Nov. 21, 2006

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MADISON, Wisc. - Freshman Meghan Duggan scored two goals in each game to lead the top-ranked University of Wisconsin women's hockey team to 6-2 and 4-2 victories over Bemidji State on Nov. 18-19 and a Western Collegiate Hockey Association weekend series sweep in Bemidji, Minn. The two victories extended to 26 games a school-record unbeaten streak for the Badgers (13-0-1, 11-0-1 in league play) that dates back to last season. Wisconsin continues to lead the WCHA, heading into a Thanksgiving weekend showdown with second place and 9th-ranked Minnesota Duluth at the Kohl Center in Madison.

Ohio State also remained on a roll with two home victories over North Dakota. The Buckeyes won, 4-1, last Friday and then completed their third series sweep with a 4-0 victory on Sunday. The Buckeyes are unbeaten in their last seven games at 6-0-1 for the third-longest undefeated streak in the country. They have an 8-5-2 overall record and are 4-5-2 in league play.

Minnesota State cooled off Minnesota Duluth by skating to a 5-5 tie with the Bulldogs in the series opener on Nov. 17 and scoring its first-ever victory over the Bulldogs in Duluth, 5-3, in the series finale on Nov. 18. Lindsay Macy had four goals in the series for the visiting Mavericks, who are 2-1-1 over their last four outings. UMD fell to 0-3-1 over the last four contests.

Minnesota, meanwhile ran its record to 7-1-1 in the last nine games and extended their winning streak to six straight by sweeping St. Cloud State last Friday and Saturday. Gigi Marvin had the game-winning goal each day as the No. 4-ranked Golden Gophers won, 5-2, in St. Cloud in the opener of the home-and-home series and 4-1 in the series finale in Minneapolis.

The Wisconsin-Minnesota Duluth showdown in Madison this Friday and Saturday afternoon highlights league play this holiday weekend, Nov. 24-26. In other conference series, Minnesota State hosts Ohio State in Owatonna, Minn., Friday and Saturday while St. Cloud visits winless North Dakota in the Fighting Sioux's first home game in a month. Bemidji State plays a weekend non-conference series at Vermont.

Heading into Thanksgiving weekend, Wisconsin sits atop the WCHA with an 11-0-1 record and 23 points. Minnesota Duluth is second at 8-3-1 with 17 points while Minnesota is third at 7-2-1 with 15 points and streaking Ohio State is fourth with nine points. Minnesota State is in fifth place with seven points, followed by Bemidji State with five points, St. Cloud State with four points and North Dakota in eighth and seeking its first points.

This Week in the WCHA

Games for Friday, November 24
Minnesota Duluth at Wisconsin, 2:07 pm CT
Ohio State at Minnesota State, 7:07 pm CT
Bemidji State at Vermont, 7:00 pm ET (nc)

Games for Saturday, November 25
Minnesota Duluth at Wisconsin, 2:07 pm CT
Ohio State at Minnesota State, 2:07 pm CT
St. Cloud State at North Dakota, 2:07 pm CT
Bemidji State at Vermont, 7:00 pm ET (nc)

Games for Sunday, November 26
St. Cloud State at North Dakota, 2:07 pm CT

Recent WCHA Scores

Results of Friday, November 17
North Dakota 1 @ Ohio State 4
Minnesota 5 @ St. Cloud State 2
Minnesota State 5 @ Minnesota Duluth 5 (ot)

Results of Saturday, November 18
St. Cloud State 1 @ Minnesota 4
Minnesota State 5 @ Minnesota Duluth 3
Wisconsin 6 @ Bemidji State 2

Results of Sunday, November 19
North Dakota 0 @ Ohio State 4
Wisconsin 4 @ Bemidji State 2

WCHA Offensive Player of the Week
Erin Keys, Jr., F, Ohio State

Nov. 21, 2006 - Keys led Ohio State to a WCHA sweep of North Dakota Nov. 17 and 19 at the OSU Ice Rink. She had two multiple-point games for a team-high five points in the series.

Keys had a goal and an assist in last Friday's 4-1 win and followed that up with a two goal, one assist performance on Sunday in the 4-0 victory. The games were Keys' fourth and fifth multiple-point games of the season.

She has registered a point in 10 of 14 games this season. Her three goals were scored on seven shots and increased her season total to eight to lead the team. She also has a Buckeye best 18 points, already setting a career high just 14 games into the season. Keys is second on the team in assists with 10, also a career high. She was a main member of Ohio State's power-play unit that was 4-for-10 on the weekend, with a goal and two assists with the man-advantage.

Others nominated this week were: Lindsay Macy, F, Minnesota State; Gigi Marvin, F, Minnesota; Kate Robinson, F, Bemidji State, and Jessica Koizumi, F, Minnesota-Duluth.

WCHA Defensive Player of the Week
Britni Kehler, Jr., G, Minnesota State

Nov. 21, 2006 - Kehler made 39 saves last Friday (Nov. 17) and 42 stops on Saturday (Nov. 18) as she backstopped Minnesota State to a 5-5 tie and 5-3 victory over host Minnesota Duluth. She moved to 5-6-1 on the Mavericks' season.

Kehler all but shutdown a Minnesota Duluth power-play unit that entered the series in the country's top-five, allowing just one goal on 27 shot attempts as the Bulldogs finished the weekend 1-for-13 on the power-play.

Kehler was influential in helping the Mavericks earn three points against a Bulldogs team that also ranked in the top-six in scoring offense. Kehler now has 21 career wins and only trails Shari Vogt (26, 2000-04) for the school record.

Others nominated this week were: Anya Miller, D, Minnesota; Erika Vanderveer, G, Ohio State; Erin Holmlov, D, Minnesota Duluth.

WCHA Rookie of the Week
Meghan Duggan, Fr., F, Wisconsin

Nov. 21, 2006 - Duggan. a freshman from Danvers, Mass., scored four goals, including the game-winner last Saturday (Nov. 18), to lead the top-ranked Wisconsin Badgers to a weekend WCHA road sweep of Bemidji State.

In the first game of the series, she opened the scoring :58 seconds into the contest and added another goal midway through the second period that proved to be the game-winner. She also tallied an assist to set a new career best for points in a game with three. Last Sunday (Nov. 19), Duggan again scored twice to set a new personal record for points in a series with five.

For the season, Duggan has recorded six multi-point games and ranks fourth among all Badgers in points with 17 (10 goals, seven assists). She ranks second in the nation in points among rookies.

Others nominated this week were: Brittany Francis, F, Minnesota; Ashley Leopold, F, Bemidji State.

Weekly WCHA Team Notes

Bemidji State Beavers
Bemidji State wrapped up its six-game homestand by dropping two games to the Wisconsin Badgers at the John S. Glas Fieldhouse on Nov. 18-19 ... in the first game the Beavers let in two goals in each period and fell to the Badgers, 6-2 ... the Beavers' Kate Robinson recorded the first goal for BSU at 1:01 of the second period to bring the Beavers within a one-goal deficit at 2-1 ... this was Robinson's second goal of the season ... after the Badgers pushed their lead to 4-1, the Beavers' Ashley Leopold brought BSU within 4-2 late in the second period, only to see the Badgers record two more goals in the third period to seal the victory ... in game two, the Badgers used two first period goals to lift them to a 4-2 weekend sweep over the Beavers ... Wisconsin scored three unanswered goals before the Beavers' Haley Balcom would get BSU on the board with her first goal of the season to bring the Beavers within a two-goal deficit ... in the third period Wisconsin would push its lead back to a three before Bemidji State's Kate Robinson scored her third goal of the season with just under two minutes to play ... with two assists this past weekend, Kelly Hart is just 15 points away from reaching 100 points for her career and she is seven assists from taking over first place for her career ... Hart has recorded a point in six of the last 10 games played ... Bemidji State fell to 1-28-1 all-time versus Wisconsin and are 0-13-1 at the John S. Glas Fieldhouse against the Badgers ... the Beavers will hit the road over the Thanksgiving break to take on the Vermont Catamounts at the Gutterson Fieldhouse in Burlington, Vt. ... both games start at 6:05 pm CT ... this will be the first meeting between the two schools..

Minnesota Golden Gophers
Minnesota earned four points in the WCHA with a series sweep over St. Cloud State, Nov. 17-18 ... in last Friday's game, the Huskies were up, 2-1, but Minnesota came back and scored four unanswered goals for the 5-2 win ... Anya Miller had a career-high three points with a power-play goal and two assists ... Andrea Nichols scored two goals in third, while Michelle Maunu and Gigi Marvin added goals ... Minnesota attempted a penalty shot in the third period, but was unsuccessful ... the last time the Gophers had a penalty shot was in the NCAA semifinal game when Bobbi Ross scored her first-ever penalty shot attempt ... Minnesota controlled the series finale from the start when Becky Wacker scored a goal at 2:34 of the first period ... Marvin netted her second game-winning goal of the weekend at 9:41 in the first ... Dagney Willey and Marvin added later addef goals for the Gophers ... Brittony Chartier improved her record to 10-3-1 ... Chartier had 21 saves in the first game and 20 in the series finale ... on the weekend, Minnesota had 11 of 17 skaters earn a point ... Whitney Graft had four assists, followed by Marvin, Brittany Francis and Miller with three points each ... Minnesota has had point-producing from all three lines this season ... senior captain Andrea Nichols leads the team with nine goals, while Whitney Graft and Melanie Gagnon each lead the team with 11 assists ... Marvin and Graft are tied for the team lead of 15 points ... Marvin has scored eight goals this season, all coming in clutch situations ... she holds a team-high four power-play goals, as well as three game-winning goals and one game-tying goal ... the Gophers scored four power-play goals in 12 chances for a 33% conversion over the weekend ... the Gophers hold a 22% clip with the extra attacker and an 88.5 penalty-kill percentage ... Minnesota is off Thanksgiving weekend, but returns to WCHA action on Dec. 1-2 against Bemidji State in Bemidji, Minn.

Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs
The University of Minnesota Duluth failed to get back into the win column this past weekend as the Bulldogs skated to a 5-5 tie against Minnesota State-Mankato last Friday and lost 5-3 to the Mavericks last Saturday ... last Friday's tie was the first time that Minnesota State has taken a conference point at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center and last Saturday's win marking the first time that Minnesota State has defeated the Bulldogs at the DECC ... in last Friday's contest, senior forward Jessica Koizumi scored four of the Bulldogs' five goals, while sophomore forward Sara O'Toole scored UMD's other goal ... Koizumi also scored a goal in last Saturday's loss while junior forward Karine Demeule and freshman forward Saara Tuominen scored UMD's other goals ... freshman forward Elin Holmlov six assists over the weekend ... senior goaltender Riitta Schaublin took the loss in both games for the Bulldogs, moving her record to 4-2-1 ... the Bulldogs next play at league-leading Wisconsin on Nov. 24-25.

Minnesota State Mavericks
The Mavericks achieved a pair of firsts over the Nov. 17-18 weekend, tying Minnesota Duluth on the road last Friday and defeating the Bulldogs for the first time ever in Duluth last Saturday ... the contests marked the team's third-ever tie against the Bulldogs and third-ever win all-time (3-27-3) ... junior forward Lindsay Macy scored two goals last Friday and Saturday to push her team lead to 10 ... Macy has now scored two goals in each of the Mavericks' last three games, and has scored at least once in four straight contests ... Macy also scored the team's first shorthanded goal of the season to open the scoring last Saturday ... she leads the team with 16 points ... sophomore forward Maggie Fisher tallied two goals last Saturday and has nine goals on the season ... she ranks second on the team with 14 points ... junior forward Noelle Needham registered three points last Friday, scoring her third and fourth goals of the season and adding an assist ... junior forward Jodi Helminen scored the team's first empty net goal of the season to seal last Saturday's win ... it was the junior's second goal of the season ... Helminen also tallied an assist last Friday, and stands tied for the team lead in that category with six ... junior goaltender Britni Kehler made 39 saves last Friday and 42 on Saturday as she moved to 5-6-1 on the season ... Kehler all but shutdown a Bulldogs' power-play unit that entered the series in the country's top-five, allowing just one goal on 27 shot attempts ... Kehler now has 21 career wins and only trails Shari Vogt (2000-04) by five victories for the school record ... junior forward Amanda Stohr had three assists on the weekend, including two last Saturday ... last Friday's contest marked the Mavericks' first overtime session of the regular season.

North Dakota Fighting Sioux
After over a month on the road, the Fighting Sioux return home on November 25 to face WCHA-rival St. Cloud State at 2:07 pm ... the Fighting Sioux ended their six-game road trip by losing twice at Ohio State in Columbus last weekend ... the Sioux fell, 4-1, last Friday and was blanked by Ohio State in the last game of the series, 4-0 ... UND has now lost ten straight games since opening up their season with two straight wins ... UND is now 2-10-0 overall and 0-8-0 in the WCHA ... the Sioux have capitalized on two power-play chances all season ... UND's only goal in the series was scored by freshman Ashley Lynch ... it was Lynch's first career goal at North Dakota and also her first point ... goalie Brittany Kirkham recorded 57 saves against the Buckeyes ... UND was shutout on the power-play last weekend, as they went 0-12 ... on the season, the Fighting Sioux are 2-61 on power-plays while they have allowed 21 goals in 79 opponent power-play opportunities.

Ohio State Buckeyes
Ohio State are unbeaten in seven games after sweeping a series with North Dakota at OSU Ice Rink on Nov. 17 and 19 ... the Buckeyes won 4-1 last Friday and followed with a 4-0 victory Saturday ... it was the third sweep for OSU this season, but the first against a WCHA opponent ... in the first game, the Buckeyes scored twice on the power-play in the first period with goals by juniors Erin Keys and Tessa Bonhomme ... after the Fighting Sioux scored early in the second period, Hayley Klassen scored in the second period and Morgan Marziali tallied a goal in the third to pull away with the 4-1 win ... OSU had a 37-22 advantage in shots last Friday ... Ohio State then defeated North Dakota, 4-0, on Sunday ... Keys scored twice for the Buckeyes and senior goaltender Erika Vanderveer stopped all 26 shots faced for the shutout ... junior Lisa Chesson and Klassen each scored power-play goals in the win ... Vanderveer backstopped the Buckeyes to a sweep of North Dakota while extending her unbeaten streak to seven games ... she allowed just one goal to the Sioux with 47 saves (.979 save percentage) and stopped all 26 shots faced in last Sunday's game for her second shutout of the season ... it was the eighth of her career ... in her last seven games, Vanderveer is 6-0-1, has recorded two shutouts and allowed just five goals with 200 saves for a .976 save percentage and 0.71 GAA ... she has not allowed more than one goal in a game during that span ... for the season, Vanderveer is 7-2-1, with a 1.31 GAA and .956 save percentage ... her save percentage leads the WCHA and is second in the nation ... her GAA is second in the WCHA and third in the nation ... Keys' two goals and assist last Sunday marked her second multiple-goal and fifth multiple-point game of the season ... she also had a goal and an assist, both on the power-play, last Friday ... Keys has registered a point in 10 of 14 games this season ... six Buckeyes had multiple points in the UND series, led by Keys with five ... senior defenseman Amber Bowman totaled four assists and Klassen (2g,1a), Tessa Bonhomme (1g,2a) and Marziali (1g,2a) each had three points ... Ohio State was 4-for-10 on the power-play to increase its season numbers to 18-for-73 ... OSU's 24.7% conversion rate ranks sixth in the nation ... the Buckeyes are just two goals away from tying their total for the entire 2005-06 season when they were 20-for-158 ... the OSU penalty-kill was a perfect 12-for-12 vs. the North Dakota power-play ... the Buckeyes have not allowed an opponent to score on the power-play for seven games in a row with a 34-for-34 mark during those games ... their penalty-kill percentage for the season is up to 85.9 and Ohio State has scored four shorthanded goals to tie for the most in the country ... the series vs. North Dakota was Ohio State's last home series of 2006 ... the Buckeyes will be on the road until Jan. 5-6 when they return to OSU Ice Rink to host Bemidji State ... OSU opens its first of three-consecutive road series Nov. 24-25 at Minnesota State ... the games, which are being played at Four Seasons Arena in Owatonna, Minn., begin at 7:07 pm CT Friday and 2:07 pm CT Saturday.

St. Cloud State Huskies
St. Cloud dropped a two-game home-and-home series to the No. 4 Minnesota Gophers last Friday and Saturday, Nov. 17-18 ... UM now leads the all-time series over SCSU, 31-1-0 ... in the first game of the series, Holly Roberts and Brittni Kuyper both tallied a goal and an assist in the 5-2 empty netter loss in the National Hockey Center ... team senior co-captain Denelle Maguet also had two points in the loss ... junior goaltender Carmen Lizee was in goal for SCSU last Friday afternoon, totaling 29 saves in 59:47 ... last Saturday, the Huskies suffered a 4-1 loss in Ridder Arena ... rookie forward Meghan Pezon snapped a six-game scoreless streak after battling in herown rebound at 16:09 of the third period for SCSU's lone goal/point of the game ... she is second on the team with five goals in 2006-07 ... senior goalie Lauri St. Jacques backstopped the Huskies with 28 saves in 60:00 last Saturday, as she holds a 2-4-0 mark in her final campaign between the pipes ... Roberts continues to lead the team in scoring with 14 points (8g,6a) as first year forward Caitlin Hogan ranks second on the team with 10 points (4g,6a) ... the Huskies go on the road for a two-game WCHA series against the University of North Dakota (2-10-0, 0-8-0 WCHA) on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 25-26 ... both games are scheduled for 2:07 pm in the Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D. ... SCSU leads the all-time series with UND 11-4-1.

Wisconsin Badgers
Top-ranked Wisconsin extended its school-record unbeaten streak to 26 games with a weekend sweep at Bemidji State ... the Badgers defeated BSU, 6-2, last Saturday and 4-2 on Sunday to earn their fifth sweep in six conference series this season ... in Wisconsin's two wins over Bemidji State, the line of Meghan Duggan, Erika Lawler and Angie Keseley combined for 13 points (five goals, eight assists) ... senior Sara Bauer and junior Jinelle Zaugg continue to rank first and second in the nation in points, respectively ... Bauer leads the country in points with 26 and assists with 19 while Zaugg is second in both goals (13) and points (21) ... UW scored two goals in each period to cruise to a victory on Saturday ... Duggan and Keseley led the Badgers with three points apiece ... senior Christine Dufour stopped 19 shots to earn her fifth win in as many starts this season ... sophomore Tia Hanson made her first appearance of the season and scored Wisconsin's fifth goal early in the third period ... with her goal last Friday, Hanson had scored in three of her last four games, including game-winners in the NCAA quarterfinal against Mercyhurst and the NCAA semifinal against St. Lawrence ... UW was held scoreless on the power-play for just the second time last Saturday ... Duggan tallied two goals for the second straight game to help Wisconsin post a 4-2 win on Sunday ... sophomore goalie Jessie Vetter needed to make just 13 saves to post her eighth win of the season and the 19th of her career ... senior Bobbi-Jo Slusar gave the Badgers a 1-0 lead 6:11 into the contest ... the goal marked the 13th time in 14 games this season that Wisconsin has scored the opening goal ... UW has won all 13 of those contests ... with her assist on Duggan's first goal of the contest, Keseley extended her point streak to six games ... in that stretch, Keseley has notched four goals and seven assists for 11 points ... in her previous eight games to start the season, Keseley had just one point ... two other UW players saw their point streaks end at five games: Bauer and freshman Kyla Sanders ... during their streaks, Bauer had scored 16 points and Sanders had tallied six points, but both were held scoreless on Sunday ... the Badgers return to the Kohl Center on Nov. 24-25 to host Minnesota Duluth in a match-up between the WCHA's current top two teams ... both the Friday and Saturday contests between first-place UW and second-place UMD are slated for 2:07 pm CT ... Wisconsin is 11-16-5 all-time against Minnesota Duluth, including 3-5-4 in Madison ... the Badgers went 2-1-1 against the Bulldogs last season.

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