Gopher Women Prepare For Run At A Second Title
The Gopher Womenıs Hockey team wrote a new chapter in the history books of the Womenıs Athletics Department at the University of Minnesota, claiming the first national championship in the departmentıs history.
The title was also the culmination of four yearıs of work by head coach Laura Halldorson, who began building the program in the fall of 1996, a year before Minnesota had a team to put on the ice.
Now, in their fourth season as a team, the Gophers have the enviable task of trying to become the first team in womenıs college hockey history to repeat as national champions. This yearıs title, however, has special significance as the NCAA will be hosting itıs first championship in the sport.
In their hunt for that title, Minnesota will return 18 letterwinners while adding a group of nine rookies to a squad that posted a 32-6-1 record last season en route to the American Womenıs College Hockey Alliance National Championship.
Goaltending is always a key ingredient in winning and the Gophers boast one of the nationıs best in Erica Killewald. After struggling early in the season, she went 10-1-1 down the stretch and saved her best for last, stopping 74 of 78 shots in two games to earn most valuable player honors at the AWCHA Championship.
With 54 career wins and a 1.78 goals against average, Killewald enters the season as the teamıs number one goalie. She has ranked among the top three goalies nationally in shutouts in each of the last three seasons and has more wins than any active collegiate netminder.
Newcomer Stephanie Johnson, who spent last season with the Minneapolis South High School boysı team, will serve as her backup.
On the blueline, the Gophers sport six seniors, including 2000 WCHA defensive player of the year Winny Brodt, and two-time All-American Courtney Kennedy. Both were AWCHA All-Tournament team members. The duo combined for 22 goals and 88 points last season.
Despite missing 11 games due to injury, Brodt was second in the nation among defense with 37 assists and was one of six players on the team to score 50 points, a school record for defense.
Kennedy, who also earned second-team All-WCHA honors, chalked up a career-high 29 assists and led the team with a plus/minus rating of +50.
Also returning on the blueline for Minnesota are veterans Angela Borek, Emily Buchholz, Megan Milbert and Kelly Olson.
Borek had a career-high 10 assists last season and has been one of the top plus/minus players on the Minnesota blueline throughout her career. Buchholz is the teamıs leader on defense in career games played with 103 while Olson is second with 100. Milbert, who has also played all three forward positions during her career, is returning from a shoulder injury which limited her to 16 games last season.
The group combined for 26 goals and 125 points last season and helped Minnesota rank fifth nationally in scoring defense and penalty-kill efficiency.
The Gophers will add four rookies to the blueline this season, Melissa Coulombe, Bethany Petersen, Cecelia Retelle and Stefanie Snow.
Up front, the Gophers are led by national goal-scoring lead Nadine Muzerall, who heads up a group of 11 returning letterwinners, including six seniors. Muzerallıs 49 goals last season, including three at the AWCHA Championship, led the nation as did her 27 power-play points, 16 power-play and nine game-winning goals. The teamıs most valuable player, however, was not alone in posting impressive offensive number.
Four other Minnesota forwards topped the 20-goal and 50-point marks and all are back.
Senior left wing Ambria Thomas had career-best numbers with 25 goals and 62 points while earning second-team All-WCHA honors. She had a pair of five-point games in the month of January and 39 of her points came after Jan. 1.
Second-team All-WCHA honors were also bestowed upon Thoması linemate, junior Laura Slominski, who had 25 goals and 59 points. She lead the nation with eight short-handed points and tied for the national lead with six short-handed assists.
Sophomore Ronda Curtin was second on the team with 26 goals and tallied 53 points during her rookie season. Her 11 power-play goals ranked her third nationally and were the most in the nation by a frosh.
Junior Tracy Engstrom, one of the teamıs co-captains this season, also scored 53 points, with 23 goals and 30 assists. Four of her goals came during the WCHA tournament and earned her all-tournament honors.
Senior Kris Scholz is the teamıs leader. In her fourth year as a team captain, she provided solid, two-way play last year and has been among the top 10 scorers in the nation twice during her career.
Three other seniors, Lacey Franzmeier, Betsey Kukowski and Sarma Pone, return to the lineup along with sophomores Gwen Anderson and Alyson Sundberg.
Franzmeier scored a career-high four goals in 1999-2000. Kukowski turned in a solid second-half season last year, scoring 11 points with a +13 rating after Jan. 1. Pone also set career-highs last year with seven goals and eight points.
Anderson had five assists during her rookie campaign while Sundberg scored a pair of goals and had three assists.
The group of 11 returning forwards will be joined by newcomers Kelsey Biils, La Toya Clarke, Jerilyn Glenn and Tracy Palinsky.
Minnesota will make its run at the NCAA title by returning nearly 93 percent of its point production from last season, its entire defense and a goalie with more career wins than any other active collegiate goalie.
Lofty goals will be the order of the day for the Gophers in 2000-01 and they have every reason to believe those goals are attainable.
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