Wisconsin's WCHA Title, North Dakota's Upset Prove Parity has Arrived
Feb. 13, 2006
Ever since the Western Collegiate Hockey Association sanctioned women's hockey, league members have patiently awaited the day when parity would truly arrive, and when the University of Minnesota Duluth and the University of Minnesota would be challenged by teams throughout the rest of the league.
The time might have arrived, officially, on Saturday, February 11, 2006. That was the day that Wisconsin defeated Minnesota to gain a split of their series, and successfully clinch the women's WCHA championship for Wisconsin. It is the first time someone other than UMD or Minnesota has won the league regular-season championship after six seasons of Bulldog/Gopher domination.
Of course, UMD won the first three of five NCAA women's hockey tournaments, and Minnesota won the most recent two, as well. Wisconsin's rise has been evident all season, but the actual mathematic clinching of the crown, outdistancing second-place UMD, made it official.
The Badger title may have been a foregone conclusion, but more specific evidence of WCHA parity came in Duluth, where the league's newest member, North Dakota, defeated the UMD Bulldogs 2-0 to split their series.
"This was definitely huge for us," said North Dakota sophomore Cara Wooster, who scored the first goal - and the first winning goal the Fighting Sioux have ever registered against UMD. "It's the first time we've put everything together."
St. Cloud State, Mankato State, Ohio State, and Bemidji State had gotten things together earlier this season, and all had sprung an upset or two this season. Part of that is the superstar players at Minnesota and UMD are off playing with the Olympic teams, or have graduated. That still left North Dakota out in the cold, so to speak. North Dakota was fresh off two losses to Bemidji State, and came to Duluth with a 2-18-2 league record, compared to UMD's 16-6-2.
North Dakota's first-ever triumph against UMD was accomplished under interesting circumstances, not the least of which was that just 24 hours earlier UMD had crushed North Dakota 8-0. That first game came when UMD climaxed a rocky week of turmoil with a flawless performance, and it was one that made observers wonder when North Dakota could ever hope to defeat a power like UMD.
The answer came quickly, the next night. But there was more to the story.
While beating Minnesota 4-2 on January 20, the Bulldogs stormed to a 4-0 lead and then went into neutral. The Gophers not only dominated the third period of that game, but beat UMD 2-0 the next night. That started an unraveling of the Bulldogs, who had stayed in contention with Wisconsin until that weekend.
Coach Shannon Miller acknowledged, however, that there had been warning signals earlier in the season. The team had talent, speed, defense and superb goaltending, a blend of skilled veteran players and impressive newcomers. But there was a curious lack of cohesiveness, of the vague attribute called chemistry. It didn't seem to matter when the Bulldogs went on a 12-1-1 streak, with the tie and loss coming in a pivotal December series against Wisconsin.
But the second-game loss to Minnesota started a stretch of three straight losses. Losses by 2-1 and 3-1 at St. Cloud were followed by a 3-2 victory and a 1-1 tie at Ohio State. The free-flowing offense had fizzled, scoring only six goals in five games that resulted in a 1-3-1 stretch coming into the North Dakota series.
UMD has always had a devil-may-care attitude under Miller. She is abrupt and mercurial, and one of the best coaches in the sport. Miller has worked to keep her teams loose, and she has gotten them to respond when necessary over the years. But this team was different. This team was raucous and sometimes a little raw in its dressing room and off-ice demeanor. In past years, there always were a few loose cannons, but they were kept in check by the prevailing majority on the team.
Miller addressed the situation with the players and during between-periods talks, but nothing changed, and appeared to worsen during the recent stretch.
So after the team returned from Ohio State, Miller awarded the captaincy to goaltender Riitta Schaublin, with defenseman Krista McArthur an assistant who would also wear the "C" to talk to officials. She suspended junior defenseman Jill Sales and junior winger Juliane Jubinville for a game apiece, with Jubinville missing Friday and Sales Saturday. A spare forward, Becky Salyards, was dismissed from the team, but that was believed to be an unrelated academic issue.
Whatever, the week of turmoil seemed to unite the Bulldogs for an overwhelming effort. Freshman Tawni Mattila scored the first two goals, Myriam Trepanier and Karine DeMeule made it 4-0 at the first intermission, Noemie Marin boosted the lead to 5-0 and Trepanier scored again for a 6-0 cushion after two. Marin got her 20th in the third period, and Lehrke, who may have played her strongest game of the season, finished the 8-0 rout with the final goal.
"After what we've gone through, we've got to hope our team would come together," said Miller. "This is a new beginning for us this week, and I honestly don't think it mattered who we were playing, with all due respect to North Dakota. Our whole focus this week has been on looking at ourselves, and the whole emphasis has been on respect. All we have had to learn is to treat each other and ourselves with respect, and I think everybody responded with a strong effort."
So that was what North Dakota skated into - a whirlwind of emotional fire, as well as a strong array of talent. So impressive was UMD's first-game attack that North Dakota coach Shantel Rivard pulled starting goaltender Amber Hasbargen after Mattila's second goal, at 7:59 of the first period, and replaced her with senior backup, Margaret-Ann Hinkley. The onslaught continued, and Rivard sent Hasbargen back in to finish, as UMD outshot the Sioux 45-19.
In Game 2, Hinkley started, and blocked all 25 UMD shots for the shutout. There was more to it, however, as North Dakota pretty much outplayed and outhustled UMD on every shift, from start to finish. It was the most impressive, and most nearly perfect game North Dakota's women's team had ever played.
North Dakota opened with force, and Melissa Jaques was called for a penalty at 0:22. The Sioux killed it, and it was Jaques who fired from the blue line on a North Dakota power-play that led to Cara Wooster playing the rebound for a quick shot and goal from the right edge of the goal at 9:07.
That didn't seem very substantial, but the way North Dakota played, it proved to be. The Bulldogs were clearly not as sharp, not as inspired as in the first game, but credit had to go to North Dakota, playing the game of its history. When North Dakota got a power-play in the third period, Schaublin blocked Christey Allen's shot from the left side, but the rebound went to the right, where Devon Fingland converted at 7:38.
"After last night, we wanted to come out and make a statement," said Cara Wooster. "We knew they'd come out hard and we had to play well to weather it, but we wanted to show we could play, too. It was our best game, and our biggest win. We had to make a statement."
That statement was: Parity has arrived in the Women's WCHA. Should make for an interesting playoff.
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