March 30, 2004

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The University of Minnesota finished the collegiate hockey season as NCAA Division I National Champions in the No. 1 spot in the final USA Today/American Hockey Magazine Women's College Hockey Poll, garnering all 19 first-place votes for the third consecutive week. The Golden Gophers downed No. 4 Dartmouth College, 5-1, in the semifinal round of the NCAA Women's Frozen Four to advance to the championship game against No. 2 Harvard University. Harvard led through the first period on a goal from Katherine Sweet, but Minnesota evened the score in the second stanza. The Golden Gophers pulled away in the third period, with forward Natalie Darwitz registering a hat trick, including the game-winning goal early in the final frame.

St. Lawrence University finished in the No. 3 spot after defeating Dartmouth 2-1 in the third-place game following a semifinal loss to Harvard by the same score.

The seventh annual USA Today/American Hockey Magazine Women's College Hockey Poll is conducted each week in conjunction with the American Hockey Coaches Association. The poll includes input from women's college ice hockey coaches and journalists, as well as composite votes from officers of the American Hockey Coaches Association and American Hockey Magazine, the official publication of USA Hockey.

USA Today/American Hockey Magazine Women's College Hockey Poll -- #24
(first-place votes in parentheses)

                                           Last Week's      2003-04
                                             Ranking         Record
1.    University of Minnesota, 190 (19)         1             30-4-2
2.    Harvard University, 171                   2             30-4-1
3.    St. Lawrence University, 152              3             28-10-1
4.    Dartmouth College, 133                    4             24-8-2
5.    University of Minnesota-Duluth, 103       5             20-12-2
6.    University of Wisconsin, 99               6             25-6-3
7     Mercyhurst College, 71                    7             26-6-4
8.    University of New Hampshire, 48           8             23-9-4
9.    Brown University, 47                      9             18-11-2
10.    Providence College, 25                  10             21-13-2

Others receiving votes: Princeton University, 6.

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