Sept. 27, 2006

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MADISON, Wisc. - The University of Wisconsin swept all sorts of awards last season in women's collegiate hockey so it was no surprise that the eight member head coaches in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association have installed the defending national champions as the pre-season favorite for the league's regular season championship in 2006-2007.

Coach Mark Johnson's Badgers, who finished 36-4-1 overall in 2005-2006 while winning the WCHA regular season and playoff championship before taking its first national championship, received seven of eight first-place votes and earned 49 points to finish atop the poll. Points are determined on a 7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis and coaches do not vote for their own team.

The University of Minnesota, which lost to the Badgers in the national championship game, was tabbed to finish second by the head coaches. Coach Laura Halldorson's Golden Gophers, who finished second in 2005-06 and posted a 29-11-1 overall record, had one first place vote and 43 total points.

The University of Minnesota Duluth finished third in this season's pre-season coaches' poll with 37 points. Coach Shannon Miller's Bulldogs had a 22-9-3 record and qualified for the NCAA tournament last season.

St. Cloud State University, under new coach Jeff Giesen, was picked to finish fourth in the poll with 28 points. The Huskies went 18-18-1 last season when Giesen served as an assistant coach.

Rounding out the pre-season forecast by the head coaches were the Minnesota State University Mavericks (11-21-4), picked fifth (24 points), the Ohio State University Buckeyes (13-18-5), selected sixth (23 points), the Bemidji State University Beavers (11-23-2), chosen seventh (13 points), and the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux (7-27-2), chosen eighth (7 points.

Like St. Cloud State, Bemidji State also welcomes a new head coach this year as Steve Sertich, the brother of long-time UMD and Michigan Tech men's coach Mike Sertich and father of 2005 Hobey Baker Memorial Award winner Marty Sertich, takes over the Beavers.

In voting for the 2006-07 pre-season WCHA Player of the Year, Wisconsin senior forward Sara Bauer received six of eight votes. Bauer, the 2006 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award winner, WCHA Player of the Year, and an All-American First Teamer, had 22 goals, 36 assists and 58 points a year ago to lead the Badgers. Also named with one vote each were Minnesota forward Erica McKenzie, a junior All-WCHA forward who led the WCHA in scoring with 18 goals and 40 points in league play, and Minnesota Duluth freshman goalie Kim Martin, who led Sweden to a silver medal in the 2006 Winter Olympics.

2006-07 Pre-Season WCHA Women's Coaches' Poll
(Points determined on a 7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. Coaches do not vote for their own team. Number of first-place votes in parenthesis.)

Rk	Team	Pts	1st Place Votes	2005-06 Record
1	Wisconsin	49	(7)	36-4-1
2	Minnesota	43	(1)	29-11-1
3	Minnesota Duluth	37	-	22-9-3
4	St. Cloud State	28	-	18-18-1
5	Minnesota State	24	-	11-21-4
6	Ohio State	23	-	13-18-5
7	Bemidji State	13	-	11-23-2
8	North Dakota	7	-	7-27-2

WCHA Pre-Season Player of the Year (votes): Sara Bauer, Sr, F, Wisconsin (6); Kim Martin, Fr, G, Minnesota Duluth (1); Erica McKenzie, Jr, F, Minnesota (1).

Wisconsin to Hang National Championship Banner as Season Opens Sept. 29-30

Wisconsin will celebrate its first women's NCAA title by unveiling a championship banner at the Kohl Center in Madison on Friday, Sept. 29, prior to its 7 pm, season-opening contest against Quinnipiac.

It is the seventh straight season that a national championship has been celebrated in a WCHA rink. That event in Madison highlights the first weekend of regular season non-conference games. In additon to the Badgers' games against Quinnipiac Sept. 29-30, St. Cloud State and first-year head coach Jeff Giesen play host to Robert Morris at the National Hockey Center.

In exhibition play this weekend, Minnesota will host the Minnesota Whitecaps on Sept. 29, Minnesota Duluth will host the Minnesota Whitecaps on Sept. 30, and Ohio State will entertain Wilfrid Laurier on Sept. 30. Bemidji State plays its first game under new head coach Steve Sertich on Friday, Sept. 29 when it hosts the University of Manitoba and North Dakota hosts Manitoba on Saturday, Sept. 30.

Minnesota State, which opened the exhibition season with a 1-0 overtime loss to the Whitecaps last weekend, will host Robert Morris in non-conference play on Sunday, Oct. 1.

The battle for the 2006-07 WCHA regular season championship will again consist of a 28-game schedule for each of the league's eight clubs, with each team playing the other seven four times - twice at home and twice on the road. The first weekend of league competition - October 6-7 - will have defending WCHA champion Wisconsin hosting St. Cloud State and Minnesota State hosting Minnesota Duluth.

Other conference openers for 2006-07, by school, are: Bemidji State (Oct. 13-14 vs St. Cloud State), Minnesota (Oct. 13-14 vs Minnesota State), Minnesota State (Oct. 13-14 at Minnesota), North Dakota (Oct. 14-15 at Minnesota Duluth), and Ohio State (Oct. 13-14 vs Wisconsin).

A Look Back at 2005-06 and What to Expect in 2006-07

MADISON, Wisc. - The University of Wisconsin kept the Western Collegiate Hockey Association's national title streak alive in 2005-06 when the Badgers became the third WCHA team to win the national title. It was the first NCAA title for Wisconsin, coming in its first Frozen Four appearance, and the seventh-straight national championship won by a WCHA-member institution.

Since the inception of the NCAA Women's Frozen Four in 2001, three different WCHA teams have won the title, firmly establishing the west is best and establishing itself as the premier colegiate women's hockey conference in the country. Minnesota Duluth won the first three NCAA titles in 2001, 2002 and 2003. Minnesota took home the titles in 2004 and 2005, and the Golden Gophers also won the 2000 AWCHA Div. 1 national collegiate championship, prior to the inception of the NCAA tournament.

Once again in 2006-07, its' eighth season, the WCHA is home not only to Wisconsin, the defending league champion as well as national champs, and Minnesota, the NCAA runner-up, but also to some of the top individuals stars in collegiate women's hockey. They include Wisconsin forward Sara Bauer, the Patty Kazmaier Award winner in 2006 as the best college player in the country, and all-Americans Bobbi Jo Slusar, Wisconsin's defenseman, and Riitta Schaublin, Minnesota Duluth's all-American goalie.

People have noticed the team success and individual stars, too. The WCHA led the way in national attendance in 2005-06. Minnesota ranked first in average home attendance with an average attendance of 1,306 in 20 homes dates. The Golden Gophers also led the nation with a total home attendance figure of 26,131. Wisconsin (1,275; 24,225) and Minnesota Duluth (894; 16,099) ranked second and third, respectfully, in both categories. WCHA home arenas were also the sites of four of the top six single-game attendance highs. Leading the way was the Women's Frozen Four Final game at Minnesota's Mariucci Arena when a crowd of 4,701 saw Wisconsin beat Minnesota, 3-0.

The WCHA has seen tremendous growth in the last seven years, making the league competitive from top to bottom. North Dakota became the eighth league member in 2004-05 and has established itself with the original seven teams - Bemidji State, Minnesota, Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota State, Ohio State, St. Cloud State, and Wisconsin - in a league which has prospered.

The league welcomes two new head coaches in 2006-07. Steve Sertich, who captained the United States men's team in the 1976 Olympics, is the new boss at Bemidji State and Jeff Giesen ascends from the assistant coaching position to the head coach at St. Cloud State.

The 2006-07 WCHA post-season playoff format will stay the same, except it will begin a week earlier than last season. For the second straight year, all eight teams will advance to the playoffs and the post-season will be extended over two weekends instead of one. The league tournament will open the weekend of Feb. 23-25 (Friday, Saturday and Sunday, if necessary) with a first round, best-of-three series format at campus sites. The No. 1 seeded team will host the No. 8 seed, the No. 2 seed will host the No. 7 seed, the No. 3 seed will host the No. 6 seed, and the No. 4 seed will host the No. 5 seed.

The four first-round winners will then advance to the 2007 WCHA Playoff Championship, to be held at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis on Saturday and Sunday, March 3-4. On Saturday, there will be two semi-finals at 1:07 pm CT and 4:07 pm CT, with the championship game set for Sunday at 1:07 pm CT.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament will also be held over the course of two weeks as the four regional games will be played the weekend of March 9-10 at campus sites and the 2007 NCAA Women's Frozen Four will be held at Olympic Center oin Lake Placid, N.Y., on March 16-18.

A preseason look at the WCHA teams, which history tells us, has a good chance to be the next national champion:

Bemidji State Beavers
Coach Sertich, the brother of former Minnesota Duluth men's coach Mike, will build around junior goaltender Emily Brookshaw, a member of the 2004 WCHA All-Rookie Team who has posted 10 victories in goal during her two years at BSU. As a sophomore a year ago, she appeared in 19 games with 15 starts, posting a 4-11-1 record. She had a 3.21 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage.

Seniors Helena Tageson (11-9-20), Kelly Hart (8-22-30), Nikki Eckebrecht (13-10-23) and junior Tara Hiscock (11-5-16) are proven scorers.

Hiscock has been named captain and Mandy Bambrough and Kate Robinson have been named alternates.

Minnesota Golden Gophers
The Gophers made it to the national title game for the third straight season in 2005-06. They lost five of six games last season to Wisconsin, including the national championship game and the WCHA playoff championship.

Minnesota will look to juniors Bobbi Ross (21 goals, 22 assists, 43 points) and Erika McKenzie (27-26-53), sophomore Gigi Marvin (16-30-46) and senior Andrea Nichols (8-11-19) to provide the offensive spark and depth at forward.

Defensively, the Maroon and Gold will be without the graduated Chelsey Brodt and Ashley Albrecht, but Melanie Gagnon returns on the blue line in front of goalies Kim Hanlon and Brittony Chartier, who split time last season.

Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs
The Bulldogs have reached the NCAA tournament five times in the last six years and return an all-America goaltender and firepower from a strong senior class that includes Noemie Marin (22-17-39) and Jessica Koizumi (17-26-43). The Bulldogs' top six scorers all come back to the Twin Ports, including sophomores Sara O'Toole (11-8-19) and Michaela Lanzl (18-11-29).

Senior goaltender Riitta Schaublin (20-9-3, 1.59 goals-against and .941 save percentage) was a Patty Kazmaier finalist a year ago and will be joined by Kim Martin, a freshman who was the goaltender for the silver medalist Swedish Olympic team in 2006.

Coach Shannon Miller says she expects to dress seven freshmen and seven seniors.

Minnesota State Mavericks
The Mavericks, picked to finish fifth by the WCHA-member head coaches in 2006-07, up two spots from their seventh place showing last winter, welcome back their top eight scorers from 2005-06, including sophomore Maggie Fischer (16-7-23), juniors Amanda Stohr (6-9-15) and Kristina Bunker (8-8-16), and add transfer Lindsay Macy, a transfer from Wisconsin, and Ashley Young to a deep group of forwards.

This year's team features a line-up consisting of 10 freshmen and12 players who enter their junior and senior seasons.

The defensive corps includes a group of four veterans who bring 356 career games to the table in seniors Sammy Jo Miller (98gp), Megan Jedinak (93gp) and Richelle St. Croix (97gp), along with junior Andreanne Thibault (68gp). In goal, Brit Kehler returns and bring experience to the Mavericks' defensive zone.

North Dakota Fighting Sioux
After graduating the first recruited class in program history last season the Fighting Sioux will have 12 new players, 11 of which are incoming freshmen.

North Dakota's top returning scorers are sophomores Melissa Jaques (8-8-16) and Samantha Bowers (8-4-12).

Junior Christey Allen heads a defense corps in front of two freshmen goalies, Brittany Kirkham and Jody Karnik.

Ohio State Buckeyes
The Buckeyes welcome back junior Tessa Bonhomme who redshirted last season while taking part in the Canadian Centralization Program in association with the National Women's Team. Through two seasons, the she ranks fourth all-time in defensemen scoring with 47 points and will team with seniors Amber Bowman (11-16-27 last year) and Lacey Schultz and Lisa Chesson to provide a deep defensive corps.

Senior Katey Maroney (9-7-16) and highly-touted freshman Raelynn LaRocque will try to provide scoring up front to replace graduated star Jana Harrigan.

Other key returnees for the Buckeyes include junior forward Mallory Peckels and senior goaltender Erika Vanderveer.

St. Cloud State Huskies
Coming off its strongest season in school history, when they set school records in WCHA wins (13) and qualified for the WCHA semifinals for the first time, the Huskies return 17 players including senior goalie Laurie St. Jacques, who had a breakout season in 2005-06.

St. Cloud lost 91 points between the graduated Kristy Oonincx, Ashley Stewart and Randie Jelinski so senior forwards Denelle Maguet (14-18-32) and Hailey Clarkson (17-21-38), who were second and third in team scoring last year, and junior Laura Fast will need to increase scoring responsibilities in 2006-07.

Veterans Tricia Fast and Brittni Kuyper heads the defense corps.

Wisconsin Badgers
The Badgers scored a hat trick of titles in 2005-06, winning both the WCHA regular season and WCHA Playoff Championship as well as its first national title. They return 17 players including six of their top seven scorers.

The group includes Bauer (58 points last year and 56 goals and 146 points in her first three UW seasons), Jinelle Zaugg (24 goals last year), Erica Lawler (32 points) and Angie Keseley (33 points).

Slusar, a Kazmaier finalist after a 40-point year as a junior last season, heads a defense corps with junior Emily Morris and seniors Meaghan Mikkelson and Kristen Witting. That group helped allow 1.24 goals per game in a 36-victory season in 2005-06.

Jessie Vetter, the first freshman and first goaltender in NCAA tournament history to be named the Most Outstanding Player, and Christine Dufour return as a formidable goaltending tandem.

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