Minnesota Regains Sole Possession Of First Place
Feb. 22, 2004
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Madison, Wis. - Minnesota (22-4-2/15-3-2) took advantage of Wisconsin's (20-5-3/14-5-1) non-conference series and a three-point weekend to regain sole possession of first place in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association standings. Minnesota is in first place with 32 points with Wisconsin trailing in second place with 29 points. Minnesota Duluth (17-9-2/13-6-1) holds down third with 27 points while Ohio State (14-11-3/10-10-2) is fourth with 22 points and Minnesota State (15-10-4/8-8-4) is fifth with 20 points. St. Cloud State (6-21-1/3-16-1) and Bemidji State (5-25-2/3-18-1) are tied for sixth.
Minnesota, which moved back into the top spot in the national polls last week, earned a tie and a win at Ohio State. Friday, the two teams skated to a 1-1 overtime tie while Saturday, Minnesota skated to a 6-0 win.
Wisconsin recorded a two-game sweep of non-conference opponent Niagara. The Badgers shutout the Purple Eagles 4-0 Friday and then skated to an 8-1 win on Saturday.
Minnesota Duluth extended its winning streak to five games as they posted a weekend series sweep at St. Cloud State. The Bulldogs won Friday's game by a score of 7-1 and posted a 6-4 victory Saturday.
Minnesota State came away with three points as they hosted Bemidji State. Friday, the teams skated to a 2-2 overtime tie but the Mavericks picked up a 4-1 win Saturday.
The conference race heats up this weekend as three key series are on the docket. Wisconsin returns to league play as they travel to Ohio State Friday and Saturday. Minnesota State hosts St. Cloud State for a two-game series on Friday and Saturday. Minnesota plays host to Minnesota Duluth on Saturday and Sunday afternoon. Bemidji State is off.
Upcoming Games
Friday, February 27
Wisconsin at Ohio State* 7:05 p.m.
St. Cloud State at Minnesota State* 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, February 28
Minnesota Duluth at Minnesota* 2:05 p.m.
(Mariucci Arena)
Wisconsin at Ohio State* 7:05 p.m.
St. Cloud State at Minnesota State* 7:05 p.m.
Sunday, February 29 Minnesota Duluth at Minnesota* 2:05 p.m.
Thursday, March 4
Ohio State at Findlay 7 p.m.
Friday, March 5
Minnesota at St. Cloud State* 4:05 p.m.
Minnesota State at Minnesota Duluth* 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, March 6
Findlay at Ohio State 2:05 p.m.
Bemidji State at Wisconsin* 2:05 p.m.
Minnesota at St. Cloud State* 2:05 p.m.
Minnesota State at Minnesota Duluth* 7:05 p.m.
Sunday, March 7
Bemidji State at Wisconsin* 2:05 p.m.
End of Regular Season
Last Week's Results
Friday, February 20
Minnesota 1, Ohio State 1 OT*
Minnesota Duluth 7, St. Cloud State 1*
Bemidji State 2, Minnesota State 2 OT*
Wisconsin 4, Niagara 0
Saturday, February 21
Minnesota Duluth 6, St. Cloud State 4*
Minnesota State 4, Bemidji State 1*
Minnesota 6, Ohio State 0*
Wisconsin 8, Niagara 1
* WCHA contest
Bemidji State - Bemidji State will take a break next weekend before closing out the season with a two-game set at Wisconsin on Saturday, March 6 and Sunday, March 7...The Beavers have earned one win in 20 previous meetings with Wisconsin. Bemidji State's lone victory came on Dec. 9, 2001, when they beat the Badgers 5-1 in Madison. UW swept (4-1, 2-0) the Beavers earlier this season...BSU took one out of four points from Minnesota State on Friday, Feb. 20 and Saturday, Feb. 21 in Mankato. The Beavers tied the Mavericks 2-2 in overtime on Friday night, snapping a seven game losing streak. MSU dropped Bemidji State 4-1 on Saturday...After jumping out to a 2-0 early lead in the second period over Minnesota State on Friday, BSU held on for a 2-2 tie in overtime...BSU started the game's scoring at 5:32 of the first period as sophomore Carly Napier tallied her fifth marker of the season off helpers from Cassi Petsch and Melissa Schaeffer. The Beavers extended their lead to two goals at 6:07 of the second stanza when frosh Nikki Eckebrecht took a long pass from Kelly Hart and scored a short-handed goal, her fifth lamplighter of the year. The assist by Hart was her team-leading 10th helper of the season...MSU then tied the game with a power-play goal from Autumn Conway and an even-strength goal tally from Sammy Miller in the second stanza. Neither team was able to generate any further offense in the contest as the two teams skated to scoreless third and overtime periods. Senior goaltender Anik Cote was sharp between the pipes, making 27 saves in 65 minutes of work...After ending the first period in a 1-1 tie, BSU surrendered three unanswered goals to give Minnesota State a 4-1 victory Saturday afternoon....After the Mavericks went ahead 1-0 early in the opening period, Cassi Petsch netted her second goal of the season and second point of the weekend to the game at 1-1 in the second period. MSU took control from there, however, as the Mavericks scored back-to-back power-play goals along with an empty-net tally to seal the Beavers fate. Netminder Anik Cote stopped 24 shots in the loss and her season record is now 2-12-1...Senior Anik Cote's tie against Minnesota State on Friday night marked the seventh draw of her career, placing her in a tie for first all-time in ties among BSU goaltenders...Sophomore Cassi Petsch's goal on Feb. 21 was the first lamplighter she has scored since Nov. 25 against Findlay. Additionally, Petsch earned an assist in Friday's tie, marking the second time in her BSU career that she has earned points in consecutive contests. The forward from New Prague, Minn., last scored points in back-to-back games on Nov. 24-25, 2002...Head coach Bruce Olson has compiled a 0-5-1 record against the Badgers and is 8-31-7 all-time against WCHA teams.
MINNESOTA - The No. 1 Golden Gopher women's hockey team escaped Columbus, Ohio with three conference points against Ohio State University. The two teams earned a 1-1 overtime draw last Friday, but Minnesota rebounded to win 6-0 in the second game. The Golden Gophers outshot the Buckeyes, 79-37 during the series. In both games, Minnesota posted the most shots in the second period. Friday's game consisted of 17, while Satruday Minnesota outshot OSU, 23-3...Natalie Darwitz returned to Minnesota's lineup after missing the previous 10 games. She suffered an elbow injury in the 4-3 overtime win against Minnesota-Duluth, Jan. 10. Although going scoreless in her first game, Darwitz returned to her spot on the power play and had three shots Friday night. Darwitz, a 2004 Patty Kazmaier finalist, had three goals and assisted on another for a four-point showing Saturday. She scored a power-play goal, a four-on-four goal and a short-handed tally. Two of her three goals were unassisted. The hat trick marked her third of the season, seventh of her Golden Gopher career...Minnesota scored three power-play goals in seven chances against OSU. Danielle Ashley scored the Gophers' lone goal in the first game during the power-play opportunity. Minnesota held a .429 conversion percentage capitalizing on two of four chances Saturday...Krissy Wendell continues her point streak, now at 19 consecutive games. Wendell started the streak Nov. 23 against Minnesota State when she scored a goal and an assist. During her streak, Wendell has scored 38 of her 52 points. In those 19 games, Wendell has had 12 multiple-point games. Although Wendell's streak continued, Kelly Stephens ended her 11-game scoring streak. Stephens went scoreless in the first OSU game, but bounced back to start another. Stephens had two assists in the 6-0 victory Saturday...Minnesota hosts Minnesota Duluth next weekend. The Gophers and Bulldogs battle Feb. 28-29, both starting at 2:05 p.m. Because of the Minnesota State Girls High School Tournament, the first game of the series will be played in the Gophers old home, Mariucci Arena, Saturday. Minnesota returns to its home Sunday at Ridder Arena. Sunday's game will be televised live on Fox Sports Net North.
MINNESOTA DULUTH - The Bulldogs completed their second season sweep of a WCHA team this weekend to extend their winning streak to 5 games, the fourth longest in the nation, with victories over St. Cloud State (7-1, 6-4)...UMD saw points from all but four skaters in the contests, including the first goal of the year for Meghan Stotts. Stotts' goal was only her second point of the 2003-04 campaign, with her first point coming off an assist on a goal against the Huskies on Jan. 24, 2004...Julie Fearing also scored her second point of the season in as many weekends, garnering her first assist of the year...Goaltender Riitta Schaublin also got on the scoreboard this weekend, recording the first assist of her career and the first for Bulldog netminders so far this season. UMD now only has two skaters without a goal and one without a single point...Jenny Potter continued improving her career totals this weekend when she scored four goals and helped on two others. Her two goal on Friday moved her into second place on the career goals list and the two on Saturday moved her even closer to the first place mark of 119 held by Maria Rooth. Potter needs 17 more goals to achieve the top spot on all the career scoring charts for the Bulldogs. Potter also notched her nation leading eighth game-winner on Friday night...Rookie Jessica Koizumi rebounded from a scoreless first game on Friday to garner two goals and a helper on Saturday, including the game-winning goal...Caroline Ouellette also had a good weekend, scoring 1-5-6 to help keep her title as the top assist scorer in the league and the nation. Ouellette's performance this season has also moved her onto the career scoring books at UMD. She is currently fourth on the points, goals, and assists charts...For the second weekend in a row all the rostered members of the Bulldog team participated in the conference series...Netminder Anna-Kaisa Piiroinen got the nod to start on Friday for the first time since Jan. 25, 2004 when she started in goal against the Huskies. Piiroinen stopped 23 of 24 shots she faced. Saturday Riitta Schaublin and Shannon Kasparek split time in net.the two combined for 26 saves...The Bulldogs outshot their opponent for the fourth series in a row 78-54 (37-24, 41-30)...UMD, now 17-9-2, 13-6-1 WCHA, will finish the road portion of their regular season schedule next weekend (Jan. 28-29) at Minnesota. The Bulldogs split with the Gophers earlier this year, winning on Friday 4-1 before falling in 4-3 in overtime on Saturday. Game time is set for 2:05 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
MINNESOTA STATE - Minnesota State hosted Bemidji State last weekend. The Mavericks battled back from a 2-0 deficit to tie the Beavers 2-2 on Friday before picking up the third win over BSU of the season by a score of 4-1...The Mavericks are 15-10-4 on the season after the tie and win. With the win on Saturday, MSU broke the team record for wins in a season. The old record was set in the inaugural season of 1998-99 when the team went 14-15...The penalty-kill was the sharpest it has been all season. The Mavericks held the Beavers scoreless on a whopping 16 power-play chances on the weekend, imroving the team percentage 13 points, from .863 to .876...With 49 saves on the weekend, senior netminder Shari Vogt incresed her season total to 848 and claimed the second best season total in MSU history. She also owns the top spot with 932 saves last season. After collecting an assist on Saturday, she also owns the most assists by a goaltender with five...Sophomore defenseman Amber Sharratt collected a pair of power-play assists on the weekend to push her season scoring total to 2-12-14, doubling her total from last season. She has three assists in her last four games...A pair of goals by on Saturday ended an eight-game drought for sophomore Kate Hainrich. She scored twice in a span of less than three minutes to put the 4-1 game out of reach. She ranks fourth in team scoring at 9-6-15...Freshman Sammy Miller scored her second career goal on Friday...The single-season record for assists is getting ever closer to falling. Sophomore Devon Nichols picked up her team-best 20th assist on the weekend, leaving her just one shy of tying the record set by Michelle Sikich in 1998-99. Nichols added a goal as well, giving her 29 points on the season, the fourth-best total in team history...Junior forward Melanie Salatino collected a pair of assists in a game for the third time this season. She improves to 17-8-25 on the year, still just one goal shy of tying Sikich's team record of 18 in the 1998-99 season...Minnesota State finishes the six-game homestand by hosting St. Cloud State next weekend. Game time for both Friday and Saturday is 7:05 p.m. at All Seasons Arena. They conclude the season with a visit to Minnesota Duluth.
OHIO STATE - Ohio State tied Minnesota, 1-1, in overtime last Friday in Columbus, Ohio. The Buckeyes attempted a victory Saturday, but fell 6-0 to the Golden Gophers. Sophomore Jana Harrigan led the Buckeyes as she scored the game-tying goal late in third period Friday. Harrigan's goal marked her fourth goal in four consecutive games. She continues to lead the team with 22 points, 12 goals and 10 assists, this season....Junior Melissa Glaser recorded 35 saves as she held Minnesota to one goal in the 1-1 overtime tie Friday. The Rockford, Illinois, native has a 2.41 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage this season....With 37 saves against Minnesota Saturday, freshman goaltender Erika Vanderveer set an individual career record and tied a team season-high set by Melissa Glaser Jan. 3 vs. St. Cloud State...Senior Emma Laaksonen and junior Jeni Creary are close to breaking the OSU all-time career record of 98 points set by Shana Frost (1999-03). Laaksonen has tallied 96 career points and Creary has 95...With a 14-11-3 overall record, the Buckeyes continue to remain above .500 this season, which is an improvement over last season, when OSU ended the season 12-22-3...Ohio State plays host to WCHA rival Wisconsin at 7:05 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the OSU Ice Rink. Prior to the game Feb. 28, the Buckeyes will pay tribute to the 2004 senior class...The Buckeyes trail the Badgers 13-2-5 in the all-time series. This series marks the second of the season between the teams. Ohio State defeated Wisconsin, 3-2, Nov. 1 and fell, 3-1, Nov. 2 in Madison, Wis. The Buckeyes will be looking for their first victory over the Badgers in Columbus.
ST. CLOUD STATE - St. Cloud State was swept by Minnesota Duluth for the second time this season over the weekend, 7-1 and 6-4...Roxanne Stang scored the Huskies lone goal in Friday's 7-1 loss. Kobi Kawamoto and Carrie Holldorf were credited with assists...Kawamoto had two goals against the Bulldogs on Saturday. She is now third on the team in scoring with 22 points and has a four-game scoring streak...In Saturday's game, Calise Johnson scored her first collegiate goal on an unassisted wrap around play. She was also credited with an assist on Kawamoto's first goal of the game...Saturday also saw Katie Hauge score her first goal of the season on assists from Ashley Andrews and Lindsay Ball. For Andrews, it was her first career multi-point game with two assists...Carrie Holldorf had her four-game scoring streak snapped on Saturday. She has scored a point in 12 of last 15 games for the Huskies...After UMD took a 5-0 lead half-way thru the second period, head coach Jason Lesteberg called a time-out, after the timeout, SCSU outscored the Bulldogs 4-1...After being outshot 32-13 thru two periods Saturday, the Huskies outshot UMD 17-9 in the final frame...St. Cloud will now travel to Mankato to face the Mavericks in a two-game series. Last season, the Huskies split with MSU in Mankato, highlighted by their 7-3 victory in the series finale. Tina Ciraulo scored her first career hat trick in that victory.
WISCONSIN - Wisconsin defeated Niagara 4-0 and 8-1 this past weekend for a non-conference series sweep at the Kohl Center...The fifth-ranked Badgers improved to 20-5-3 overall (14-5-1 WCHA) to earn their fourth straight 20-win season...UW frosh Lindsay Macy (Ellendale, Minn.) led the Badgers in overall scoring with four goals and two assists, including a hat trick during Friday's shutout against the Purple Eagles...Macy's three-goal game marks Wisconsin's only hat trick of the season so far...Wisconsin also split its net between all three Badger goaltenders on the roster - sophomores Jessica Bernal and Meghan Horras and frosh Christine Dufour - to rack up 21 saves...UW dominated the ice at the Kohl Center outshooting NU 92-22...The Badgers also capitalized on 25% of their power plays after scoring on three of 12 advantages against the Purple Eagles.
USA Today/American Hockey Magazine February 17, 2004 Record Points Last Week 1. Minnesota (10) 21-4-1 180 2 2. Harvard (8) 20-2-1 178 3 3. St. Lawrence (1) 20-5-1 141 5 4. Dartmouth 17-4-2 139 1 5. Wisconsin 18-5-3 121 4 6. Minnesota Duluth 15-9-2 89 6 7. Mercyhurst 22-4-4 77 7 8. Princeton 16-6-0 60 8 9. New Hampshire 15-8-4 34 9 10. Brown 12-7-2 16 10Others Receiving Votes: Minnesota State 9, Ohio State 1
USCHO.COM Poll February 16, 2004 Record Points Last Week 1. Minnesota (9) 21-4-1 144 2 2. Harvard (5) 20-2-1 138 3 3. Dartmouth (1) 17-4-2 113 1 4. St. Lawrence 20-5-1 108 5 5. Wisconsin 18-5-3 93 4 6. Minnesota Duluth 15-9-2 70 6 7. Mercyhurst 22-4-4 63 7 8. Princeton 16-6-0 43 8 9. New Hampshire 15-8-4 30 9 10. Brown 12-7-2 15 10
Others Receiving Votes: Minnesota State 4, Ohio State 3, Providence 1
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