March 5, 2004

The only way the weekend could have been better for Deborah Bochenski and Rob Horak is if there was some way to accrue OEfrequent driver' miles up and down Interstate 35 in Minnesota.

The next-to-last weekend of the regular WCHA seasons for both men and women came on what was arguably the biggest hockey weekend of the season in the state of Minnesota, even though neither the NHL Minnesota Wild nor the two- time NCAA champion University of Minnesota men's team was involved. The Wild, after a great playoff run last season, were on a road trip, with chances fading of making the NHL playoffs this time. The Gopher men's team, who captured the fancy of the state for the past two years and were favored to win the men's league title and ranked No. 1 in the country at the start of the season, were playing in Denver where they were trying to hang on to the fifth and final home-ice playoff spot.

Without them in the state, the girls state high school hockey tournament was underway at Ridder Arena on the University of Minnesota campus, while boys high school teams were scattered all around the state in quarterfinal and semifinal sectional play. The college hockey spotlight, meanwhile, was split between Duluth and Minneapolis.

In Minneapolis, the top-ranked Gopher women's team was at home facing three- time defending NCAA champion and intrastate arch-rival, the fifth-ranked Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs.

Meanwhile, at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center, the fifth- ranked Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs and their newly obtained possession of first place in the men's WCHA, along with a school-record 14-game (13-0-1) undefeated streak, faced the No. 1 rated University of North Dakota, which was in hot pursuit two points back.

This is where Deb Bochenski and Rob Horak come onto the scene. The two have known each other for a lot of years. Ten years ago, Brandon Bochenski was a winger in the Blaine youth program, and Jody Horak was a goaltender in the same program. Some girls teams were sprouting up around the Twin Cities, but Jody Horak was good enough to make the Blaine boys team, even as old as Bantams, where she was a goalie and Brandon Bochenski was a forward on the same A team in the northern Twin Cities suburb.

Now we flash forward, past high school days when Horak went on to star at the girls high school level and won the goaltender-of-the-year award in 2001, after leading the Bengals to a 25-1-3 record to earn a scholarship at Minnesota. A year earlier, Bochenski had scored three goals and four assists to lead the boys state tournament in scoring while the Bengals went on to win the state championship. After spending a year at Lincoln, Neb., playing junior hockey, Bochenski accepted a scholarship to North Dakota.

Meanwhile, unattached by marriage, Rob Horak and Deb Bochenski recently started going out with each other, and their get-togethers often involved hockey. They could see Jody Horak play whenever the Gopher women were in the vicinity, and they could travel to see Brandon Bochenski play whenever the Fighting Sioux were within reach, at, say, Minnesota, St. Cloud, Mankato, or Duluth.

But last weekend, with so much riding on both series, Rob Horak and Deb Bochenski ran what amounted to an Interstate 35 shuttle covering the 150 miles from the Twin Cities to Duluth. And back. And up and back again. But it was all worthwhile.

The weekend started out with a trip in Duluth on Friday night. Bochenski assisted on the first of two goals by defenseman Nick Fuher, and North Dakota whipped UMD 4-1 to lift the Sioux into a tie with the Bulldogs for first place. After taking Brandon out for a post-game meal, Rob and Deb headed back to the Twin Cities.

Saturday afternoon, the Gopher women's team had to shift its huge series with UMD to Mariucci Arena next door because the high school girls tournament was in Ridder Arena. The series not was pivotal for Minnesota to reclaim the No. 1 national ranking, and the Bulldogs had always been a thorn in the Gophers side. Even in their earlier series this season, the Gophers had lost 4-1, and had to rally from a 3-1 deficit in the second game to swipe a 4-3 victory for a split.

Beyond that, the UMD-Minnesota series put four of the 10 Patti Kazmaier Award finalists on the ice, with Jenny Potter and Caroline Ouellette of UMD and Natalie Darwitz and Krissy Wendell of Minnesota. Potter, Darwitz and Wendell are U.S. Olympians, and Ouellette starred for Canada's 2002 gold medalists. Overlooked in that spotlight was Jody Horak, but she stymied the Bulldogs until Minnesota had built a 3-0 lead in the second period, and the Gophers won 4-2. The only two goals Horak allowed while making 31 saves were Tricia Guest's goal with 2:54 left in the second and Ouellette's goal with 36 seconds left in the third ­ both on power plays.

Leaving immediately after the Gopher women's afternoon game, Rob Horak and Deb Bochenski had just enough time to zip back up I35 and get to the DECC as they dropped the puck for the second UND-UMD men's game.

UMD played much more forcefully in the second game, but it was scoreless until midway through the second period, as Jake Brandt dueled UMD's Isaac Reichmuth in goal. North Dakota coach Dean Blais, who played Brandon Bochenski and Zach Parise on different lines attempting to spread out the Sioux scoring, tends to unite them whenever he's concerned, almost like a security blanket.

So he installed Bochenski on wing with center Zach Parise and freshman Brady Murray, and Bochenski almost immediately went into the left corner and got the puck, firing a hard pass out front to Parise, who scored at 11:18 of the second period. The Sioux went up 2-0, and held on to beat UMD 2-1 for a sweep that reinstalled North Dakota in first place in the WCHA. With one weekend left, the Sioux are at home against Michigan Tech while UMD has to go to Wisconsin to face the always-dangerous Badgers.

Meanwhile, back to I35 for Deb Bochenski and Rob Horak. Sunday afternoon, it was time to go to Ridder Arena for the second UMD-Minnesota women's game. "But Jody won't be playing," said her dad.

Little did he know that his daughter would play a key role in relief. In one of those games that fans love and coaches seize up over, the Gophers and Badgers engaged in a shootout. Potter staked UMD to a 1-0 lead on Brenda Reinen, but Darwitz and Becky Wacker vaulted Minnesota to a 2-1 edge. Satu Kiipeli tied it 2-2 for UMD late in the opening period. It was a rugged game. But the scoring dominated.

Wacker scored again at 8:11 of the second period for a 3-2 Minnesota lead, only to have Larissa Luther tie it again 24 seconds later. Julianne Vasichek put UMD up 4-3 at 11:26, but Kelly Stephens made it 4-4 a minute later. Darwitz scored on a power play at 17:42 of the second, but UMD offset that one 39 seconds later when Ouellette finished off a dazzling shorthanded rush with Potter.

So it stood 5-5 after two periods, and Minnesota coach Laura Halldorson pulled Reinen and sent Jody Horak out for the third period. Amazingly, the game hinged on a roughing penalty to Minnesota's Allie Sanchez at 9:20 of the third period. Wendell blocked the puck free and raced in to score on a breakaway against Riitta Schaublin at 10:36. Twenty-three seconds later, Kelly Stephens pounced on a free puck and raced down the rink to score again. The two shorthanded goals ­ while killing the same penalty ­ lifted Minnesota to a 6-4 lead.

Jody Horak made the goals stand up, stopping all eight shots she faced, and the Gophers had swept UMD for the first time in the four-year history of their statewide rivalry. The penalty-kill play alone was worth the price of admission, with Potter and Ouellette starring for UMD, and Darwitz and Wendell, along with Stephens, leading Minnesota.

"I thought Jody played well in goal yesterday, but both goalies have been playing well, and it was predetermined Brenda would start today," said Halldorson. "I changed after the second period, and Jody played well, but no lead was safe today. I still have a headache from that one. Both teams have great offensive quick-striking ability, and penalty-killing turned out to be the difference. Every time Potter and Ouellette are out there, you have to be on your toes.

"Usually you stress to your team to stay out of the penalty box, but not today."

With the WCHA title thus secured, Minnesota finishes the season at St. Cloud State, while UMD must regroup at home against Minnesota State-Mankato. The playoffs follow, with the women's WCHA Final Five played at Ridder Arena March 12-14, and the men's WCHA Final Five at Xcel Energy Center one week later. The Gopher women's team and the Fighting Sioux men's outfit might face more important games on those two weekends. But there will Deb Bochenski and Rob Horak won't have to spend much freeway time to enjoy all the games.

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