March 6, 2006

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MADISON, Wisc. - The semifinal match-ups at the 2006 WCHA Playoff Championship Tournament are set after the top-four seeds won their best-of-three first round playoffs. Top-seed Wisconsin will face No. 4 St. Cloud State in the first semifinal game at 1:07 p.m. while No. 2 Minnesota will meet No. 3 Minnesota Duluth in the second semifinal game at 4:07 p.m. Saturday. Sunday's title game will feature the two semifinal winners. Face-off for the championship game is 1:07 p.m. All three games will be played at Ridder Arena on the campus of the University of Minnesota.

No. 1 Wisconsin swept No. 8 North Dakota with a 4-1 win on Friday and a 6-0 win on Saturday. The wins extended the Badgers' current winning streak to seven games. Last year, the Badgers advanced to the WCHA Playoff Championship title game but fell to Minnesota in overtime. No. 2 Minnesota also swept its first round series in two games, topping Minnesota State 5-1 on Friday and 6-0 on Saturday. The Gophers have won the last two WCHA Playoff Tournament titles. No. 3 Minnesota Duluth defeated No. 6 Bemidji State Friday by a 7-2 score and then capped the series sweep with a 3-0 victory on Saturday. The Bulldogs won the third place game in 2005 and are tied with Minnesota with three championship tournament titles. In their first-ever home playoff game Friday, No. 4 St. Cloud State needed overtime to post a 2-1 win over No. 5 Ohio State. The Huskies then went on to take the series and earn a spot in this weekend's tournament field with a 6-3 win on Saturday.

All three games of the 2006 WCHA Women's Playoff Championships will be available via a free live video Web cast. Fans will be able to view both semifinals and the championship game via the USCHO women's page (www.uscho.com/women).

Coming up in the WCHA
2006 WCHA Playoff Championship Tournament
Ridder Arena, University of Minnesota

Saturday, March 11:
Semifinal 1 - No. 4 St. Cloud State (18-17-1) vs. No. 1 Wisconsin (31-4-1), 1:07 p.m.
Semifinal 2 - No. 3 Minnesota Duluth (22-7-3) vs. No. 2 Minnesota (26-9-1), 4:07 p.m.

Sunday, March 12:
2006 WCHA Playoff Championship Game
Winner of Semifinal 1 vs. Winner of Semifinal 2, 1:07 p.m.

Last Week in the WCHA
Results from Friday, March 3:
WCHA Playoffs - 1st Round
No.5 Ohio State 1 at No. 4 St. Cloud State 2 OT
No. 8 North Dakota 1 at No. 1 Wisconsin 4
No. 7 Minnesota State 1 at No. 2 Minnesota 5
No. 6 Bemidji State 2 at No. 3 Minnesota Duluth 7

Results from Saturday, March 4:
WCHA Playoffs - 1st Round
No. 5 Ohio State 3 at No. 4 St. Cloud State 6
No. 8 North Dakota 0 at No. 1 Wisconsin 6
No. 7 Minnesota State 0 at No. 2 Minnesota 6
No. 6 Bemidji State 0 at No. 3 Minnesota Duluth 3

USCHO.com Division I Women's Poll

February 27 (first-place votes in parentheses)	Last Ranking	Record
1. New Hampshire,150 (15)	1	30- 2-1
2. St. Lawrence, 133	2	28- 3-2
3. Wisconsin, 122	3	29- 4-1
4. Minnesota, 105	4	24- 9-1
5. Princeton, 83	6	19- 6-4
6. Minnesota Duluth, 80	5	20- 7-3
7. Mercyhurst, 62	7	19- 7-6
8. Harvard, 31	NR	14-11-4
9. Boston College, 28	10	19-10-4
10. Clarkson, 18	8	21-12-1

Others Receiving Votes: St. Cloud State 7, Brown 3, Dartmouth 1, Maine 1, Providence 1

USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Women's College Hockey Poll

February 28 (first-place votes in parentheses)	Last Ranking	Record
1. New Hampshire, 190 (19)	1	30-2-1
2. St. Lawrence, 168	2	28-3-2
3. Wisconsin, 155	3	29-4-1
4. Minnesota, 134	4	24-9-1
5. Minnesota Duluth, 108	5	20-7-3
6. Princeton, 101	6	19-6-4
7. Mercyhurst, 76	7	19-7-6
8. Harvard, 36	10	14-11-4
9. Clarkson, 35	8	21-12-1
10. Boston College, 34	9	19-10-4

Others receiving votes: St. Cloud State 5; Maine, 2; Wayne State 1.

BEMIDJI STATE BEAVERS
Bemidji State saw its season come to an end this weekend as they traveled to Minnesota Duluth to take on the Bulldogs in the first round of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) playoffs. The Bulldogs used the first two games of the three game series to eliminate the Beavers from the conference tournament. In the first game of the series, the Bulldogs jumped ahead of the Beavers 2-0 in the first five minutes of the first period. Bemidji State's Aimee Collins (Pilot Mound, Manitoba) got the Beavers on the board with three minutes left of the first period to bring the Beavers within 2-1 at the end of the first period. In the second period of play the Bulldogs scored three unanswered goals in a span of 1:19 to go ahead 5-1 only four minutes into the second period. Bemidji State's Tara Hiscock (Bemidji, Minn.) recorded her eleventh goal of the season to bring the score to 5-2 at 13:26 of the second period. The Bulldogs pushed its lead back to four goal s before the period was over and at the end of two periods of play the Bulldogs would lead 6-2. Just :48 seconds into the third period the Bulldogs added its seventh goal of the game. That would be all the scoring in the contest with the Bulldogs on top 7-2. Recording the loss for the Beavers was Jill Luebke (Neenah, Wis.). Luebke recorded 13 saves while giving up four goals before being replaced by Emily Brookshaw (Webster, Wis.), Brookshaw ended the evening with 24 saves. On Saturday evening Minnesota Duluth used two first period goals to coast to the 3-0 shutout. Both teams had numerous chances to score on the power-play each going 0-for-7 in the game on the man advantage. Senior netminder Jill Luebke (Neenah, Wis.) stopped 42-of-45 shots that she faced in the losing effort. Luebke fell to 7-12-1 on the season. The seven wins is the most wins Luebke has attained in a season at Bemidji State. Luebke finished with a record of 0-9 versus Minnesota Duluth in her career. Bemidji State is 0-29-1 all-time versus the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs and 0-15-1 at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center (DECC). The Beavers fall to 0-7 all-time in WCHA playoff games and 0-2 versus the Bulldogs in playoff games. The Beavers are also 0-1 in WCHA best of three playoff series.

Minnesota Golden Gophers
The No. 4 University of Minnesota women's hockey team earned two wins against Minnesota State University, Mankato to advance to the WCHA Championships, March 11-12 at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis, Minn. The Golden Gophers earned a 5-1 win Friday night and followed with a 6-0 shutout Saturday. The Gophers will face Minnesota Duluth at 4 p.m., while Wisconsin and St. Cloud State will play in the 1 p.m. semifinal. After a scoreless first period Friday, Gigi Marvin got the Gophers on board with a short-handed goal at11:02 of the second period. Becky Wacker followed with a goal of her own 1:41 later at 12:43. MSU cut the Gophers' lead to 2-1 at 19:31 of the second on a power-play goal from Andrea Herold. The Gophers, however, opened the game in the third period, scoring three goals. Wacker added her second goal of the game at 4:27, while Bobbi Ross scored at 12:52 and Marvin at 14:32 for the 5-1 final. In the second game, Liz Palkie scored a goal at 2:39 of the second period for her first goal of the season. The goal proved to be the gamewinner, a career first. Minnesota then received scoring from Marley Wournell and Marvin to enter the third period with a 3-0 lead. The Gophers then tacked on three goals in the third for the 6-0 final. Anya Miller scored an even-strength goal, while Whitney Graft and Erica McKenzie scored power-play goals for the win. Minnesota was three-for-five on the power play, while holding MSU zero-for-five with the extra attacker...On the weekend, the Gophers had scoring from 15 of 18 skaters. Leading the pack was freshman Gigi Marvin with five points, followed by Wacker, Ross and Ashley Albrecht with three points. Wacker led the team in plus/minus rating with a +5...Kim Hanlon was in goal for the Gophers in both games. She allowed one goal for a 0.50 goals against average and a .976 save percentage. On the season, Hanlon holds a 1.02 GAA mark....On the season, Minnesota is led in scoring by McKenzie with 51 points, while Marvin has 44 and Ross has 37. Allie Sanchez leads the Gopher defense in both scoring (4-11-15) and plus/minus rating with +24...The Gophers will meet Minnesota Duluth for the fifth time this season on Saturday. The two teams have split action in each series and shared the No. 2 spot in the conference this year. Minnesota held a slight edge with 19 conference wins and holds the No. 2 seed in the championship.

Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs
Just like the other three schools advancing to the 2006 Western Collegiate Hockey Association Playoff Championships the No. 6 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team took only two games to advance to the next round...The Bulldogs made it official with 7-2 and 3-0 victories over Bemidji State...After missing the last three series at the 2006 Winter Olympics with Team Germany, freshman F Michaela Lanzl started the scoring for the Bulldogs at 3:23 in the first period on Friday. The goal was Lanzl first point since Jan. 20, 2006 against the University of Minnesota and her first goal since Nov. 26, 2005 against Harvard ...The Bulldogs would open up the game in the second period as they added goals from rookie F Mari Pehkonen, junior F Allison Lehrke, Koizumi, and junior D Ashly Waggoner...Pehkonen's goal ended up being the game-winner, giving her two on the season. Pehkonen is now one of only three Bulldogs two have more than one game-winning goal this year...Pehkonen, Lehrke, and Koizumi tallied their goals until 1:19 apart...That was just six second faster than the UMD record for the fastest three goals. Neither team had much opportunity on the power-play as there were only six penalties called, but only one in the first and zero in the second. It looked like Bemidji State would set a new team low for the least number of penalties called in a game at zero, until 17:50 in the final stanza. The WCHA Playoff game on Friday was the first ever played at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center for the women's team. Saturday things were a little different as it was a lower scoring and more penalty filled game. Junior F Jessica Koizumi would get the first and only goal that was needed for UMD at 4:29 in the first period on Saturday. The goal was her fifth of the weekend, a new personal high on the season. Koizumi is now on a personal career high six game point-scoring streak and a three game goal-scoring streak. Rookie F Sara O'Toole added an insurance goal at 19:03 in the same stanza after skating around two Bemidji State defenders. Unlike Friday night's game each team had several chances to score on the power-play, but were unable to convert. UMD and the Beavers each had seven chances, including two five-on-three opportunities each. Junior netminder Riitta Schaublin earned her fourth shut-out of the 2005-06 season, stopping all 24 shots by Bemidji State. UMD, now 22-7-3 overall, will next play Minnesota in the semi-final round of the WCHA Playoff Championships on March 11. Game time will be at 4:07 p.m. The early semi-final game will be between the Wisconsin and St. Cloud State. The Bulldogs are 2-2-0 against Minnesota so far this season. This will be the fourth time that the two teams have met in the WCHA playoffs. UMD holds a 2-1-0 advantage in the playoffs. The all-time series currently stands at 15-13-4 in favor of the Gophers. The last meeting between the Bulldogs and Minnesota in the WCHA playoffs was back on March 14, 2004 when UMD lost to the Gophers 2-4 to end their run for a fourth national championship.

MINNESOTA STATE MAVERICKS
Minnesota State saw its season come to an end in the first round of the WCHA Playoff Championships this weekend at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis. The Mavericks fell in two games to No. 4 Minnesota by scores of 5-1 and 6-0 to finish 11-21-4 on the season. That win total represents a two-game improvement over last season's final record...The Mavericks and Golden Gophers skated to a scoreless first period on Friday but the hosts jumped to a 2-0 lead with goals midway in the second. The Mavericks responded with a power-play goal by freshman Andrea Herold from Kristina Bunker and Amber Sharratt at 19:31 of the middle session. It was the third goal of Herold's career and first on the power-play. That would be as close as the Mavericks would get as the Gophers scored three times in the final session to ice the win. Sophomore goaltender Brit Kehler took the loss in net, stopping 30 shots on 35 faced....Once again on Saturday, the two teams skated a scoreless first session but again the Gophers came out firing in the second. Minnesota scored two even-strength goals and one power-play goal in the second and tacked on two more power-play markers and another even-strength tally in the third. Junior netminder Laura Brennan faced a 41-18 disadvantage on the shot chart, stopping 35 in the loss...Three seniors skated their final game in Maverick uniforms Saturday. Defenseman Amber Sharratt tallied an assist on Friday to finish her career tied for sixth on the MSU charts with 27 career helpers. She also established a new Minnesota State record with 138 games played. Fellow blueliner Jen Jonsson joined her on the top-5 for career games played. Jonsson wrapped up her tenure with 135 games played, a total that is good for a share of third place. Forward Lyndsay James, a midseason addition to the lineup, concludes with 79 career games played and 6-4--10 scoring totals...The Mavericks saw solid improvement this season in offensive production. The team added 32 points to its total from last season. The final scoring read 70 goals and 91 assists for 161 points, compared to 54-75--129 in 2004-05. Eight players had double-digit point totals by the end of the season, compared to just four last season...Freshman Maggie Fisher led the team in scoring with 16 goals and seven assists for 23 points. She was also tops on the squad with 112 shots on goal, two short-handed markers, three power-play goals and two game-winners. Sophomore forward Jodi Helminen paced the Mavericks with 10 assists. Another sophomore, Noelle Needham, showed the biggest improvement from last season to this season, going from 3-0--3 as a freshman to 6-8--14 this season. She finished in a tie for fourth on the team in scoring...Sophomore netminder Brit Kehler finished her second season with a .923 save percentage, the second-best season performance in team history. The same can be said for her goals against average of 2.50. She accumulated 754 saves on the season, a total that ranks fifth on the MSU single-season charts...Junior forward Shera Vis became the 15th player in MSU history to suit up in over 100 career games when she skated on Friday. In three seasons of play, she has 12 goals and 13 assists for 25 points...At the conclusion of his fifth season at MSU, head coach Jeff Vizenor owns a record of 50-102-19.

North Dakota Fighting Sioux
The Fighting Sioux women's hockey team lost two games to the Wisconsin Badgers in the first round of the WCHA best of three series...The Sioux lost 4-1 Friday night and then lost 6-0 Saturday night ending their season...The Fighting Sioux finished the year with a 7-27-2 overall record and went 3-23-2 in WCHA action...Cami Wooster led the Sioux in scoring this season with 20 points, scoring 11 goals and nine assists...Cara Wooster was second in scoring with 19 points, she tallied 10 goals and nine assists...Melissa Jaques led the Sioux freshman with eight goals and eight assists for 16 points...Samantha Bowers was second in freshman scoring with eight goals and four assists for 12 points...The Sioux will lose eight players to graduation but return 70% of their offense for next season...

Ohio State Buckeyes
Ohio State dropped a pair of games to St. Cloud State in the first round of the WCHA playoffs March 3-4 at the National Hockey Center. The Buckeyes fell 2-1 in overtime Friday and 6-3 Saturday. They conclude their season with an overall record of 13-18-5 and 10-15-3 in league games...It is the first time OSU has lost in the first round or quarterfinals of the playoffs. It is also the first time the Buckeyes have lost to SCSU in the postseason...Senior co-captain and 2006 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award Top 10 Finalist Jana Harrigan had two goals and an assist in the series for a total of 47 points this season to rank second all time in a single-season in school history. Harrigan holds the all-time mark with 54 points set last year. She finished her senior campaign with 23 goals and 24 assists...Harrigan's goal Saturday was scored shorthanded, her sixth of the season. The total leads the NCAA this season and ties for the second-most in a single season in NCAA history...Sophomore Shelby Aldous also had multiple points on the weekend with an assist Friday and a power play goal Saturday...The overtime game Friday was Ohio State's 10th this year, tying its own NCAA record for most in a season.

St. Cloud State Huskies
The St. Cloud State University women's hockey team (18-17-1, 13-14-1 WCHA) has advanced to the women's 2006 Western Collegiate Hockey Association Playoff Championships, scheduled for Saturday, March 11 and Sunday, March 12 at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis, Minn. No. 4 SCSU will face No. 1 Wisconsin in the first semi-final game. The Badgers, who are the 2005-06 WCHA Regular Season Champions, bring a 31-4-1 overall record into the contest. Wisconsin leads the overall series with SCSU 16-4-0 as the Huskies have yet to beat the Badgers in playoff action...St. Cloud State improved their season record to 18-17-1 (13-14-1 WCHA) with a 6-3 victory over Ohio State on March 4, 2006. The 2005-06 Huskies have now become the first team in school history to reach 18 wins in a season. The Huskies have a 2-3-0 overall playoff record heading into the 2006 WCHA Playoff Championships...Playing in their inaugural home playoff game Friday, senior forward Ashley Stewart tallied the game-winning goal to lead St. Cloud State to a 2-1 overtime victory over Ohio State in the first game of the best-of-three series in the WCHA Tournament. With the win on Friday, the Huskies (17-17-1, 13-14-1 WCHA) tied the school record for the most wins in one season with 17 wins. The Huskies were led by senior Ashley Stewart, who had an assist and the game-winning goal. Of note, after playing two hours and 15 minutes on Friday, SCSU etched its longest playoff game on home ice...In Saturday's 6-3 win over Ohio State, sophomore forward Laura Fast, who earned the playmaker award on the day, led the Huskies with four points as senior forward Ashley Stewart notched two assists on the day to leave her just two point shy of the 100-career point mark. With the help of goaltender Lauri St. Jacques, the Huskies held OSU scoreless in the third, despite the 6-on-4 advantage for the last 1:50 of the game. St. Jacques finished the game with 30 saves as she improves her season record to 12-12-1 and earns her third straight victory...Playing in their last game at the National Hockey Center, the team tips their hats to their five seniors: Kristy Oonincx, Ashley and Kelly Stewart, Randie Jelinski and Rachel Solgon. Jelinski and Kelly Stewart have now played in a 136 career games, which puts them tied for second behind former Husky Abby Cooper who played in a 138 games from 1999-2003.

Wisconsin Badgers
The No. 3 Wisconsin women's hockey team scored six goals and shut out North Dakota to close out the Western Collegiate Hockey Association best-of-three playoff series. Wisconsin improved its record to 31-4-1 while UND ended its season at 7-27-2...The Badgers will remain the No. 1 seed in the WCHA semifinal game, Saturday, March 11 in Minneapolis...There were no upsets in the playoffs with the all four top seeds sweeping their opponents...The Badgers are set to play the St. Cloud State Huskies who swept their series against Ohio State, 2-1, 6-3...UW will face SCSU at 1:07 p.m. March 11...The winner of that game will play the winner of the Minnesota-Minnesota Duluth semifinal, in the championship game, March 12 at 1:07 p.m....Wisconsin advanced to the 2005 WCHA Championship game after defeating UMD in and overtime semifinal game, but fell in overtime to Minnesota after a miraculous two-goal comeback in the final minute of regulation...Over the weekend, claiming the first game, Wisconsin was led by rookie Angie Keseley (St. Louis Park, Minn.) scoring the first three goals of the 4-1 game to register the Badgers' fourth season hat trick and the first win in the WCHA best-of-three playoff series vs. North Dakota. In her eighth start, Jessie Vetter registered 21 saves and weathered the Sioux out-shooting the Badgers in last two periods...To close the series, five Badgers scored six goals and shut out the Sioux...The scoring began with sophomore Jinelle Zaugg (Eagle River, Wis.) at 8:01 of the game on the power play...Her goal snapped a five-game scoring drought...The Badgers then scored two quick goals early in the second period. Cyndy Kenyon (Sparta, Wis.) was helped by Bauer for her tally at 1:32. Lawler followed her with her 11th season goal from Tia Hanson (Medicine Hat, Alberta) and Keseley at 2:04...The freshmen were a force for the Badgers in the series combining for 11 points this weekend, highlighted by Friday's natural hat trick by Keseley, and a five-point weekend for Lawler. Closing out the second was Nikki Burish (Madison, Wis.) with her 10th season goal at 16:57. Burish became the sixth Badger to register double-digit goals this season...The Badgers tacked on two more goals late in the third period with a delayed penalty goal at 15:30 by Phoebe Monteleone (Pittsburgh, Pa.)...Lawler closed out the scoring at 17:09 after a Sioux skater inadvertently scored on her own net...For the Badgers, senior Meghan Horras made 18 saves in the shutout...It was her second consecutive shutout and the 17th of her career, a new school record...The Badgers may be home again to host an NCAA quarterfinal game, but will not know for sure until the NCAA selection show reveals the pairings and sites ...The show will be broadcast live on CSTV at 7:45 p.m. Sunday, March 12

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