Jan. 30, 2006

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MADISON, Wisc. - Wisconsin (23-1-1/18-1-1) swept Bemidji State (6-20-2/5-17-0) to earn four points and extend its lead on the rest of the conference. The Badgers are in first place with 37 points and are on pace to clinch the WCHA regular-season title. Minnesota Duluth (17-6-1/15-6-1) remains in second place with 31 points after being swept on the road at St. Cloud State (12-13-1/9-10-1). Minnesota (17-8-1/12-7-1) is third with 25 points followed by St. Cloud State in fourth with 19 points. Minnesota State (11-12-3/8-10-2) and Ohio State (11-11-4/8-10-2) are tied for fifth place with 18 points. Bemidji State (10 points) and North Dakota (6-18-2/2-16-2).

Wisconsin earned its series sweep against Bemidji State, winning 4-2 on Saturday and 3-1 on Sunday. The victories extended the Badgers' winning streak to 12 games. St. Cloud State also extended its winning streak to four games as the Huskies swept No. 3 Minnesota Duluth, 2-1 and 3-1, at home. The sweep marked the first time in St. Cloud State history the Huskies have swept the Bulldogs and swept a ranked team.

Minnesota and Ohio State split its series in Columbus. Friday, the Gophers' skated to a 4-1 victory. But Saturday, the Buckeyes rallied for a 3-2 overtime victory. Minnesota State and North Dakota also split its weekend series in Grand Forks. Saturday, North Dakota recorded a shutout with its 3-0 victory. Sunday, the Mavericks came back to outscore North Dakota 5-1 to earn the win.

Next weekend, the teams begin the final month of the regular season. Wisconsin travels to St. Cloud State, Minnesota Duluth is at Ohio State, Bemidji State hosts North Dakota and Minnesota State plays at Minnesota.

Coming up in the WCHA
Games for Friday, February 3:
Wisconsin at St. Cloud State, 2:07 p.m.*
Minnesota Duluth at Ohio State, 7:07 p.m.*
North Dakota at Bemidji State, 7:07 p.m.*
Minnesota State at Minnesota, 7:07 p.m.*

Games for Saturday, February 4:
Wisconsin at St. Cloud State, 2:07 p.m.*
North Dakota at Bemidji State, 2:07 p.m.*
Minnesota Duluth at Ohio State, 4:07 p.m.*
Minnesota State at Minnesota, 4:07 p.m.*

* WCHA contest

Last Week in the WCHA
Results from Friday, January 27:
Minnesota Duluth 1 at St. Cloud State 2*
Minnesota 4 at Ohio State 1*

Results from Saturday, January 28:
Minnesota Duluth 1 at St. Cloud State 3*
Minnesota State 0 at North Dakota 3*
Bemidji State 2 at Wisconsin 4*
Minnesota 2 at Ohio State 3 OT*

Sunday, January 29:
Bemidji State 1 at Wisconsin 3*
Minnesota State 5 at North Dakota 1*

BEMIDJI STATE BEAVERS
Bemidji State traveled to Madison, Wis., to take on No. 1 Wisconsin. Bemidji State battled but came up short falling to the Badgers 4-2 on Saturday afternoon and then once again on Sunday afternoon 3-1 in the series finale at the Kohl Center. Saturday afternoon the Badgers jumped out to a 2-0 lead before Bemidji State's Jenn Sadler (Pickering, Ontario) would net an unassisted goal at 10:47 of the second period to bring the Beavers within 2-1. This was Sadler's first goal of the season and just her fourth of her career. The Badgers would seal the victory early in the third period as they would score two goals in the first five minutes to push their lead to 4-1 with fifteen minutes to play in the game. Bemidji State would add another goal at 10:51 of the third period to bring the score to 4-2. The Beaver goal came off the stick of Aimee Collins (Pilot Mound, Manitoba). This was Collins second goal of the season for the Beavers. Picking up the assist was Jessica Pullar (Elk River, Minn.). Emily Brookshaw (Webster, Wis.) would pick up the loss for the Beavers falling to 3-11-1 on the season. Brookshaw recorded 34 saves in the game. In game two the Badgers came out firing as they put up 20 shots in the first period on Bemidji State goaltender Jill Luebke (Neenah, Wis.). Luebke was up to the challenge as she stopped all twenty shots in the period to keep the score at 0-0 at the end of one period of play. Wisconsin would score two goals in the second period to pull ahead of the Beavers 2-0. Allison Johanson (Flagstaff, Ariz.) would net her third collegiate goal to bring the score to 2-1 late in the second period. Garnering the assist on the goal was Kelly Hart (Ajax, Ontario) her team leading 18th assist. The Badgers would add one more goal in the third period to seal a 3-1 victory and a weekend and season sweep over the Beavers. Jill Luebke set a career high in saves with 53 on the day. With the loss Luebke falls to 3-9-1 on the season for the Beavers. Bemidji State falls to 1-26-1 all-time versus the Badgers and 1-9-0 all-time at the Kohl Center. Bemidji State will return home after its four game road swing to host North Dakota. Bemidji State and North Dakota skated to a series split on December 10th and 11th at the Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D. North Dakota shut the Beavers out in the first game by a score of 4-0 and the Beavers were able to salvage a series split with a 6-1 victory in the second game of the weekend series...Bemidji State is currently 5-8-1 all-time versus North Dakota and 1-4-1 versus the Fighting Sioux at the John Glas Fieldhouse. On Friday February 3 the game is scheduled to start at 7:07 p.m., while on Saturday February 4 the puck is slated to drop at 2:07 p.m.

Minnesota Golden Gophers
No. 4 Minnesota competed against Ohio State over the weekend, splitting the series. Minnesota won the first game, 4-1, but fell, 3-2 in overtime on Saturday. The Gophers hold a 17-8-1 record overall and a 12-7-1 mark in the WCHA...In Friday's game, Jenelle Philipczyk scored two goals in the 4-1 win. Her first goal came on the power play, while her second goal proved to be the eventual gamewinner. The Buckeyes battled back in the third, scoring a goal, but Minnesota added two goals in the third period for the win. Allie Sanchez scored her first goal of the season on a short-handed attempt. It was her second short-handed goal of her career. Her first short-handed tally came in her very first goal scored as a Golden Gopher in Oct. of 2002. Becky Wacker, who set up Sanchez on the short-handed goal scored her second goal in two games and her third of the season at 16:21 of the third. Kim Hanlon received the starting nod and earned her sixth win of the season. Hanlon pushed aside 20 of 21 Buckeye shots on goal and now holds a 6-2-0 record....In Saturday's game, Minnesota jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but the Buckeyes battled back scoring three goals, including the gamewinner at :50 into the overtime. Philipczyk scored her third goal of the weekend and fifth goal in two weeks at 6:45 of the second period. Sanchez tacked on her first power-play goal of the season at 18:17 of the second, tipping in an Anya Miller shot. OSU's Jana Harrigan scored a goal at 18:59 of the second period. Gopher goalie Brittony Chartier allowed her first goal in 216.17 minutes played. Prior to the OSU game, Chartier had held her last two opponents scoreless, including Minnesota Duluth two weeks ago...Minnesota returns home for a WCHA series against Minnesota State, Feb. 3-4. Friday's game will be played at 7 p.m. in Ridder Arena. Saturday's game is slated for a 4 p.m. start in Mariucci Arena. Both games will be televised on Fox Sports Net North. Friday's game will be televised live, while Saturday's game will be tape-delayed and televised on Sunday. In the last meeting, Minnesota earned three points in the WCHA standings with a 1-0 win and a 1-1 overtime tie in Mankato, Minn.

Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs
No. 3 Minnesota Duluth suffered its first series sweep of the 2005-06 season at the hands of St. Cloud State with 1-2 and 1-3 defeats...This is the first time in school history that the Huskies have earned a sweep of the Bulldogs and only the second time in team history that UMD has lost three straight games...The last time the Bulldogs lost three in a row was during the opening season (1999-2000) when New Hampshire swept UMD and they then lost a game to Minnesota on Feb. 5-11, 2000...The Bulldogs were missing several players during that stretch due to their competition in the 2000 Winter Olympics...Heading into the weekend the Bulldogs had only allowed 12 power-play goals during the 2005-06 campaign. Saturday, UMD tied a school record for the most power-play goals allowed in a game as all three of the Huskies goals came with the extra attacker...The Bulldogs outshot the Huskies in both games over the weekend and are now 12-6-0 when they have the shot advantage...UMD is also 2-6-0 when allowing their opponents to get on the board first...The Bulldogs two goals in the series is a season low, the previous low was three against Wisconsin on Dec. 9-10, 2005...Up next for UMD is a Western Collegiate Hockey Association series with Ohio State...The all-time series currently stands at 27-2-3, including a 10-1-1 record at the OSU Ice Rink...The Bulldogs swept the Buckeyes earlier this season at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center with 5-1 and 7-0 victories...During the series junior captain Allison Lehrke netted her first goal of the 2005-06 campaign, while freshman F Sara O'Toole recorded her first goal in a Bulldog uniform. O'Toole's goal 38 seconds into the Saturday, Oct. 22 game was her first game-winning tally as well...The series was an eventful one as rookie F Michaela Lanzl was awarded a penalty shot that she converted on in the Friday, Oct. 21 for the eventual game-winning tally...Junior goaltender Riitta Schabulin also set the school record for the most career saves when she tallied her 1,310th career stop in the second period on Friday...Sophomore F Samantha Hough and junior D Suvi Vacker also recorded their first points of the season, while sophomore D Rachael Drazan earned the teams first short handed goal of the year.

MINNESOTA STATE MAVERICKS
Minnesota State earned a split with North Dakota in Grand Forks. The Mavericks fell to the Fighting Sioux 3-0 on Saturday before rebounding for a 5-1 win on Sunday. The WCHA split brings the Mavericks to 11-12-3 overall and 8-10-2. With the performances by other teams in the league, MSU currently holds a share of fifth place with Ohio State on the league standings with 18 points...The game on Saturday was delayed by about 30 minutes due to a power outage at Ralph Engelstad Arena and the Mavericks were unable to generate any scoring power of their own. Minnesota State yielded goals on both ends of a 5-on-3 power-play in the second period and an even-strength goal in the third to fall by shutout for the third time this season....The power returned Sunday as the Mavericks scored twice in each of the first two periods and once in the third to cruise to the 5-1 win. Junior Shera Vis and freshman Maggie Fisher each had two-goal performances in the win. Sophomore Kristina Bunker opened the scoring just 2:27 into the game on the power-play, followed by an even-strength marker from Fisher at 7:10. Vis got things rolling in the second, tallying her third goal of the season at 7:16. Just over two minutes later, she was streaking toward the net for another scoring chance but was pulled down from behind. Vis capitalized on the resulting penalty shot to push the lead to four goals. North Dakota closed the gap at 12:59 of the third but Fisher scored her second goal of the game less than a minute later to close the scoring. North Dakota put a whopping 20 shots on goal in the final frame, eventually overtaking MSU on the shot chart, but would get no closer...Sophomore Brit Kehler got both starts, moving to 10-8-2 on the season with the win and loss. She stopped 35 shots on Sunday to get her save percentage back up to .934 to rank fifth in the WCHA. With 591 saves, she is just 26 shy of a spot on MSU's top-five charts for the season...Vis snapped a personal 13-game goal-scoring drought with her goals in the second. The first two-goal game of her career brought her into double digit points for the season at 4-7--11. The penalty shot was the second attempt for MSU this season and first successful one...For Fisher, it was her fourth two-goal game and sixth multi-point effort. She also jumped to fifth on the WCHA rookie scoring charts with 19 points, a total that also leads the team and matches the point total that led the team last season...Bunker jumped into a share of second on the team scoring charts with 14 points. Her third power-play goal of the season is also a team high...Scoring the first goal of the game has proven important for Minnesota State this season. The Mavericks are 10-2-1 when striking first but just 1-10-2 when yielding the first goal...Minnesota State continues road action with a trip up U.S. 169 to face Minnesota in a Friday-Saturday series. Game times are slated for 7:07 and 4:07 p.m. starts, respectively.

North Dakota Fighting Sioux
North Dakota earned a weekend split against visiting Minnesota State...The Sioux won their second conference game of the season Saturday when they beat the Mavericks 3-0...Amber Hasbargen recorded her first shut out of the season stopping all 28 shots she faced...The goal scorers for the Fighting Sioux were Christey Allen, Melissa Jaques and Cara Wooster...Two of the Sioux's goals were scored on the power play...The Fighting Sioux out shot the Mavericks in the game 29-28...Sunday the Fighting Sioux were beat by Minnesota State 5-1...The Mavericks scored on a penalty shot from Shera Vis to give the Mavericks their commanding four goal lead...The Mavericks scored four goals to lead the game before Devon Fingland finally got the Sioux on the board on a goal from the hash marks that beat Kehler glove side...Despite the loss the Sioux out shot Minnesota State 36-31...Amber Hasbargen made her second consecutive start stopping 26 of 31 Maverick shots in the loss for the Fighting Sioux...North Dakota will travel to Bemidji, Minn. next weekend to take on the Bemidji State Beavers on Friday, Feb. 3 at 2:07 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 4 at 7:07 p.m.

Ohio State Buckeyes
Ohio State opened a three-week home stand with a split with No. 4 Minnesota Jan. 27-28 at OSU Ice Rink. The Buckeyes fell by a score of 4-1 Friday before defeating the Golden Gophers 3-2 in overtime Saturday. It was the second time OSU beat Minnesota in overtime this season, also winning 2-1 Nov. 5 at Ridder Arena...The two teams split the season series for only the second time in history. The last time it happened was in the 2000-01 season. This year, UM won both Friday games while OSU won both Saturday matchups. The Buckeyes and Gophers have played in 14 series all-time...The overtime game Saturday was Ohio State's fourth in the last six games. Overall this season, the Buckeyes are 2-1-4 in overtime games...Head coach Jackie Barto reached her 100th win at Ohio State Saturday. She now is 100-123-23 in six-plus seasons at the helm of the Buckeyes...Senior co-captain Jana Harrigan was held scoreless Friday for the first time since Oct. 28, ending her school-record point streak at 17 games. During the stretch, she scored 15 goals with 13 assists and had six multiple-point games. It was just the fourth game all season Harrigan has been held without a point. She was right back at it the next night though, factoring into all three Buckeye goals in the 3-2 win Saturday. The three-point game was her eighth multiple-point game this year. With her goal and two assists Saturday, Harrigan extended her OSU record career point total to 150...Sophomore forward Erin Keys made her first career game-winner count as she scored the game-winning overtime goal Saturday to give the Buckeyes the 3-2 win. The native of St. Paul, Minn., netted the winning goal against the Gophers just 50 seconds into the overtime stanza...Junior assistant captain Katie Maroney had a three-point weekend, including a goal and an assist Saturday. The two-point performance was her second multiple-point game this year, the other coming Oct. 8 vs. St. Cloud State...Sophomore Shelby Aldous scored the lone Ohio State goal Friday. After scoring one goal and four points as a freshman, Aldous has had anything but a sophomore slump her second season with seven goals and 13 points, which tie for third-most on the team...The line of Aldous, Harrigan and Maroney proved to be a winning combination as the three totaled eight points vs. Minnesota. Harrigan and Maroney each had a goal and two assists while Aldous scored a goal and an assist...Freshman goaltender Liana Bonanno stopped 24 of 26 shots faced Saturday to move to 4-3-0 this season. It was her first win since Nov. 25 at Bemidji State. In her four wins, she had played in 240:25, making 121 saves while allowing eight goals. She has a .938 save percentage and 2.00 GAA...The Buckeyes continue their home stand Feb. 3-4 when Minnesota-Duluth comes to OSU Ice Rink. Games begin at 7:07 p.m. Friday and 4:07 p.m. Saturday.

St. Cloud State Huskies
The Huskies recorded its first-ever sweep of Minnesota Duluth at the National Hockey Center winning 2-1 Friday and 3-1 Saturday. This also marks the first time in school history that the Huskies have swept a ranked team. Led by junior goaltender Lauri St. Jacques and senior forward Kristy Oonincx, SCSU tallied its fourth straight win in the WCHA and its fifth sweep of the season. Oonincx led the Huskies in scoring this weekend with four points (3g, 1a), including the game-winning goals in both games. Freshman forward Megan McCarthy came up big for the Huskies as she notched the first goals in both games and finished the weekend with three points (2g, 1a). The big star of the weekend for SCSU was junior goaltender and assistant captain Lauri St. Jacques. St. Jacques held UMD to just two goals in 83 attempts, and notching a career high 81 saves in a weekend series...Friday, the first two periods found the score dead-locked at 0-0. In the first, SCSU's junior goaltender Lauri St. Jacques came up big between the pipes, keeping the Bulldog offensive attack scoreless after 29 attempts. Another bright spot for SCSU was its penalty kill, holding the Bulldog power play attack to 0-of-5 on the night. Kristy Oonincx eventually scored the game-winning goal of the evening as St. Cloud State went on to a 2-1 victory, which marks the fourth all-time victory over the Bulldogs in school history. St. Jacques notched a season-high 39 saves on the night and improved her season record to 5-8-1. Oonincx and McCarthy notched goals for the Huskies and Clarkson and Laura Fast each notched assists in the game. This victory for SCSU marks the second win against a top three ranked team this season. It also marked SCSU's third straight win in the WCHA. Saturday, after 20 minutes of play, UMD had out-shot SCSU 11-8, with the score tied at 0-0. Just 1:21 into the second period, SCSU's Megan McCarthy sent the puck into the back of the net on the power play to give the Huskies to a 1-0 lead. The Huskies would extend their lead to 2-0 before the second intermission with yet another power play goal from Oonincx. After 40 minutes of play, the Bulldogs were still out-shooting the Huskies 25-18. However, it was SCSU's penalty coming through strong as it held UMD's power play attack to 0-1 after two periods of play....At the 4:02 mark of the third, SCSU boosted its lead to 3-0 with another power play goal from Oonincx. Outshooting the Huskies in the third 18-6, UMD put its lone goal on the board at the 10:07 mark from Suvi Vacker...Although the Huskies were outshot 83-47 on the weekend, they earned the sweep and moved into fourth place in the WCHA...With the win, the Huskies improve their overall record to 12-13-1 and 9-10-1 in the WCHA. SCSU, who is fourth in the WCHA standings, holds a one-point lead in the conference standings over Ohio State...SCSU now prepares for No. 1 Wisconsin (22-2-1, 17-1-1 WCHA) as they host to the Badgers Feb. 3-4 in the National Hockey Center with both games starting at 2:07 p.m.

Wisconsin Badgers
No. 1 Wisconsin out-shot and out-scored Bemidji State to sweep with 4-2 and 3-1 wins at the Kohl Center...The Badgers improved to 23-2-1 overall and 18-1-1 in the WCHA and extended their unbeaten streak to 12 games, the program's longest...The Beavers fell to 6-20-2 overall and to 5-17-0 in the conference...Head coach Mark Johnson is now just two wins shy of his 100th UW and career win with a 98-25-10 record...The nation's points leader, junior Sara Bauer (St. Catharines, Ontario), added a goal and two assists to her record in the series...Bauer's 42 points this season put her tied with Sis Paulsen's 130 career points for third place on the UW's all-time list...They are behind Kendra Antony's 159 points (1999-02) and Meghan Hunter in the top spot with 177 (2000-03)...In Saturday's game, both teams were scoreless for more than 18 minutes of action in the first period...Freshman Erika Lawler (Fitchburg, Mass.) put the first point on the scoreboard...Wisconsin notched its second goal of the game just 4:37 following the first intermission...Captain Sharon Cole (Bloomington, Minn.) and Jinelle Zaugg (Eagle River, Wis.) made two quick passes across Beaver territory, to linemate Sara Bauer who collected the puck in front of the crease and scored...In goal for Wisconsin, Dufour collected 15 saves, while Bemidji State's Brookshaw stopped 34 shots...In the rematch Sunday, a scoreless opening period led to Wisconsin striking at 12:46 in the second. Senior captain Sharon Cole (Bloomington, Minn.) netted a goal from the slot with freshman Alycia Matthews (Castlegar, British Columbia) and Bauer credited with assists on the play...On a power play just over two minutes later, Bobbi-Jo Slusar (Swift Current, Saskatchewan) and Bauer assisted on Meghan Mikkelson's (St. Albert, Alberta) goal.. The goal was Mikkelson's second of the season and the eventual game-winner. Jessie Vetter (Cottage Grove, Wis.), in her third career start, stopped 21 Beaver shots...Vetter improved to 3-0-0 as a Badger...Wisconsin will be on the road again next week to take on St. Cloud State, who recently swept Minnesota Duluth in conference action...The puck will drop at the National Hockey Center at 2:07 p.m. Friday and Saturday

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