points, four back of sixth-place St. Cloud State...The Sioux are 0-6-0 all-time against UMD and have been outscored 49-6 in those six games. This weekend marks the first trip to Grand Forks for the Bulldogs in women's hockey...The last time the two teams met was back in October when the Sioux were swept at Duluth, 8-1 and 9-1. UMD forward Caroline Ouellette had 11 points on the weekend...UND is in the midst of the toughest six-game stretch in program history. Prior to their weekend off, the Sioux traveled to fourth-ranked Wisconsin, where UND was swept. After hosting third-ranked UMD this weekend, the Sioux travel to Minneapolis next weekend to face top-ranked Minnesota...UND's sweep at the hands of Wisconsin two weeks ago pushed the team's winless streak to five games. The Sioux have now dropped four straight conference games...Seven different Badgers scored in Friday's 8-0 UND loss as the Sioux suffered their third straight shutout defeat, a first in program history...The Sioux gave the Badgers all they could handle for two periods on Saturday and trailed 3-2 as late as the second intermission. But a three-goal third period lifted UW to the 6-2 win. UND outshot the Badgers 13-11 in the second period and outscored them 2-1...When freshman F Melissa Dianoski scored a second-period goal Saturday at UW it snapped a UND goal-scoring drought that spanned 203 minutes and 32 seconds, or 10-plus periods. The goal also put an end to Dianoski's personal eight-game goal scoring skid...UND's 16 losses this season represent the most in the young history of the program. The Sioux dropped 14 games in each of their first two seasons as a DI program...The Sioux registered just eight shots on goal in Friday's 8-0 loss to UW, a season-low. UND managed just one shot in each of the first two periods...Junior F Liz Funk and junior D Devon Fingland have each played in 84 consecutive games and are the only players to have played in all 84 games in team history. Senior F Meaghan Nelson has played in all but one of UND's 84 games...With a goal and an assist at UW on Jan. 22, senior captain Marissa Hangsleben notched the second two-point outing of her career (both this season)...Cara Wooster's second-period assist in the same game snapped a seven-game skid without a point, the longest of the freshman's young career.

OHIO STATE BUCKEYES
Ohio State earned one conference point as the Buckeyes went 1-0-1 against St. Cloud State in St. Cloud, Minn. OSU fell 4-2 Friday and tied SCSU 2-2 Saturday...The Buckeyes held St. Cloud State scoreless on 5-of-6 power-plays on the weekend...Sophomore defenseman Tessa Bonhomme led the squad with two goals against St. Cloud State. This season, Bonhomme is third on the team with 21 points (7-14)...Jeni Creary recorded the game-tying goal Saturday and an assist Friday vs. SCSU and continues to lead the Buckeyes with 18 goals this season. Creary improved her career mark to 75 goals and 130 points...With two assists this weekend, junior Jana Harrigan extended her point streak to 10 games this season (4-12-16). Harrigan also moved up to second in the OSU record books with 99 career points, tied with former Buckeye Emma Laaksonen (2001-04)...Seven Buckeyes posted points on the weekend, including three players which recorded two points each - Tessa Bonhomme (2-0-2), Jeni Creary (1-1-2) and Jana Harrigan (0-2-2)...Ohio State's two penalties in game one vs. SCSU Friday marked the fewest the team has recorded all season...Sophomore Erika Vanderveer and senior Melissa Glaser split the series in net vs. St. Cloud State. Glaser recorded a .947 save percentage and an 1.85 goals-against average. Vanderveer recorded a .879 save percentage...Up next, Ohio State travels to Bemidji, Minn., to take on the Bemidji State Beavers at 3:05 p.m. Feb. 4-5 at John S. Glass Fieldhouse...Ohio State leads the all-time series 14-7-3 vs. Bemidji State. Earlier this season, the Buckeyes swept BSU in Columbus.

ST. CLOUD STATE HUSKIES
St. Cloud State (7-15-4, 5-12-3 WCHA) took three of four WCHA points this weekend's series against Ohio State (12-12-2, 9-12-1 WCHA) to stay in sixth place in the WCHA standings. On Friday afternoon, the Huskies defeated the Buckeyes, 4-2, in the National Hockey Center. Saturday, the Huskies stuck with the Buckeyes as the game resulted in a 2-2 overtime tie...The Huskies improve to 7-15-4, 5-12-3 WCHA, as the Buckeyes fall to 12-12-2, 9-12-1 WCHA. The three stars of the game on Friday were awarded to SCSU's Ashley Stewart, Carrie Holldorf, and Lauri St. Jacques. SCSU's Kristy Oonincx was the second star of Saturday's game...SCSU head coach Jason Lesteberg earned his 50th career win against Ohio State University on Friday afternoon as he led his Huskies to a 4-2 victory. This was the second win of the season for the Huskies over the Buckeyes...The last season that the Huskies have beat the Buckeyes twice was in 2000-2001. In that season, SCSU went 2-2-0 against OSU. The only other season that the Huskies have done as well as they have this season against the Buckeyes was in the 1999-00 season when SCSU was 2-1-1 against OSU...As a team, the Huskies have 669 saves compared to their opponents' 621 saves on the season...Junior forward transfer Kristy Oonincx continues to lead the Huskies in the scoring department. She had two points in the weekend series with Ohio State, which puts her at 12 goals and 7 assists on the season for 19 total points...Sophomore transfer Hailey Clarkson had the game-winning goal against Ohio State on Friday afternoon. On the season, she continues to the lead the Huskies in assists with 12. She has 16 total points in 2004-05...In her rookie season, freshman forward Laura Fast continues to put numbers on the board. After being named the WCHA Rookie of the Week for games played between Jan. 17-23, Fast scored two points in the weekend series with OSU. She had an assist on the game-winning goal from Clarkson on Friday and the first goal of the game on Saturday for the Huskies. On the season, Fast has three goals and six assists for nine total points....Senior assistant captain, Carrie Holldorf, had two points on the weekend, along with junior forward Ashley Stewart, sophomore forward Denelle Maguet, Hailey Clarkson and Kristy Oonincx.

WISCONSIN BADGERS
Top-ranked Minnesota (23-1-2, 18-0-2 WCHA) became just the second team this season to sweep the No. 4 Badgers (17-7-1, 11-7-1 WCHA) after inking wins at Ridder Arena over the weekend...The Gophers snatched enough goals, including one empty-netter Saturday, to bring the totals to 4-1 the first day and 2-1 Sunday...In day one, Minnesota broke a 1-1 tie in the second period and went on to defeat Wisconsin...Minnesota All-America juniors Natalie Darwitz and Krissy Wendell, both of whom played for the U.S. Olympic Team in 2002, combined for three goals and three assists to lead the Golden Gophers...Darwitz's first goal of the contest, in the second period, proved to be the game-winner...Minnesota registered the only goal of the first period when Wendell, the nation's No. 3 goal scorer, fired a wrist shot from the low slot that flew over the left shoulder of Badger goaltender Meghan Horras at the 3:17 mark...Each team had four shots on goal in a mostly evenly contested first stanza...The teams played a scoreless second period until the Badgers, who had killed off a Minnesota power-play opportunity a few minutes earlier, tied the game at the 16:07 mark when freshman Jinelle Zaugg hustled to a loose puck and slid a backhand shot at Golden Gopher goalie Jody Horak...Horak made the save but left a rebound that junior Cyndy Kenyon converted for her 10th goal of the season...Sophomore Bobbi-Jo Slusar also drew an assist on the goal...The Golden Gophers, however, responded when Darwitz launched a wrist shot from just inside the top of the right circle that beat Horras low and to the stick side with 17:45 remaining to play in the second frame...Minnesota opened the third-period scoring when freshman Erica McKenzie flipped a shot high and to Horras's glove side for a 3-1 lead just 4:20 into the final frame...Darwitz added an empty-net goal at 19:57...The Golden Gophers held a 17-14 edge in shots on goal as the Badgers became the first team to limit Minnesota to fewer than 20 shots on goal in a game this season...Horras and Horak each finished with 13 saves...On Sunday, the Badgers skated to a tight 2-1 defeat...Horras was extremely sharp in keeping the Badgers close throughout...Minnesota held a 37-19 shots-on-goal advantage for the game...Wisconsin had one last good chance when Minnesota's Lyndsay Wall was whistled for a two-minute roughing penalty with 2:14 left to play, but the Badgers could not convert on the power-play chance...The Gophers however did and scored both their goals while Wisconsin was one skater down...The Golden Gophers snapped a 1-1 tie when sophomore Andrea Nichols picked up a loose puck during a scramble to Badger goaltender Meghan Horras's left and lifted the game-winning power-play tally high into the Badger net with just 5:47 left to play in the third period...Despite several good scoring opportunities at both ends of the ice, the teams played a scoreless first period, with the Golden Gophers holding a 9-6 advantage in shots on goal...Minnesota scored the only goal of the second period...With Badger sophomore Sara Bauer serving a hooking penalty, Golden Gopher junior All-American Wendell fed a pass across the front of the Badger net to freshman Bobbi Ross and Ross slid the puck past Horras for a power-play tally at the 5:40 mark...Despite the goal, Horras helped keep the Badgers close with several excellent stops in the period. Minnesota outshot Wisconsin, 11-5, in the second stanza...The Badgers evened things just past the midway point of the third period...Golden Gopher goaltender Jody Horak went behind her net to handle the puck, but turned it over to Wisconsin junior Sharon Cole. With Horak still out of the net, Cole brought the puck out to the front of the empty net and slid a backhander in at the 9:17 mark...Three minutes later, however, Wisconsin sophomore Bobbi-Jo Slusar was called for holding, setting up the power-play that led to Nichols's game-winning goal...Wisconsin returns to action on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 5-6, when it hosts WCHA-rival Minnesota State...Both games will start at 2:05 p.m....The Badgers have never lost a game to the Mavericks in the 22 games played...Earlier this season Wisconsin swept MSU, 4-0, 4-1 in Mankato, Minn.

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