Feb. 5, 2006

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MADISON, Wisc. - Minnesota (19-8-1/14-7-1) and Bemidji State (8-20-2/7-17-0) each recorded sweeps in their WCHA series over the weekend. Minnesota earned four points and maintained their hold on third place in the standings (29 points) with two overtime wins against visiting Minnesota State (11-14-3/8-12-2). Friday, the Golden Gophers posted a 2-1 win and then completed the sweep with a 4-3 overtime victory Saturday. Minnesota State is currently in sixth place in the league standings with 18 points. Bemidji State also won two one goal games over the weekend against visiting North Dakota (6-20-2/2-18-2). Friday, the Beavers earned a 5-4 overtime victory and then capped the sweep with a 1-0 win Saturday.

Friday, No. 1 Wisconsin (24-3-1/19-2-1) won its 10th game in a row with a 3-1 victory at St. Cloud State (13-14-1/10-11-1). But Saturday, the Huskies snapped that winning streak, and Wisconsin's 13-game unbeaten streak, with a 1-0 win. It marked the second time this season the Huskies have upset the top-ranked team in the nation. St. Cloud State also defeated St. Lawrence while it held the country's No. 1 ranking. Minnesota Duluth (18-6-2/16-6-2) posted a win and a tie at Ohio State (11-12-5/8-11-3). Friday, the Bulldogs edged the Buckeyes, 3-2, and then the two teams skated to a 1-1 overtime tie on Saturday.

The league race will heat up again this weekend with four WCHA series on the schedule. St. Cloud State travels to Minnesota State, Minnesota Duluth will host North Dakota, Minnesota is at Wisconsin and Ohio State will host Bemidji State.

COMING UP IN THE WCHA

Games for Friday, February 10:
St. Cloud State at Minnesota State, 7:07 p.m.*
North Dakota at Minnesota Duluth, 7:07 p.m.*
Minnesota at Wisconsin, 7:07 p.m.*
Bemidji State at Ohio State, 7:07 p.m.*

Games for Saturday, February 11:
St. Cloud State at Minnesota State, 3:07 p.m.*
Minnesota at Wisconsin, 4:07 p.m.*
Bemidji State at Ohio State, 4:07 p.m.*
North Dakota at Minnesota Duluth, 7:07 p.m.*

* WCHA contest

LAST WEEK IN THE WCHA

Results from Friday, February 3:
Wisconsin 3 at St. Cloud State 1*
Minnesota Duluth 3 at Ohio State 2*
North Dakota 4 at Bemidji State 5 OT*
Minnesota State 1 at Minnesota 2 OT*

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

* WCHA contest

USCHO.com Division I Women's Poll January 30
(first-place votes in parentheses)

Rank	Team	Last Ranking	Record
1.	Wisconsin, 144 (9)	1	23-2-1
2.	New Hampshire, 141 (6)	2	21-2-1
3.	St. Lawrence, 118	5	20-3-2
4.	Minnesota Duluth, 97	3	17-6-1
5.	Minnesota, 93	4	17-8-1
6.	Mercyhurst, 82	6	17-7-2
7.	Harvard, 49	7	10-6-2
8.	Princeton, 39	8	11-5-4
9.	Clarkson, 35	9	18-7-1
10.	Providence, 13	10	13-8-4

Others Receiving Votes: St. Cloud State 11, Maine 2, Ohio State 1

USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Women's College Hockey Poll January 31
(first-place votes in parentheses)

Rank	Team	Last Ranking	Record
1.	Wisconsin, 186 (15)	1	23-2-1
2.	New Hampshire, 175 (4)	2	21-2-1
3.	St. Lawrence, 143	5	20-3-2
4.	Minnesota, 124	4	17-8-1
5.	Minnesota Duluth, 123	3	17-6-1
6.	Mercyhurst, 101	6	17-7-2
7.	Harvard, 67	7	10-7-2
8.	Princeton, 60	8	11-5-4
9.	Clarkson, 35	9	18-7-1
10.	Providence, 12	10	13-8-4

Others receiving votes: St. Cloud State 10; Ohio State 4; Maine 3; Boston College 2.

BEMIDJI STATE BEAVERS
Bemidji State played host to the North Dakota Fighting Sioux at the John Glas Fieldhouse this past weekend. Bemidji State earned its first weekend series sweep of the season and its first weekend series sweep since Feb. 11-12, 2005. It is also the first sweep the Beavers have had at the John Glas Fieldhous since Dec. 12-13 against St. Cloud State. On Friday Bemidji State battled back from a 4-2 deficit in the third period to win a 5-4 overtime thriller and on Saturday Bemidji State was able to produce the only goal of the game and complete the weekend sweep with a 1-0 victory. On Friday evening North Dakota came out and controlled much of the action as they out-shot Bemidji State 15-to-12 in the first period and held a 2-1 led after the first period. Scoring for Bemidji State was Jessica Pullar (Elk River, Minn.) her seventh goal of the season. Bemidji State tied the contest up in the second period on a goal by Kelly Hart (Ajax, Ontario). Hart's goal was the only goal scored in the second period. In the third period of play North Dakota scored two unanswered goals to jump back in front by to goals. Bemidji State would battle back as Nikki Eckebrecht (Hamilton, Ontario) would bring Bemidji State with-in one goal and then Hart would net her second goal of the game to tie the contest at 4-4 at the 11:11 mark of the third period. In the overtime session Bemidji State took advantage of the power play as 1:41 into overtime Jessica Pullar netted her second goal of the game to give the Beavers the 5-4 overtime victory. Emily Brookshaw (Webster, Wis.) would pick up her fourth victory of the season for the Beavers as she recorded 31 saves in the 5-4 OT victory. Bemidji State completed the sweep on Saturday afternoon as senior netminder Jill Luebke (Neenah, Wis.) garnered her first career shut-out in a 1-0 win over North Dakota. Bemidji State would not get the game winning goal until 12:57 of the third period by Carly Napier (Toronto, Ontario). With the victory Luebke improves to 4-9-1 on the season. Bemidji State was perfect on the penalty kill this weekend as the Beavers have killed off 31 of its last 32 penalties. Bemidji State improves to 7-8-1 against North Dakota and earns its first weekend series sweep over the Fighting Sioux since Nov. 16-17, 2002 in Grand Forks, N.D. Bemidji State will hit the road again as the Beavers will travel to Columbus, Ohio to take on the Ohio State Buckeyes in a weekend series on Feb. 10-11. Bemidji State and Ohio State skated to a weekend series split at the John Glas Fieldhouse on Nov. 25-26. Ohio State took the first game 4-2 while Bemidji State salvaged the weekend split with a 5-2 victory in the series finale. Bemidji State is 8-17-3 all-time versus Ohio State and is 2-9-1 in Columbus, Ohio. On Friday Feb. 10 the game is scheduled to start at 7:07 p.m., while on Saturday Feb.4 the puck is slated to drop at 2:07 p.m.

MINNESOTA GOLDEN GOPHERS
No. 4 Minnesota was one of two teams in the WCHA to earn sweeps this weekend. The Golden Gophers earned two hard fought wins over Minnesota State University, Mankato on Feb. 3-4. The Gophers earned their first win in a 2-1 overtime win Friday night at Ridder Arena. Both teams went scoreless for nearly two periods until Erica McKenzie scored her 18th goal of the season, scoring a breakaway goal at 19:32 of the second period. Minnesota State answered when Shera Vis scored a goal at 10:46 of the third period and sent the game into overtime. In the overtime period, Bobbi Ross intercepted a pass and found Ashley Albrecht near center ice. Albrecht skated in one-on-one and scored her third goal of the season and her first gamewinner of her senior year...The second game ended as the first in the series with the Gophers earning a 4-3 overtime win in Mariucci Arena Saturday. The Gophers allowed their second short-handed goal of the season at 18:55 of the first period. The 1-0 lead lasted until the 4:56 mark of the third period as Gigi Marvin scored her first goal of the period and followed with her second goal at 6:16. With a 2-1 lead, MSU responded with a goal at 6:32. Jenelle Philipczyk scored her 10th goal of the season to give the Gophers a 3-2 lead at 17:49, but MSU tied the game for the second time at 18:40 and sent the game into overtime. It took just :58 for the Gophers to earn their 19th win of the season when Andrea Nichols scored her sixth goal of the year off a rebound attempt...Prior to Friday's game, the Gophers had not won an overtime game this season. Minnesota entered the series, 0-2-1 during the extra period. The last time the Gophers won in overtime was against Wisconsin for the WCHA Championship, March 6...On the weekend, nine Gophers earned a point. Marvin and McKenzie led the team with three points, while Jenelle Philipczyk and Bobbi Ross each had two points. Both goaltenders saw action this weekend, each picking up a win. Kim Hanlon improved to 7-2-0, while Brittony Chartier earned her 12th win of the season on Saturday...The Gophers will head to Madison, Wis., to face the top team in the league, the Wisconsin Badgers, Feb. 10-11. Both games will be played at 7 p.m. at the Kohl Center.

MINNESOTA DULUTH BULLDOGS
After dropping three straight games, for only the second time in school history, No. 4 Minnesota Duluth rebounded with a win on Friday and a tie on Saturday with Ohio State. The Bulldogs earned a 3-2 victory on Friday, spurred on by a two goal first period. Several Bulldog players earned season and career firsts in Friday's game. Senior F Larissa Luther earned her first goal of the 2005-06 season. The goal was the first for Luther since March 13, 2004 when she scored a goal against the Wisconsin in the WCHA Semi-Final game. The point was Luther's fourth of the season and her first since Nov. 26, 2005 against Harvard. Rookie F Sara O'Toole earned the game-winning tally on Friday. O'Toole now has a team high, league and national high six game-winners. She was assisted on the goal by freshman D Myriam Trepanier, who garnered her first career point UMD now has only three skaters that have yet to record a single point in the 2005-2006 campaign. Junior F Jessica Koizumi earned her 13th goal of the season on Saturday, for her team leading 35th point. Koizumi is now on a four game point-scoring streak that dates back to Jan. 27, 2006. She is also tied for the lead in league standings with 20 assists and ranks second in the WCHA in the points per game column (1.33) and power-play points (4-9=13). Koizumi and fellow linemate junior F Noemie Marin have both surpassed the 100 point mark of their careers. Koizumi has 107, while Marin has garnered 109. The Bulldogs had seven different skaters earn their seven points this weekend. For some is was there first point in as many as 11games. Freshman F Tawni Mattila earned her first point since Jan. 13, 2006, sophomore Rachael Drazan garnered her first assist since Jan. 14, 2006, and junior captain Allison Lehrke got on the board for the first time since Dec. 3, 2005. Of the seven goal scored between UMD and OSU this weekend, only one was a power-play mark, scored by the Buckeyes. The Bulldogs have now failed to garner a goal with the extra skater in their last five games, dating back to Jan. 21, 2006 against Minnesota. UMD, who was No. 1 in the national penalty kill column at that time has now dropped to No. 4 in the country with a 89.6 percentage (138-of-154). This weekend the Bulldogs were without the services of rookies Michaela Lanzl and Mari Pehkonen, and assistant coach Ira Turunen, who are in Turino, Italy for the XX Winter Olympic Games. Lanzl will miss the remaining of the regular season, while Pehkonen and Turunen will be back in time for the final regular season series with Minnesota State. Up next for the Bulldogs will be the final regular season home series at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center as UMD will face North Dakota on Feb. 10-11, 2006 at 7:07 p.m. each day. The Bulldogs are a perfect 11-0-0 against North Dakota. The two teams meet earlier this season in Grand Forks, ND where UMD took the games 6-1 and 3-0. Senior D Krista McArthur earned her first goal of the 2005-2006 season during the series, while Luther tallied her first point since March 13, 2004. Saturday Feb. 11 will feature a tribute to both seniors.

MINNESOTA STATE MAVERICKS
Minnesota State battled No.4/5 Minnesota to two overtime games but fell both times by scores of 2-1 and 4-3. The losses bring the sixth-place Mavericks to 11-14-3 overall and 8-12-2 in WCHA play. The extra-session losses marked the first time since Feb. 14, 2003 that the Mavericks have lost in overtime. In their last 15 overtime games, Minnesota State was 2-0-13...The season Maverick-Gopher season series could scarcely have been any closer, with Minnesota earning three one-goal wins. The Gophers outscored the Mavericks 8-5 in the four meetings, in contrast to a 20-1 margin last season...The Gophers opened the scoring in the second period Friday but junior Shera Vis responded with her fifth goal of the season to knot the scoring in the third. Minnesota got the game-winner 3:19 into the extra session. Sophomore goaltender Brit Kehler absorbed the loss, stopping 34 shots of 36 faced and holding UM scoreless on six power-plays...Freshman Maggie Fisher gave MSU a 1-0 lead at 18:55 of the first on Saturday with her second short-handed goal of the season. The Gophers jumped to a 2-1 lead with two quick goals in the second but sophomore defenseman Andreanne Thibault tied the game for MSU with her third goal of the season just 16 seconds after the second UM goal. The Gophers made it 3-2 late in the third but, once again, the Mavericks snapped back. Autumn Conway tallied her second goal of the season at 18:40 to send the game to overtime for the second night in a row. The Gophers ended the game just 58 seconds into the extra frame, getting a goal from Andrea Nichols. Junior Laura Brennan, like Kehler the night before, faced a disparity on the shot chart. The Mavericks were outshot 39-14 in the game but Brennan kept the team in contention with 35 saves. She also kept the Gophers fruitless on the power-play, stonewalling them on three chances...The Mavericks are 10-3-1 when scoring the first goal. Two of those losses have come at the hands of Minnesota. The other was a 2-1 setback to Bemidji State on Nov. 5...The Mavericks got a balanced effort in the two overtime losses. The team registered four goals and four assists for eight points, getting one each from eight different players...Fisher extended her team scoring lead with her team-best second short-handed goal of the season. Her 14th goal of the season gives her sole ownership of fifth on the MSU single-season charts and her 20 points outpaces the team lead from all 35 games last season....With her second goal of the season, Conway became the eighth Maverick to hit double-digits in points this season. By contrast, only four players hit that mark last season...Senior captain Jen Jonsson added an assist this weekend, bringing her season totals to 1-6--7. That single-season total matches her point output from her first three seasons combined...The Mavericks will look to climb out of sixth place next weekend when they host St. Cloud State at All Seasons Arena. The Friday-Saturday series is set for 7:07 p.m. and 3:07 p.m. starts.

NORTH DAKOTA FIGHTING SIOUX
The Fighting Sioux women's hockey team failed to gain ground this weekend in WCHA action against the Bemidji State Beavers...The Sioux went into the games trailing Bemidji by four points and had the potential to catch them in the standings with two wins but it was the other way around as the Beavers swept the Sioux...Bemidji State trailed UND 4-2 with 15 minutes left in the third period but the Beavers tallied two goals in the remainder of the period to force overtime...Jessica Pullar scored in overtime to give the Beavers a 5-4 win over UND...For the Sioux Randi Motsko scored the opening goal at 4:56 of the first period. Aynsley Allen assisted on the goal...Devon Fingland put the Sioux up 2-1 after one period of play on a goal at 16:29. Melissa Jaques and Sarah Connelly assisted on the goal...Christy Carlson and Samantha Bowers scored third period goals to put the Sioux up 4-2 but Bemidji bounced back to tie the game...Amber Hasbargen made 26 saves on 31 Bemidji shots...The Fighting Sioux out shot the Beavers in the game 35-31...Saturday the Sioux didn't get on the scoreboard as they lost 1-0...Carly Napier scored an even strength goal at 12:57 of the third period to give the Beavers a 1-0 lead and ended up being the game winner...Margaret-Ann Hinkley started in goal for the Sioux and stopped 26 of 27 Bemidji State shots in the loss...The Fighting Sioux now fall to 6-20-2 overall and fall to 2-18-2 in WCHA play...UND will travel to Duluth, Minn. next weekend to play the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs...Game times are set for Friday Feb.10 and Saturday Feb.11 at 7:07 p.m.

OHIO STATE BUCKEYES
The Ohio State women's hockey team hosted No. 4/5 Minnesota-Duluth Feb. 3-4 at OSU Ice Rink. UMD edged the Buckeyes Friday by a score of 3-2 before the teams skated to a 1-1 tie Saturday. The tie in game two snapped a nine-game losing streak to the Bulldogs and was the first tie with UMD since Nov. 24, 2001. It was only the third in tie in 33 meetings between the two teams...The tie Saturday was the fifth for OSU this season for a single-season team record. The overtime game was also the fifth for the Buckeyes in their last eight games...The loss Friday was the first for the Buckeyes this season when holding their opponent to three goals or less. OSU is 11-1-5 this year when keeping opponents to three goals or fewer...Senior co-captain Jana Harrigan scored both Ohio State goals Friday to increase her team-leading season total to 20. Harrigan is just the fifth Buckeye in OSU women's hockey history to reach to 20-goal plateau in a season...Freshman goaltender Liana Bonanno made 32 saves Friday for her seventh game this season with 30 or more saves. Bonanno has made 288 saves in 10 appearances for an average of 28.8 saves per game...Junior goalie Erika Vanderveer followed Bonanno with an outstanding performance herself Saturday. She stopped 42 of 43 shots faced to set a new career-high for saves in a game. Eleven of Vanderveer's saves were while the Bulldogs were on the power play....Junior assistant captain Katie Maroney scored the lone OSU goal Saturday for her ninth overall this season. It was also her fourth on the power play. Maroney had an assist Friday for a two-point weekend and to extend her point streak to four games...Also notching two points in the series was junior blueliner Amber Bowman. She assisted on the first goal Friday and had an assist Saturday. Her helper Friday ended a seven-game scoring drought...Ohio State's penalty kill had a perfect 12-for-12 weekend vs. Minnesota-Duluth. The PK was 7-for-7 Friday and 5-for-5 Saturday. The Buckeyes have killed off 40 of their opponent's last 44 power plays...The Buckeyes conclude their three-week home stand when Bemidji State comes to OSU Ice Rink Feb. 10-11. Games begin at 7:07 p.m. Friday and 4:07 p.m. Saturday. The teams split the series earlier this season, Nov. 25-26, at BSU. Ohio State won 4-2 Friday before falling 5-2 Saturday.

ST. CLOUD STATE HUSKIES
The Huskies earned two crucial conference points with the split against Wisconsin to stay in 4th place in the WCHA and hold on to a two-point lead over Ohio State University, who is fifth in the WCHA. St. Cloud State defeated No. 1 Wisconsin 1-0 in conference action on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2006. This win marks the first time in school history that the Huskies have defeated two different No. 1 ranked teams in the same season (last victory over No. 1 ranked team was on Jan. 7, 2006 with a 4-3 OT win over St. Lawrence). SCSU gained 11 votes in the USCHO.com poll on Jan. 30 and 10 votes in the USA Today/American Hockey Women's Poll on Jan. 31...Despite being out-shot 36-12 on Saturday, the Huskies improved to 13-14-1 overall and 10-11-1 in the WCHA with the 1-0 victory...Led by junior goaltender Lauri St. Jacques, who has notched 146 saves in the last four games, the Huskies snapped the No. 1 Badgers' 10-game winning streak and handed UW their first scoreless game of the season. St. Jacques earned her first shut-out of the season after collecting 36 saves in the game and improving her season record to 6-9-1...Friday afternoon, the Huskies dropped a 3-1 loss to the visiting Wisconsin Badgers. SCSU jumped out to a 1-0 lead at the 12:28 mark of the first period with a power play goal from sophomore forward Marie-Michel Lemeiux. With just one second left on the SCSU penalty kill, UW knotted the score at 1-1 with a power play goal from senior forward Cyndy Kenyon at 15:16. The Badgers were quick to respond as freshman forward Angie Keseley sparked her team with the game-winning goal in the crease to boost her team to a 2-1 lead at the 16:45 mark of the first period. After 20 minutes of play, Wisconsin had out-shot the Huskies 14-10, as SCSU junior goaltender Lauri St. Jacques had tallied 12 saves. Less than five minutes into the period, UW jumped out to a 3-1 lead with a goal in the low slot from freshman forward Erika Lawler. The Badgers, won their 10th straight game and out-shot the Huskies 32-29. St. Cloud State University was led by sophomore forward Marie-Michel Lemieux, who netted the lone goal of the game for the Huskies. Senior captain Randie Jelinski and sophomore Laura Fast each notched assists in the game. SCSU's penalty kill was strong as it held UW to just 1-of-6 in the power play category. In net for the Huskies, St. Jacques tallied 29 saves on the day...The Huskies head to All Season Arena in Mankato, Minn., for a two-game road series against Minnesota State (11-14-3, 8-12-2 WCHA) on Feb. 10-11. Friday's game is slated for 7:05 p.m. with the second game of the series set to begin at 3:05 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 11.

WISCONSIN BADGERS
No. 1 Wisconsin (24-3-1, 19-2-1 WCHA) split its weekend series with St. Cloud State (13-14-1, 10-11-1 WCHA) with a 3-1 win Friday followed by a 1-0 defeat Saturday...The loss snapped a 13-game unbeaten streak for the Badgers and gave the team just its third season loss...On Friday, St. Cloud State jumped on the board first with a power-play goal at 12:28 in the opening period...Wisconsin answered three minutes later with two quick goals at 15:16 and 16:45...Senior Cyndy Kenyon (Sparta, Wis.) got things started with a power-play goal with help from Nikki Burish (Madison, Wis.)...Next up was Angie Keseley (St. Louis Park, Minn.) who notched her 10th season goal...Keseley returned the favor in the second when she fed Lawler the puck who pocketed her eighth season goal at 4:33 ... Bobbi-Jo Slusar (Swift Current, Saskatchewan) was also credited with an assist...Wisconsin is a perfect 16-0 when Slusar marks an assist...Goalie Meghan Horras (Appleton, Wis.) made 28 saves in the game...In the rematch, after over 50 minutes of scoreless action and despite out-shooting St. Cloud State, 36-12, Wisconsin fell after allowing just one goal in the third period...Wisconsin was 0-7 on the power play with a five-on-three opportunity in the second period...For Wisconsin, rookie Jessie Vetter (Cottage Grove, Wis.) made 11 stops in the game but the one that got by was the difference at 13:18 in the third period...The Badgers spent the last 1:30 of the game with an open net on the power play, but the puck was just not bouncing for the Badgers...The Badgers will return home to host No. 5 Minnesota (19-8-1, 14-7-1 WCHA) at the Kohl Center, Feb. 10-11...The Badgers swept the Gophers earlier this season in Minneapolis...Game time is set for 7:07 p.m. Friday and Saturday...UW head coach Mark Johnson will look to gain his 100th coaching win. In his fourth season, his record stands at 99-26-10.

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