This Week In WCHA
Feb. 13, 2005
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MADISON, Wisc. - Bemidji State (8-20-2/4-19-1) and Wisconsin (22-7-1/16-7-1) each swept their weekend series to pick up four points while St. Cloud State (8-18-4/6-15-3) and Minnesota Duluth (23-3-2/21-3-2) split their series to come away with two points each. Minnesota (27-1-2/22-0-2) swept North Dakota (7-20-3/4-19-1) to regain sole possession of first place in the standings with 46 points. Minnesota Duluth slipped to second place with 44 points after its series split at St. Cloud State. Wisconsin continues to hold down third place with 33 points. The Badgers swept visiting Ohio State (14-14-2/11-14-1) who are fourth with 23 points. Minnesota State (8-16-6/7-14-3) is fifth (17 points) followed by St. Cloud State (15 points) and Bemidji State and North Dakota (nine points each).
Friday, Wisconsin skated to a 6-3 win over Ohio State in Madison. Jinelle Zaugg and Grace Hutchins each scored twice for the Badgers and Meghan Horras made 19 saves to earn the win. The Badgers completed the sweep with a 7-2 victory Saturday. Jackie Friesen led the way with a hattrick while Nicole Uliasz had a goal and two assists. Horras won her fourth-straight game as she made 18 saves. Mallory Peckels and Meaghan Mulvaney scored for Ohio State.
Bemidji State completed its first league series sweep of the season with back-to-back shutouts at Minnesota State. Friday, the Beavers posted a 3-0 win on a hattrick from Carly Napier. Emily Brookshaw had 16 saves in the victory. Saturday, Tara Hiscock scored the lone goal of the game to give Bemidji State a 1-0 win. Brookshaw had 19 saves to post her second-straight shutout.
Minnesota moved back into sole possession of first place with two home wins over North Dakota. Saturday, the Golden Gophers recorded a 7-0 win behind Krissy Wendell's three goals and two assists. Kelly Stephens added two goals and three helpers while linemate Natalie Darwitz had a goal and two assists. Brenda Reinen had 15 saves en route to the shutout. Sunday, Bobbi Ross led Minnesota to a 4-2 win with two goals. Wendell added three assists while Reinen posted back-to-back wins with 21 saves.
St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth each won a game in their series in St. Cloud. Friday, Minnesota Duluth stopped the Huskies 4-0. The Bulldogs' Jessica Koizumi had two goals and Riitta Schaublin had 25 saves in the shutout. Saturday, the Huskies rebounded to post a 4-3 win. Carrie Halldorf scored the game winning goal, her second of the game, late in the second period while Lauri St. Jacques made 34 saves in the win. Minnesota will look to clinch its second consecutive, and fourth in six years, WCHA Regular Season Championship as they host Minnesota State. Bemidji State hosts Wisconsin, St. Cloud State is at North Dakota and Ohio State travels to Niagara in a non-conference series. Minnesota Duluth is off next weekend.
This Week in the WCHA
Games for Friday, February 18: Wisconsin at Bemidji State, 2:05 p.m.; Ohio State at Niagara (nc), 7 p.m.; Saturday, February 19: St. Cloud State at North Dakota, 2:05 p.m.; Wisconsin at Bemidji State, 2:05 p.m.; Minnesota State at Minnesota (Mariucci Arena), 3:05 p.m.; Ohio State at Niagara (nc), 7 p.m.; Sunday, February 20: St. Cloud State at North Dakota, 2:05 p.m.; Minnesota State at Minnesota, 3:05 p.m.\
Last Week in the WCHA
Results of Friday, February 11:
Ohio State 3 at Wisconsin 6 WC
Minnesota Duluth 4 at St. Cloud State 0 WC
Bemidji State 3 at Minnesota State 0 WC
Saturday, February 12:
Minnesota Duluth 3 at St. Cloud State 4 WC
North Dakota 0 at Minnesota 7 WC
Bemidji State 1 at Minnesota State 0 WC
Ohio State 2 at Wisconsin 7 WC
Sunday, February 13:
North Dakota 2 at Minnesota 4 WC
Bemidji State Beavers
Bemidji State traveled to Minnesota State and took both games to sweep the Mavericks on the weekend. MSU, sitting in fifth place in the WCHA, were shutout in both games by the Beavers, 3-0 and 1-0...Friday night's game was highlighted by two superior performances from the Beavers. While gaining her second shutout of the season freshman Emily Brookshaw turned aside all 16 Maverick shots on goal and got offensive help from junior Carly Napier who scored all three goals in the 3-0 Beaver victory to gain the first hat trick of her career. Napier's goal in the first period would be the only scoring for either team in each of the first two periods. Defenseman Sarah Zuelke and freshman Tara Hiscock gathered the assists. Two late, third period goals, including an empty netter by Napier, more than sealed the deal for the Beavers as Brookshaw continued to stonewall Minnesota State...A defensive battle ensued on Saturday afternoon as each team went scoreless for the first 53 minutes of the game. Bemidji, Minn., native Tara Hiscock put the game-winner in the back of the net on a feed from sophomore Kelly Hart with just 6:58 remaining the third period. For the second straight game Brookshaw was flawless, stopping all 19 shots she faced. The second consecutive shutout marked the first time the Beavers have had back-to-back shutouts since Nov. 10-11, 2000 in two games also played at Minnesota State ...Freshman Emily Brookshaw set Beaver records for consecutive shutouts by single goalie (2), shutouts in a season (3), and longest shutout sequence (currently 122:38). Brookshaw also tied the Beaver record for shutouts in a career (3) and moved into a fourth-place tie for wins in a season (5)...Tara Hiscock started a two-game point scoring streak with an assist on Friday and a goal on Saturday...The Beavers improved their all-time record versus Minnesota State to 10-11-5 including a 7-5-1 mark at MSU...The Beavers will return to familiar ice at the John S. Glas Fieldhouse to take on No. 4 Wisconsin in a two-game weekend series. The WCHA conference games are scheduled for Feb. 18-19, 2005 with both games slated for 2:05 p.m....Head Coach Bruce Olson holds an 0-9-1 mark in his career versus the University of Wisconsin...Olson has posted a 14-55-9 record against current members of the WCHA...BSU owns a 33-113-18 record against current WCHA opponents...The all-time series record versus the Badgers stands at 1-22-1 with the lone win coming on Dec. 9, 2001. Last season the Badgers took all four games of the matchup. Earlier this season the Beavers traveled to UW and were swept with scores of 8-2 and 4-0 at the hands of the Badgers. Bemidji State holds an 0-9-1 mark at home, 1-11-0 on the road, and a 0-2-0 neutral site record all-time versus Wisconsin
Minnesota Golden Gophers
No. 1 Minnesota earned four points in a WCHA series sweep over North Dakota. The Gophers handed UND a 7-0 and 4-2 loss last Saturday and Sunday at Ridder Arena. The Golden Gophers improve their overall record to 27-1-2 and 22-0-2 in league action. With a UMD loss to St. Cloud State, the Gophers hold the No. 1 spot in the conference and could clinch at least a share of the regular season title next weekend against Minnesota State...The Gophers need four points within the next four games in order to win the regular season championship. If the Gophers achieve the feat, it would be their fourth regular season title in six years. The Gophers won their first regular season title in the 2000-01 season, and again in 2001-02. Minnesota won the regular season championship last year before winning the national and WCHA Final Five championship...Krissy Wendell led the Gophers in scoring over North Dakota last weekend. Wendell tallied three goals and an assist in Saturday's 7-0 win, while adding three assists in the 4-2 victory. Her hat trick against UND was the sixth this season. The only other players to post hat tricks this season is Kelly Stephens (2) and Natalie Darwitz (1). Bobbi Ross scored a season and career-high two goals in the Gophers' 4-2 win. She leads all WCHA rookies with 25 points...Stephens had a stellar first game against UND, scoring two goals and three assists for five points. She followed her five-point performance by tallying her 200th career point in the Gopher win on Sunday. Stephens is the fifth player in the Golden Gopher program to reach the 200-point mark. She currently ranks fifth in the school's all-time scoring record. Stephens became the third Gopher to reach the 200 career-point mark this season. Darwitz and Wendell both reached their point total in January against Ohio State...Although Erica McKenzie assisted on a goal Saturday, she ended her scoring streak in Sunday's game. In the past 12 games, McKenzie has tallied 10 points...Senior Brenda Reinen started in goal both days against UND. She collected two wins over the weekend, including her fourth shutout of the season last Saturday. Reinen allowed two goals, the first two this season on home ice. Reinen shut out Bemidji State, 5-0 (Jan. 8) and Brown, 5-0 (Jan. 15) in front of the Gophers' home crowd...The Gophers host the Mavericks next Saturday and Sunday at 3:05 p.m. Saturday's game will be held in Mariucci Arena, while Sunday's game is in Ridder Arena. Prior to Sunday's game, the Gophers' five seniors, Jody Horak, Brenda Reinen, Kelly Stephens, Noelle Sutton and Stacy Troumbly, will be honored for the final home game of the regular season. The Gophers then travel to Duluth, Minn., to take on UMD Feb. 26-27.
Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs
The No. 2 Bulldogs came away with a series split with St. Cloud State University this weekend, with a 4-0 victory on Friday night and then suffering a 3-4 loss on Saturday.the weekend capped off the road portion of the 2004-2005 season....Friday's 4-0 victory was the third straight shut-out of the Huskies this season.for the second straight game the Bulldogs were propelled to victory with a goal by rookie Karine Demeule when she scored first for UMD on Friday. Demeule then added a second first goal of the game on Saturday...The Bulldog's Top-10 Patty Kazmaier finalist, Caroline Ouellette garnered two assists on Friday and then added a goal in Saturday's contest...The loss on Saturday was the first for UMD since Jan. 14 and the first time that the Bulldogs lost to the Huskies since Feb. 24, 2002...UMD was on a eight game winning streak before the loss and it was also the first time in eight games that UMD scored less than four goals...Saturday saw action in net from all three of the UMD netminders, with Anna-Kaisa Piiroinen picking up her first loss of the season...The Bulldogs will have the next weekend off to rest and prepare for the final series of the year against the University of Minnesota at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center on Feb. 26-27...UMD is 11-11-4 against the Gophers in the all-time series, including a loss and a tie earlier this season, and a 4-3-3 record at the DECC...The Bulldogs have a perfect 12-0-0 on home ice this season...UMD will have a lot going on at the games besides the battle on the ice.prior to the start of the game on Saturday, Feb. 26 as the Bulldogs will retire former standout Maria Rooth's jersey and then end the weekend with the sixth annual Senior Day celebration immediately following the game on Sunday.
Minnesota State Mavericks
Minnesota State was on the short end of a WCHA sweep against Bemidji State last weekend, falling 3-0 and 1-0 at All Seasons Arena. The setbacks snapped a nine-game unbeaten streak against the Beavers (6-0-3) and marked the first sweep since Nov. 2-3 of 2001. The Mavericks now own an overall mark of 8-16-6, 7-14-3 in conference play. The losses leave just two points between sixth-place St. Cloud State (15) and fifth-place MSU (17)...Sophomore goaltender Laura Brennan faced over 30 shots in back-to-back starts against BSU. On Saturday, she turned aside 30 of 31 faced, yielding a single goal on the power-play at 13:02 of the third period to Tara Hiscock. On the weekend, Brennan faced a 63-35 shot-chart disadvantage...With 40 minutes of penalties on the weekend, Minnesota State broke its own team record for minutes in a season with 550, eclipsing last season's mark of 511. The team has also broken the conference mark with 472 minutes in league play and is rapidly approaching the overall mark of 596, set by by UMD in 2002-03...By playing in her 131st career game, senior forward Kristina Koga moved into a tie for third place on the all-time charts at MSU. She equalled the mark set by Cara Samuelson from 1998 to 2002. Koga has scored 15 points on nine goals and six assists for 15 points in her career. This season, she has played in 29 games and is the only Maverick skater without a penalty on the season...Fellow seniors Kearstin Solberg and Melanie Salatino played the final home games of their Maverick career last weekend. The duo has combined for 102 points in their careers on 53 goals and 49 assists. Solberg has played 123 games in her four seasons while Salatino will soon become the 11th Maverick in team history to suit up in over 100 games. She has seen action in all 98 possible games in her three-year career...The Mavericks were without the services of freshman goaltender Brit Kehler and freshman defenseman Kerri Wallace this weekend. The duo was in Duisburg, Germany playing in the Air Canada Cup for the Canadian Under-22 Team. Kehler recorded a shutout and Wallace earned two assists as the Canadians downed the German team 13-0...Minnesota State will play its final four regular-season games on the road, beginning with a two-game set with Minnesota next weekend. That precedes the regular-season finale with Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio. The Mavericks will be looking to earn their first wins of the season against both teams.
North Dakota Fighting Sioux
The Fighting Sioux (7-20-3L, 4-19-1 WCHA) play their final home series of the regular season when they host St. Cloud State on Saturday and Sunday at Engelstad Arena. UND, tied with Bemidji State for seventh place in the WCHA, trails the sixth-place Huskies by six points. UND then closes out the regular season at Bemdiji State...UND is 3-7-0 all-time against the Huskies, including 2-2-0 on home ice...The Sioux were swept last weekend at top-ranked Minnesota, losing 7-0 and 4-2, and have now lost eight consecutive games and 10 straight WCHA games, both team records...Minnesota's top line of Krissy Wendell, Kelly Stephens and Natalie Darwitz combined for 12 points and accounted for all but one of the Gopher goals in Saturday's 7-0 win. The score belied the play of UND goalie Amber Hasbargen, who finished with a UND season-high 38 saves...Hasbargen was brilliant again on Sunday, stopping 42 of 46 shots and establishing a team season-high for the second straight game. Freshman forwards Melissa Dianoski and Cara Wooster accounted for the UND scoring...Hasbargen has now started five consecutive games, the most consecutive starts by a Sioux goalie this season, and has appeared in a career-high 20 games...UND played the Minnesota series without the services of sophomore D Rachel Cutcliffe and freshman F Cami Wooster, the team leader in goals. Both have missed the last four games...With Saturday's 7-0 loss, UND has now been shut out a school-record six times this season. The Sioux were blanked five times during their inaugural 2002-03 season and twice last season...Minnesota's 19 shots on goal in the first period on Saturday were the most allowed by UND in a first period this season...The Minnesota series wrapped up the toughest six-game stretch for UND in program history. The Sioux played at No. 4 Wisconsin (Jan. 21-22), hosted No. 2 Minnesota Duluth (Feb. 12-13) and played at No. 1 Minnesota in six consecutive games...UND has gone 14 consecutive games scoring two goals or less. The last time the Sioux scored at least three goals in a game was back on Nov. 27 in a 6-3 win at Quinnipac. UND entered the Minnesota series averaging 1.8 goals per game in WCHA play compared to 3.3 goals per game in non-conference matchups...Junior F Liz Funk and junior D Devon Fingland eached extended their school-record consecutive games played streaks to 88 at Minnesota. They are also the only two players to have played in all 88 games in school history...Funk was held without a point on the weekend and remains four points shy of tying Stasia Bakhit's career scoring record of 63 points. Funk is also six goals shy of matching Bakhit's career goals record...Freshman F Melissa Dianoski's minor penalty in the second period of Sunday's game gave her 78 PIM on the season, tying Jessica Kovacevich's single-season team record. Kovacevich set the record as a freshman in UND's inaugural 2002-03 season. She also scored her third goal in four games since enduring an eight-game goal-scoring drought.
Ohio State Buckeyes
Ohio State dropped a two-game road series against No. 4 Wisconsin in Madison, Wis., last weekend. OSU fell, 6-3, Friday and, 7-2, Saturday...Junior Jana Harrigan set the single-season points record as she tallied her 44th and 45th points this season in game two vs. Wisconsin. Following her three assist weekend, Harrigan extended her point streak to 14 games this season. During her stretch Harrigan has posted five goals and 16 assists for 21 points...Freshman Lisa Chesson recorded her first multiple-point game as she scored a goal and posted an assist in game one Friday...Senior Jeni Creary recorded a goal and an assist vs. Wisconsin extending her point streak to five games this season. Creary has posted four goals and four assists during her stretch...OSU's leading freshman Mallory Peckels is on a four-game point streak this season, posting one goal and three assists...The Buckeye penalty-kill held Wisconsin on 7-of-9 power-play attempts on the weekend...Seven Buckeyes tallied points vs. Wisconsin last weekend. Five different players scored goals...Ohio State completes its eight-game road stretch when the Buckeyes travel to face College Hockey America foe Niagara at 7 p.m. EST Feb. 18-19 in Niagara Falls, N.Y....The Buckeyes and Purple Eagles will be meeting for the first time in Niagara Falls and the second series between the teams. Last season, Ohio State swept Niagara in a two-game home series Nov. 29-30, 2003...
St. Cloud State Huskies
The St. Cloud State women's hockey team upset the No. 2 ranked University of Minnesota Duluth 4-3 in WCHA play today in the National Hockey Center. Three of the four seniors on the Husky roster scored to lead their team to their eighth win of the season, and their sixth win in the WCHA...Head coach Jason Lesteberg earned his 51st career win with the 4-3 victory over UMD. This SCSU win marks the 3rd victory over the Bulldogs in the history of the program. The win also snapped a three-game losing streak for the Husky team...Sophomore forwards Jacie Jensen (Madison, WI) and Bobbie Anderson (Whitecourt, Alberta) each played in their 60th career game on Friday night against UMD. Junior forward Rachel Solgon (Phoenix, Ariz.) also played in her 60th game on Friday against UMD...Senior assistant captain Carrie Holldorf came through in the clutch for SCSU as she scored two crucial goals in the victory over UMD. Both her goals came in the second period as she tied the game with her first goal of the game, and had the game-winning goal shortly after. On the season, Holldorf has four goals and nine assists for 13 total points...Junior forwards Kristy Oonincx and Ashley Stewart continue to lead the Huskies in the scoring category. For the season, Oonincx leads the team with 12 goals, and also has 8 assists for 20 points. A. Stewart, who tallied an assist on the goal that tied the game on Saturday against UMD, has 9 goals and 10 assists on the season for 19 total points...Sophomore forward Hailey Clarkson continues to lead the team in assists with 14 on the season. For the weekend, she accounted for an assist on the game-winning goal...Senior forward Melanie Pudsey scored her first goal of the season against UMD on Saturday afternoon. Her goal came in the first period as she cut the UMD lead to 2-1 going into the first intermission of the game...With the upset win, the Huskies improve to 8-18-4, 6-15-3 WCHA, as the Bulldogs fall to 23-3-2, 21-3-2 WCHA. The Huskies will travel to the University of North Dakota next weekend for their last road trip of the regular season. The puck is set to be dropped on Feb. 19 at 2:07 p.m. and on Feb. 20 at 2:07 p.m.
Wisconsin Badgers
Fourth-ranked Wisconsin (22-7-1, 15-7-1 WCHA) completed its regular season home schedule at the Kohl Center over the weekend with a dominating sweep of Ohio State (14-14-2, 11-14-1 WCHA)...Friday night the Badgers commanded a 6-3 victory and followed it up with a 7-2 win Saturday avenging a loss to the Buckeyes earlier in the season...The Badgers' second victory was highlighted by senior Jackie Friesen's triple-goal performance, a first for her this season...Friday night, Wisconsin came out strong with an early goal by junior Grace Hutchins at 5:01. Nikki Burish and Emily Morris were credited with the helpers. Ohio State had an answer just over two minutes later at 7:17 when Jeni Creary knocked one in on the power play. Tied up, Wisconsin pulled ahead thanks to a Burish power play goal at 13:23. Last week's WCHA Rookie of the Week, Jinelle Zaugg pushed the Badgers' lead to two just 10 seconds later by flicking the puck over OSU goalie, Erika Vanderveer's right shoulder finishing a cross from Cyndy Kenyon. Morris tallied her second assist of the night on the score. After returning from the first break, Zaugg marked another goal at 1:47 with help from Carla MacLeod. With a whistle to Lindsay Macy for slashing at 15:02, Wisconsin's penalty kill overachieved when Burish pushed the puck up ice to Hutchins who notched her first short-handed goal of her career at 16:27. Ohio State claimed the next two scores, one at 17:06 in the second and then a third and final at 0:34 in the third. Though still ahead by two, Sharon Cole marked her seventh goal the season and the Badgers' sixth of the night to close out the scoring at 8:47. In net, Wisconsin's Meghan Horras made 19 saves...Saturday the team honored its five seniors at their last game at the Kohl Center and gave all five the start lining up with three defenders and two wings. The seniors went right to work as Nicole Uliasz marked the first goal of the night at 9:44. Friesen knocked in the first of her goals at 19:56 as the seconds ticked down in the first period. Uliasz fired the shot from the point for Friesen to tip up and into the net. After the first break, Friesen went back to work scoring her second goal at 3:35 with Macy and MacLeod on the assist. Hutchins added her third goal of the weekend at 11:32 to put the Badgers up by four. OSU captain Meaghan Mulvaney took advantage on the power play to put the Buckeyes on the board at 19:31 to close that period. With a little momentum, Ohio State scored a second goal just 1:15 into the third period. Wisconsin answered with three more goals to close out the game. Friesen closed out her hat trick at 6:17 with help from Uliasz and Kristen Witting. Zaugg and Cole rounded out the UW scoring. The Badgers were presented with a scoring chance at 7:59 when Macy was tripped while shooting and was awarded a penalty shot. Swiftly skating from center ice, Macy could not mark a score against OSU goalie Melissa Glaser. In the net for the Badgers Meghan Horras marked her 15th save of the season after making 18 saves on the evening...Increasing their stats lines this weekend six Badgers also extended scoring streaks. Leading the group is Sharon Cole on a five-game point streak. Sara Bauer, Jackie Friesen, Cyndy Kenyon, Carla MacLeod and Lindsay Macy have all been involved in the scoring in the last four games...The Badgers hit the road to close out the regular season with two series at Bemidji State (Feb. 18-19) and St. Cloud State (Feb. 25-26)...First up, the Beavers (8-20-2, 4-19-1 WCHA) will host Wisconsin in Bemidji, Minn. The puck is set to drop at 2:05 p.m. both days...Wisconsin has the opportunity to return to Madison for the NCAA Regional competition, but the sites will not be determined until the week before the event.
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