Minnesota Captures Regular Season Title
March 8, 2004
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Madison, Wis. -- No. 1 ranked Minnesota (26-4-2/19-3-2) swept St. Cloud State (7-24-1/4-19-1) to earn its third Western Collegiate Hockey Association title in the last four years. Minnesota finished the season with 40 points and earn the top seed at the 2004 WCHA Women's Final Five. Friday, the Gophers posted a 3-1 win over the Huskies and then completed the sweep and earned the regular season title with a 7-5 victory Saturday.
No. 5 Wisconsin (24-5-3/18-5-1) finished in second place with 37 points followed by No. 6 Minnesota Duluth (19-11-2/15-8-1) in third place. Minnesota State (16-13-4/9-11-4) and Ohio State (15-14-3/10-12-2) finished the regular season in fourth and fifth place, respectively. St. Cloud State (7-24-1/4-19-1) and Bemidji State (5-27-2/3-20-1) round out the final places in the standings. The top five teams in the regular season standings earn a trip to the WCHA Women's Final Five.
Over the weekend, Wisconsin swept Bemidji State, winning 6-0 Saturday and 2-1 Sunday. Minnesota Duluth also earned a sweep with back-to-back shutouts, topping St. Cloud State 9-0 Friday and 3-0 Saturday. Ohio State closed out the regular season with a home-and-home series against non-conference opponent Findlay. Thursday, the Buckeyes won 4-1 on the road but lost at home, 3-2 on Saturday.
The puck drops on the 2004 WCHA Women's Final Five Friday at Ridder Arena on the campus of the University of Minnesota. No. 5 Minnesota State takes on No. 4 Ohio State at 4:05 p.m. Saturday, No. 2 Wisconsin faces No. 3 Minnesota Duluth at 1:05 p.m. while No. 1 Minnesota will meet the winner of Friday's game at 4:05 p.m. Sunday features the third place game at 1:05 p.m. followed by the 2004 WCHA Women's Final Five Championship game at 4:05 p.m.
Upcoming Games
Friday, March 12 WCHA Final Five No. 5 Minnesota State vs. No. 4 Ohio State 4:05 p.m.
Saturday, March 13 WCHA Final Five No. 3 Minnesota Duluth vs. No. 2 Wisconsin 1:05 p.m. Friday's Winner vs. No. 1 Minnesota 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
Thursday, March 4 Ohio State 4, Findlay 1
Friday, March 5 Minnesota 3, St. Cloud State 1 Minnesota Duluth 9, Minnesota State 0
Saturday, March 6 Findlay 3, Ohio State 2 Wisconsin 6, Bemidji State 0 Minnesota Duluth 3, Minnesota State 0 Minnesota 7, St. Cloud State 5
Sunday, March 7 Bemidji State 1 at Wisconsin 2
* WCHA contest
Bemidji State - Bemidji State was swept by fifth-ranked Wisconsin on Saturday, Mar. 6 and Sunday, Mar. 7 in Madison. The Badgers shut out the Beavers 6-0 on Saturday and narrowly escaped Sunday's contest with a 2-1 win. UW is now 21-1-1 all-time against BSU...Wisconsin used a hat trick from Jackie Friesen and a two-goal effort from Lindsay Macy to secure a 6-0 triumph on Saturday...After holding the Badgers scoreless for the first 15 minutes of the opening period, the Beavers allowed back-to-back goals to give UW a 2-0 advantage after one period. Wisconsin outshot BSU 19-4 in the second stanza and extended its lead to 4-0. The Badgers continued their dominance in the third period as Friesen netted one power-play tally and one even-strength goal to record a hat trick...For the contest, Wisconsin outshot Bemidji State 49-14. BSU finished the game zero-for-four on the power-play, while UW connected on one-of-three power-play chances...Senior goalkeeper Anik Côté stopped 43 shots in the loss and her season record is now 2-13-1...Despite a 34-save performance from Côté, Wisconsin notched two third period goals to put a close to Bemidji State's season on Sunday afternoon...Frosh Kelly Hart got the Beavers on the board first in the opening period, tallying an unassisted goal, her 10th marker of the season. The goal gave Hart her team-leading 20th point of the season....The Beavers would not score again, but Côté stood strong between the pipes for BSU, making 23 saves in the first two periods of play and holding the Badgers scoreless until early in the third period...In the final stanza, the home team took control of the contest, outshooting BSU 13-4 and scoring a pair of goals in less than two minutes...Bemidji State pulled Côté with 57 seconds remaining in regulation in an attempt to tie the contest, but the Badgers held on for their seventh consecutive win over the Beavers...Wisconsin outshot 36-16 for the game and earned a 85-30 shot advantage on the weekend. The Beavers finished zero-for-two on the power-play, while the Badgers went zero-for-one...Côté ended the season with a 2-14-1 record and 12-37-7 career mark...Bemidji State concluded the 2003-04 campaign with an overall record of 5-27-2 and a 3-20-1 mark in Western Collegiate Hockey Association competition. The Beavers finished seventh in the WCHA standings with seven points, marking the first time since the inception of the WCHA in 1999-00, in which BSU has not qualified for the Final Five...Sunday's contest was the final game for Bemidji State seniors Guylaine Haché and Anik Côté...Haché recorded two goals and four assists this season and ended her career with 32 goals and 28 assists, good for 60 points...Côté leaves BSU as its number one goaltender in save percentage (.893) and goals against average (3.50)...Kelly Hart (10-10-20) is the first freshman to lead BSU in scoring since Lill Raynard (17-19-36) achieved the feat in the 1999-00 season.
MINNESOTA - The No. 1 University of Minnesota women's hockey team earned four points over St. Cloud State, winning 3-1 Friday and 7-5 Saturday night. With the Gophers' first win over SCSU, Minnesota earned its third WCHA regular season title in four years. The Maroon and Gold captured 40 conference points for the top spot in the league. The 40 points rank third-highest since the start of the WCHA in 1999-2000. The Gophers had 43 conference points in 1999-2000, 41 in 2001-02, 40 this season and 39 last year...Krissy Wendell led the Gopher scoring charge with six goals and two assists for an eight-point weekend. Kelly Stephens and Natalie Darwitz followed right behind Wendell with five points. Wendell collected four goals on Saturday for her second four-goal game of the season. It was the second time in her career that Wendell has had a five-point game. Her first dates back to Nov. 23, 2002 in a series sweep over St. Lawrence...Since Darwitz has been back in the lineup, Minnesota's line of Wendell, Stephens and Darwitz have combined for 39 points. Although Minnesota's line of Andrea Nichols, La Toya Clarke and Becky Wacker haven't posted 39 points, the trio have tallied 14 tallies, including 10 points against Minnesota-Duluth (2/28/29)...With the regular season title in hand, the Golden Gophers will be the No. 1 seed in the WCHA Final Five this weekend. The Maroon and Gold will face the winner of the Ohio State/Minnesota State at 4 p.m. Saturday. The Buckeyes and Mavericks are set to square off Friday at 4 p.m. Ohio State won the tie-breaker and are the No. 4 seed, while MSU is the No. 5 seed. Minnesota Duluth and Wisconsin will play at 1 p.m. Saturday...The Golden Gophers hold a 5-4 record in the WCHA tournament championships...Minnesota posts a 1-0 record against Minnesota State, 3-1 against Wisconsin and 1-1 against Ohio State. Minnesota Duluth is the only team that the Gophers have a losing record to, posting an 0-2 mark in the championship round. Minnesota fell, 5-3 in last year's WCHA Championship game to UMD
MINNESOTA DULUTH - The Bulldogs finished the regular season with a sweep of Minnesota State, Mankato over the weekend, blanking the Mavericks 9-0 and 3-0...The season concluding series against Minnesota State Mankato is the first time for both teams that they started a campaign and ended it with the same opponent...By not allowed the Mavericks to garner a point in the series, the Bulldogs earned their third series shut-out of the season...The nine goals that Shari Vogt allowed on Friday were the most this season, the previous high-water mark was four...The nine goals scored by UMD also tied a season high for goals in a game and an all-time record for the most goals scored in a game after a loss...Anna-Kaisa Piiroinen recorded her first career shutout in net for UMD after recording her first loss against the Mavericks back on Oct. 10, 2003...Jenny Potter's hat-trick on Friday was the teams seventh of the season, Potter now has three, Ouellette and Koizumi each have two...Jill Sales tallied her first goals in a maroon and gold uniform on Friday night...Becky Salyards is now the only UMD skater with out a goal or points on the year...Shannon Kasparek earned her first start of the season in Saturday's game against the Mavericks and her first career shut-out in six games played...UMD celebrated its 2003-04 Senior Night, honoring seniors Tricia Guest, Satu Kiipeli, and Jenny Potter for their contributions to UMD over the past few years...Caroline Ouellette extended her point-scoring streak to 13 games...A season ago Ouellette finished the season with a 16 point-scoring streak...Krista McArthur is now on a four game assist-scoring streak...Jenny Potter had a 12 game scoring streak snapped on Saturday and Julianne Vasichek also had a point streak ended at five games...Jenny Potter scored her fourth short-handed goal on Friday and is now tied for the lead in short-handed goals scored by a Bulldog this season...With her two goals on Saturday Caroline Ouellette managed to spring ahead of Jenny Potter as the teams point leader...Ouellette and Potter are still No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, on the nations points per game charts...The Bulldogs are now No. 1 in scoring offense in the country with 4.47 goals per game...In league stats Krista McArthur is now the No. 1 scoring defenseman with 22 points in WCHA contests...UMD finishes the regular season 19-11-2, 15-8-1 WCHA good for third place, which is the lowest position that the Bulldogs have finished in their five year history.
MINNESOTA STATE - Minnesota State went on the road and was swept by Minnesota Duluth 12-0 on Friday and 3-0 on Saturday. The Mavericks finish the regular season with a mark of 16-13-4, the first winning season in the six-year history of the program. MSU is also gearing up for their first-ever appearance in the WCHA Final Five next weekend...The Mavericks accumulated 52 penalty minutes on the weekend and remain in the top spot nationally in that category with 15.2 minutes per game...Senior goaltender Shari Vogt had a typically busy weekend in net for the Mavericks. On Friday, she collected 38 saves, including 16 in each of the first two periods. On Saturday, she faced 56 shots and stopped 53 to match the most saves by a Maverick goaltender this season. In the third period of that game, she was bombarded with 28 shots and turned away 27 of them. Her save totals on the weekend give her a Maverick single-season record 1,001, breaking her own mark of 932 set last season. In fact, she now owns the top four season totals in team history. She is also the only Maverick goaltender to suit up for more than 100 games...Another Maverick player etched her name atop the charts. Senior forward Amanda Osborn made her mark in the MSU record book by playing in her 134th consecutive game. She has not missed a contest in her entire career and owns both the total games played and consecutive games played records. She is 20-25-45 in her career, ranking fifth on the career assists chart...Junior Kristina Koga became the ninth player in MSU history to suit up for 100 career games on Friday. She owns 7-6-13 in her 101 career games played...Minnesota State will square off with Ohio State on Friday, March 12, at Ridder Arena in the first WCHA Final Five contest in team history. Game time is 4:05 p.m.
OHIO STATE - Ohio State will make its fifth consecutive appearance at the WCHA Final Five tournament Friday-Sunday at Ridder Arena. The fourth-seeded Buckeyes will face fifth seed Minnesota State at 4:05 p.m. Friday, marking the teams' first meeting in postseason action...OSU has won every first round game in the playoffs, defeating both St. Cloud State and Bemidji State twice. The Buckeyes are 6-6-0 all-time in the tournament...Ohio State has perfect 2-0-0 record against Bemidji State and St. Cloud State in WCHA postseason action. The Buckeyes are 1-1-0 vs. both Minnesota and Wisconsin. OSU has yet to gain a win over Minnesota-Duluth in the playoffs, as UMD leads 4-0...OSU is looking for a winning record in postseason action this year, after finishing 1-2 the last two seasons. In 2000 and 2001, the Buckeyes earned a 2-1 mark...Two Buckeyes enter the WCHA Final Five on a three-game points streak. Senior Erin O'Grady has recorded two goals and two assists in the last three games, while sophomore Jana Harrigan has recorded two goals and three assists...In postseason action, former Buckeye Corinne Rosen holds OSU's record of four goals in one season (2001) of playoff action. Emily Hudak is ranked first in OSU's postseason assists record books with five during the 2001 tournament...With her assist vs. Findlay last Thursday, senior Emma Laaksonen moved within one point of the OSU career record for career points (98). Laaksonen and junior Jeni Creary are now tied with 97 career points. Shana Frost is OSU's all-time leader in career points...Ohio State split the series last weekend with Findlay. The Buckeyes topped the Oilers, 4-1, Thursday in Findlay, Ohio. OSU fell 3-2 to UF in the fourth and final Ohio Cup Saturday in Columbus, Ohio. The Oilers clinched their first Ohio Cup victory in the four-year history of the competition. OSU won the trophy the previous three consecutive seasons...Ohio State closed out its 2003-04 regular-season with a winning record of 15-14-3 overall. This season marks the third year OSU has ended the regular-season above .500.
ST. CLOUD STATE - St. Cloud State concluded its season with losses to No. 1 Minnesota over the weekend, falling 3-1 and 7-5...Senior Kobi Kawamoto scored the Huskies' lone goal on Friday night on assists from Ashley Stewart and Roxanne Stang...Saturday's game saw SCSU come out strong, scoring two first period goals and leading 2-1 after the period. Kawamoto scored for the second straight day and Krista Simonson scored her second of the season...Ellen Brinkman made both starts against Minnesota, the final two of her career. She stopped 74 shots in net...Junior Carrie Holldorf finished her season with three assists in Saturday's loss. She led the Huskies in scoring for the second straight year with 31 points (12 g, 19 a). It also marks the second straight season she led the team in assists; in 2002-03, she had 17 helpers and 25 points...In Saturday's game, St. Cloud made it an entertaining affair with two goals in the third period to make it a 7-5 game. Jacqueline Jensen scored her second of the season on assists by Holldorf and Kawamoto, and Ashley Stewart earned her 13th of her sophomore season on assists by Holldorf and Stang....Sophomore Randie Jelinski scored her first multi-point game of her career Saturday with two assists. Jensen also had her first multi-point game of her career with her goal and an assist...Kawamoto ended her career scoring in seven of the final eight games. She is SCSU's all-time assist leader and second all-time in scoring with 99 points...Roxy Stang finishes her illustrious career with a goal and three assists against Minnesota. She is the all-time leader in goals scored and the school's all-time leading scorer with 119 points...Ashley Stewart finishes the season as the lone Husky averaging over a point per game. She played in 23 games and scored 25 points...SCSU concludes it season with a 6th place finish in the WCHA for the second consecutive season, and a 7-24-1 overall record.
WISCONSIN - Wisconsin swept visiting Bemidji State to earn its four last points in the league standings for the regular seasonThe fifth-ranked Badgers shutout the Beavers 6-0 Saturday and rallied back for a 2-1 victory Sunday to improve to 24-5-3 overall and 18-5-1 for second place in the WCHA...The sweep gave Wisconsin its best-ever finish in both overall and league victories in UW history...Junior Jackie Friesen helped lead Wisconsin to its shutout after scoring her second career hat trick against Bemidji State...Teammate Molly Engstrom also earned three assists against the Beavers during the series ... Wisconsin outshot Bemidji State 85-30 on the weekend...The Badgers split their net between goaltenders Meghan Horras and Christine Dufour...Horras tagged in 14 saves for the shutout, while Dufour collected 15 stops for the win Sunday...Wisconsin also celebrated its 2004 senior class Sunday as it said goodbye to seniors Kathryn Greaves, Stephanie Boeckmann, Meghan Hunter, Steph Millar and Karen Rickard
USA Today/American Hockey Magazine
March 2, 2004
1. Minnesota (15)
2. Dartmouth (2)
3. Harvard (2)
4. St. Lawrence
5. Wisconsin
6. Mercyhurst
7. New Hampshire
8. Minnesota Duluth 17-11-2 61 6
9. Princeton
10. Brown
Others receiving votes: Minnesota State, Ohio State, Providence
USCHO.COM Poll
March 8, 2004
Record Points Last Week
1. Minnesota (14)
2. Harvard (1)
3. Dartmouth
4. St. Lawrence
5. Wisconsin
6. Minnesota Duluth
7. Mercyhurst
8. New Hampshire
9. Princeton
10. Brown 16-10-2 12 10
Others receiving votes: Providence 3, Minnesota State 1
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