Feb. 29, 2004

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Madison, Wis. - Minnesota (24-4-2/17-3-2) swept Minnesota Duluth (17-11-2/13-8-1) to continue its hold on first place in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association Women's League standings with 36 points. The No. 2 ranked Gophers will look to clinch the WCHA regular season title this weekend as they travel to St. Cloud State (7-22-1/4-17-1) for a two-game series Friday and Saturday.

Minnesota posted a 4-2 win over Minnesota Duluth on Saturday and then capped the sweep with a 7-5 win over the Bulldogs on Sunday. Three of the Gophers goals were shorthanded while the Bulldogs also had one shorthanded goal. Minnesota Duluth is in third place with 27 points.

Wisconsin (22-5-3/16-5-1) is in second place with 33 points after a series sweep at Ohio State (14-13-3/10-12-2). The Badgers skated to a 5-1 win Friday and then completed the sweep with an 8-2 victory on Saturday. The Buckeyes, who played in their final WCHA series of the season against Wisconsin, are tied with Minnesota State (16-11-4/9-9-4) for the fourth spot in the standings with 22 points each. Minnesota State split its series with St. Cloud State (7-22-1/4-17-1) as the Huskies picked up a 2-1 win on Friday. Minnesota State earned the split with a 3-2 win Saturday. The Huskies are in sixth place with nine points while Bemidji State (5-25-2/3-18-1), who was idle this past weekend, is seventh with seven points.

The WCHA closes out the regular season this weekend with three conference series. In addition to Minnesota at St. Cloud State, Minnesota State travels to Minnesota Duluth for a Friday-Saturday series, while Bemidji State travels to Wisconsin for a Saturday-Sunday match-up. Ohio State will face non-conference opponent Findlay in a home-and-home series Thursday at Findlay and Saturday at Ohio State. The WCHA Women's Final Five will be held March 12-14 at Ridder Arena on the campus of the University of Minnesota.

Upcoming Games

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.

Friday, March 12
WCHA Final Five
No. 4 vs. No. 5 4:05 p.m.

Saturday, March 13
WCHA Final Five
No. 3 vs. No. 2 1:05 p.m.
Friday's Winner vs. No. 1 4:05 p.m.

Sunday, March 14
WCHA Final Five
Third Place 1:05 p.m.
Championship 4:05 p.m.
Last Week's Results

Friday, February 27
Wisconsin 5, Ohio State 1*
St. Cloud State 2, Minnesota State 1*

Saturday, February 28
Minnesota 4, Minnesota Duluth 2*
Wisconsin 8, Ohio State 2*
Minnesota State 3, St. Cloud State 2*

Sunday, February 29
Minnesota 7, Minnesota Duluth 5*
* WCHA contest

Bemidji State - Bemidji State was off last 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 Golden Gopher women's hockey team earned a two-game sweep over Minnesota Duluth this past weekend. The Gophers earned a 4-2 victory Saturday, followed by a 7-5 win on Sunday. Minnesota improves to 24-4-2 overall and 17-3-2 in the WCHA...Saturday's game had four different players score a goal in the 4-2 win...Andrea Nichols, La Toya Clarke and Ashley Albrecht all had a goal and an assist, while Natalie Darwitz collected a goal. Jody Horak was in goal for Minnesota. She had 31 saves, including 10 in the first. UMD's goals both came on a power-play opportunities, including the second that was a 4-3...The Gophers finalized the sweep with a 7-5 victory at Ridder Arena on Sunday. The game marked a total of 31 penalties and 62 penalty minutes. Krissy Wendell led the Gophers with the game-winning goal and three assists, while Kelly Stephens and Natalie Darwitz had two goals and an assist. Becky Wacker also added two goals. The game had six goals scored on special teams. Each team netted a power-play goal, while four were short-handed tallies. Minnesota had three short-handed goals in the game, including two on the same penalty kill. Krissy Wendell tack on her fifth of the year, which also led to the game-winning goal. Minnesota's record for most short-handed goals in a season dates back to Jan. 11, 2000 when the Gophers scored four against Bemidji State...The Sunday game was the most goals scored by the two teams since the five-year meeting between the two schools. Prior to that, the highest goal total was set at 11. The Bulldogs won a barn burner last year in Ridder Arena by a score of 6-5. The last time the Gophers swept UMD at home was in the 2001-02 season. Minnesota won 1-0 and 3-1 for the sweep, Jan. 18-19, 2002...Minnesota closed out its home season with a 15-3-0 record at home. Minnesota's three losses came to Minnesota State, Dartmouth and Wisconsin...With the two wins, Minnesota jumps to the top of the pairwise rankings, posted by USCHO. The Gophers hold the top spot, while Dartmouth is second, Harvard is third and St. Lawrence is fourth...Minnesota will look to clinch the WCHA regular season title next weekend against St. Cloud State. The Gophers play at SCSU Friday and Saturday, March 5-6.

MINNESOTA DULUTH - The Bulldogs lost just their second two games to the same team during the 2003-04 season in their 2-4 and 5-7 losses to No. 2 Minnesota...Both sweeps have come on the road, with the first in the opening weekend of play at Minnesota State, Mankato...Larissa Luther returned to action after injury to a UMD versus UM game for the second time this season. This time she missed four games due to a wrist injury. Luther scored her sixth goal of the season on Sunday and her first goal since Jan. 25 against St. Cloud State...Tricia Guest scored her first goal on Saturday since Jan. 10, 2004 against the Gophers. The goal was also her first power-play goal of the season...Caroline Ouellette and Jenny Potter extended their point-scoring streaks to 11 games garnering points in each of the weekends games...The 12 goals scored during Sunday's game was the largest two team combined total in a UMD and UM game in the rivalries history. The previous record was set during the 1999-2000 season when UMD earned a 5-4 victory in Minneapolis...Caroline Ouellette scored her fourth short-handed goal of the season on Sunday. The three short-handed goals allowed is the most that the Bulldog's have allowed in a game all-time...Satu Kiipeli scored her second goal of the season, her first since Feb. 14 against Bemidji State...Julianne Vasichek garnered an assist on Saturday and a goal on Sunday to extend her point streak to four games. The seven goals allowed ties the season high for goals allowed in a game in the 2003-04 season...UMD was outshot for the first time in four series 71-68...The Bulldogs will return home to finish off the regular season against the same team that they started with as they faceoff against the Mavericks of Minnesota State, Mankato at 7:05 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

MINNESOTA STATE - The Mavericks gained a split with St. Cloud State this weekend, dropping a 2-1 decision on Friday before rebounding with a 3-2 win the following evening. The Mavericks are now 16-11-4 on the season and 9-9-4 in conference action...The win increases the team record for wins in a season and give the Mavericks more conference points this season (22) than the previous four seasons combined (21)...The team has become adept at playing close games with 12 games being decided by just one goal. Of the 16 Maverick wins, eight have been by one goal. The six overtime games this season are a team record...Senior forward Amanda Osborn, playing in her final home games, marked her 132nd consecutive game played on Saturday. The streak is a Maverick record and just one game shy of the overall games played record, set in by Tristin Stephenson...Senior netminder Shari Vogt marked her 100th career game in goal on Saturday. She finished her home career with a 3-2 win, her team-record 15th of the season. She is just 22 saves shy of breaking her own single-season record of 932 saves, set last season. She owns the top four season totals in MSU history...Freshmen were the story of the weekend for MSU. Of the ten points on the weekend, eight were scored by newcomers. Megan Jedinak scored the game-winner on Saturday for her first career goal. Alycia Wilson tallied a goal and an assist on the weekend, her first points since her eight-game absence due to injury. Autumn Conway, the team's rookie points leader, had her sixth multi-point game of the season with a goal and an assist on Saturday...Junior Melanie Salatino has moved into second place on the single-season charts with 129 shots on goal this season. The record is 146, set in 1998-99 by Michelle Sikich...Kristina Koga, a junior, needs just one more game played to become the ninth player in MSU history to see action in 100 career games. Lindsay McCulloch and Kearstin Solberg look to be next, at 93 and 92 games played, respectively...The Mavericks wrap up regular-season play next weekend when they travel to Minnesota Duluth to face the Bulldogs on Friday and Saturday.

OHIO STATE - Ohio State was swept by Wisconsin last weekend in Columbus. The Buckeyes fell 5-1 Friday and 8-2 Saturday. The series marked the end of WCHA regular-season action for OSU...Wisconsin's sweep of Ohio State was the first time the Buckeyes lost both games on a weekend since they were swept at home by Minnesota Duluth Oct. 24-25, 2003...Both Ohio State and Wisconsin posted 26 shots on goal in the game Friday, which marked the second game this season when OSU's shots have been even with its opponent. The previous game was Dec. 13, 2003, when OSU skated to a 1-1 tie in overtime with Northeastern...The Buckeyes were not whistled for a penalty in the game Friday vs. Wisconsin, marking the first game in the five-year history of the program OSU has not obtaining a penalty. Prior to the game, the fewest number of penalties Ohio State had in a game was one Dec. 8, 2001 vs. Minnesota State...Buckeye juniors Meaghan Mulvaney and Jeni Creary played in their 100th career game last Saturday vs. Wisconsin...With her goal vs. the Badgers Saturday, Jeni Creary moved within one point of the OSU career record for career points (98). Shana Frost is OSU's all-time leader in career points...A of season-high 489 fans were in attendance Friday and 457 fans were in attendance Saturday. The crowd Friday ranked third all-time in the OSU record books...The Buckeyes have earned at least one conference point against every team in the WCHA this season. Previously, the 2000-01 season marked the only season OSU had posted conference points against every team...Ohio State closes out its regular season with a two-game series against Findlay next weekend. The Buckeyes and the Oilers will meet in Findlay, Ohio, at 7 p.m. Thursday and will face off in Columbus, Ohio, at 2:05 p.m. Saturday...Saturday, the Buckeyes and Oilers will battle for the final Ohio Cup trophy. OSU has won the Ohio Cup three consecutive years and is looking to claim the trophy in the final match-up.

ST. CLOUD STATE - St. Cloud State split with Minnesota State, taking the first game 2-1, but falling 3-2 in the series finale...In Friday's victory, Ellen Brinkman stopped 33 of 34 shots to earn the victory. She stopped all 16 Maverick shots in the third period...Kobi Kawamoto scored her eighth goal of the season just :39 into the game on Friday, giving the Huskies the early edge...The game-winner was scored by Randie Jelinski, which marks her first collegiate goal. The goal was an unassisted attempt from the blue line that bounced by the Maverick goaltender...In Saturday's loss, Lauri St. Jacques got the nod in net, stopping 30 of 33 shots in defeat...Carrie Holldorf scored her 12th goal of the season for the Huskies first goal of the game on an assist by Ashley Stewart. Holldorf is tied with senior Roxanne Stang and Stewart for the team lead in goals with 12. Stewart had two assists on the weekend, giving her 23 points, good for third on the team....Krista Simonson brought the Huskies within a goal at 3-2 when she scored from her back on a flip over the MSU goaltender. It was just her second goal of the season...Tricia Fast earned her first collegiate point with an assist on Simonson's goal while Jacqueline Jensen was credited with her fifth helper...Next weekend the Huskies will salute seniors Ellen Brinkman, Leanne Perrin, Roxanne Stang, and Kobi Kawamoto for their four years in the SCSU women's hockey program. The four will be taking part in their final series in a Husky uniform. SCSU will host the University of Minnesota in a two-game series.

WISCONSIN - Wisconsin earned four points in the league standings with a series sweep of Ohio State in Columbus this past weekend...The No. 4/5 Badgers defeated the 10th-ranked Buckeyes 5-1 Friday night and 8-2 Saturday night...Senior right wing Karen Rickard (Bowmanville, Ontario) tallied three goals and two assists to lead Wisconsin in scoring against Ohio State with five points...Seven Badgers - Sara Bauer, Sharon Cole, Jackie Friesen, Meghan Hunter, Lindsay Macy, Carla MacLeod and Nicole Uliasz - each recorded three-point performances to aid Wisconsin's victories this weekend...Wisconsin goaltender Meghan Horras collected 45 saves to earn the back-to-back wins...Wisconsin improves to 22-5-3 overall and 16-5-1 in league play...The Badgers 22 wins tie the program's best-ever finishes during both the 2001-02 and 2002-03 season, while the 16 WCHA wins are just one shy of tying the school's best-ever conference finish...Wisconsin second-year head coach Mark Johnson also improves to 44-13-8.

USA Today/American Hockey Magazine
February 24, 2004
Record Points Last Week
1. Harvard (16) 22-2-1 187 2
2. Minnesota (3) 22-4-2 171 1
3. St. Lawrence 20-7-1 134 3
4. Dartmouth 18-5-2 131 4
Wisconsin 20-5-3 131 5
6. Minnesota Duluth 17-9-2 80 6
7. Princeton 18-6-0 79 8
8. Mercyhurst 22-4-4 73 7
9. New Hampshire 17-8-4 39 9
10. Brown 14-8-2 9 10
Others Receiving Votes: Minnesota State 7, Ohio State 2, Providence 2.

USCHO.COM Poll
February 23, 2004
Record Points Last Week
1. Harvard (12) 22-2-1 147 2
2. Minnesota (3) 22-4-2 138 1
3. Dartmouth 18-5-2 104 3
4. St. Lawrence 20-7-1 103 4
5. Wisconsin 20-5-3 102 5
6. Minnesota Duluth 17-9-2 65 6
7. Mercyhurst 22-4-4 62 7
8. Princeton 18-6-0 55 8
9. New Hampshire 17-8-4 32 9
10. Ohio State 14-11-3 7 NR
Others Receiving Votes: Brown 5, Minnesota State 3, Providence 2

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