UMD's Top Line has the Goals to Challenge Gopher Unit
Feb. 22, 2005
It's true that Minnesota has already clinched the Women's WCHA regular-season title, and Minnesota-Duluth is assured of second place, and it's true that Minnesota is ranked No. 1 in the country, and UMD is ranked No. 2. It's also true that they might meet again in the WCHA playoffs, or even in the NCAA tournament, but those are "maybes." The certainty is that the best women's hockey rivalry in the country will unfold this weekend at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center when Minnesota tries to finish the WCHA season undefeated in a Saturday-Sunday series against Minnesota-Duluth.
"Playoffs are coming up, and then maybe the NCAA Frozen Four," said Caroline Ouellette. "But every time we play Minnesota, it is all that matters."
One of the highlights of the series is what should be a scintillating duel between the two best forward lines in women's college hockey. The prominent publicity all season has been Minnesota's 1-2 punch of Natalie Darwitz and Krissy Wendell, with Kelly Stephens on the other wing. Darwitz leads the WCHA in scoring with 26 goals, 45 assists for 71 points. Wendell is a close second with 26 goals, 40 assists for 66 points. Stephens stands fourth in league scoring with 23-24<47.
Those are incredible statistics. But consider UMD's top line. Ouellette ranks third in WCHA scoring at 27-38<65, one point behind Wendell. Noemie Marin stands fifth, at 27-19<46, one point behind Stephens. But with 27 goals apiece, Ouellette and Marin are tied for the league goal-scoring lead, one ahead of Darwitz and Wendell. Jessica Koizumi, who was inserted at center between Ouellette and Marin about halfway through the season, stands at 19-14<46.
While the mathematical edge goes to the high-scoring Gopher line, the Darwitz-Wendell-Stephens unit has scored 75 of Minnesota's 126 league goals or 59.5 percent of the Gopher goals. UMD's big line has scored 73 goals, only two less than Minnesota's league total, but the Ouellette-Koizumi-Marin line has scored 68.9 percent of UMD's 106 league goals.
In overall scoring, Darwitz leads the nation at 33-59<92, while Wendell is second at 36-50<86, and Stephens stands at 28-34<62. That's 97 goals, or 60.2 percent of Minnesota's total of 161 goals. In all of UMD's games, Ouellette stands 28-40<68, Marin 27-20<47, and Koizumi 23-14<37, which is 78 goals, or 67 percent out of UMD's total of 115. So Minnesota's line has scored more goals, assists and points, but UMD's top line has scored a greater percentage of UMD's goals.
Anyone who has watched both teams knows that focusing on the scoring antics of those top lines is worth a night's entertainment.
"Their line is very strong and difficult to play against," said Ouellette. "Wendell is so hard to stop 1-on-1, and Darwitz is so good at using everyone on the ice with her, and Stephens is good both ways. They seem to change positions well.
"Our line has been working well. Noemie (Marin) is all-around very good. She can finish, she's very smart, and she's strong on the puck and knows what to do with it. We have a very good connection, and we always seem to know where each other is on the ice. Nora Tallus was centering us until she got hurt, and she's probably the best two-way forward on our team. When she got hurt, Jessica Koizumi was moved to center on our line, and she is probably the quickest player we have.
"I've been wondering if our line will play against that line head-to-head. We don't know yet."
So the games, Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, will be a season highlight for both teams. Minnesota, at 24-0-2, is shooting for an undefeated regular-season record, while UMD (21-3-2) is securely fixed in second place, but could strengthen its hold on the nation's No. 2 rank ahead of Dartmouth with at least a split of the series. The teams met earlier at Ridder Arena, and Minnesota won 4-2 before the teams tied 2-2. Wisconsin is the only other team to have tied the Gophers, while UMD has lost to Minnesota, Wisconsin and, two weeks ago in the season's biggest upset, St. Cloud State.
There are other sidelights to the series. For one, Minnesota's goaltending ranks No. 1, behind starter Jody Horak, while UMD is No. 2 in the WCHA, led by Riitta Schaublin. Another factor is the competition to make Team USA's roster for the World Tournament. Along with Darwitz, Wendell and Stephens, the entire Gopher line, USA Hockey also named Golden Gopher Lyndsay Wall to the team last week, but did not list UMD senior Julianne Vasichek among the selected players.
"All I can do is play my best against Darwitz and Wendell and that line," said Vasichek.
The match-up also could forecast the 2006 Olympic Games, because while Darwitz and Wendell were standouts on the silver medal 2002 U.S. Olympic Team, Ouellette was the top season scorer on the gold medal winning Canadian Olympic outfit. That all means nothing, compared to the Golden Gopher-UMD rivalry. When the teams played earlier, the series was two weeks after UMD had beaten Wisconsin twice, in a pair of one-goal games. Ouellette had been slashed on her left hand, and faced the Gophers with her hand in a cast, unable to shoot with her normal force or accuracy.
"I feel much better now," said Ouellette. "And I'm very excited about the series."
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