WCHA.com - First Weekend of November to Feature Full Slate of Four WCHA Series; Top-Ranked Wisconsin, No. 3-Ranked Minnesota Duluth Sweep at Home over Halloween

First Weekend of November to Feature Full Slate of Four WCHA Series; Top-Ranked Wisconsin, No. 3-Ranked Minnesota Duluth Sweep at Home over Halloween

Nov. 5-7 Conference Series Have Wisconsin at Minnesota, UMD at Bemidji State, St. Cloud State at Minnesota State, Ohio State at North Dakota; Five WCHA Team Among Nation's Top 10 in Latest USCHO.com Div. 1 Women's Poll … UW No. 1, UMD No. 3, UND No. 7, UM No. 8, OSU No. 9; Cody has Seven Points as BSU Takes Pair from SCSU; Buckeyes Sweep Syracuse; Tickets on Sale for 2011 WCHA FINAL FACE-OFF March 4-5 at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis

MADISON, Wis. – Defending national champion Minnesota Duluth and top-ranked Wisconsin recorded conference sweeps at home over the Halloween weekend to establish themselves at the top of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association women's standings.

Both the No. 3-ranked Bulldogs and No. 1-ranked Badgers face road tests this weekend as Minnesota Duluth travels to Bemidji State and the new Sanford Center and Wisconsin visits No. 8-ranked Minnesota and Ridder Arena in a pair of two-game conference series this Friday and Saturday, Nov. 5-6. The Bulldogs have never lost a game to BSU, posting a 47-0-2 all-time mark.

The Badgers, who wrapped up a season-opening eight-game homestand by defeating Minnesota State 3-2 and 6-1 behind a five-point series from Brooke Ammerman Oct. 29-30 at the Kohl Center, are 8-0-0 overall and 6-0-0 in the WCHA with 18 points.

The Bulldogs are 7-1-0 overall and 5-1-0 in the WCHA with 15 points, three more than idle North Dakota, after running their winning streak over Minnesota (5-4-0, 2-4-0 in WCHA) to six straight games. The Bulldogs beat the visiting Gophers 3-2 last Friday and 4-2 last Saturday as Haley Irwin had a three goals and an assist.

Wisconsin and UMD, which is ranked behind Cornell, are again two of five Western Collegiate Hockey Association-member teams ranked in this week's (Nov. 1) USCHO.com Division 1 Women's College Hockey Poll. North Dakota is at No. 7, Minnesota is at No. 8 and Ohio State ranks No. 9 in this week's poll.

In other league series this weekend, Ohio State (5-2-0, 2-2-0 WCHA, six points) plays at North Dakota (5-3-0, 4-2-0 WCHA) in a Saturday-Sunday series at Ralph Engelstad Arena while St. Cloud State (0-9-0, 0-6-0 WCHA) travels to Minnesota State (1-5-0, 2-5-1 WCHA, three points) and All Seasons Arena for a Friday-Saturday series.

Last weekend (Oct. 29-30), host Bemidji State (4-4, 2-2-0, six points) won its first league games by sweeping winless St. Cloud State, 4-2 and 4-0, as Erin Cody had five goals and two assists in the series and goaltender Zuzana Tomcikova had a 17-save shutout in the series finale.

In non-conference play over the Halloween weekend, host and No. 9-ranked Ohio State won two decisions against Syracuse, a 5-1 victory last Friday and a 6-2 win last Saturday at the OSU Ice Rink. The sweep is Ohio State's third in four series this season. Laura McIntosh became the sixth Buckeye to reach the 100 career point milestone last Friday when she dished out three assists. McIntosh eclipsed the century mark with a total of five points vs. the Orange and now has 103 points in 81 career games. She is the fastest Buckeye to reach 100 points (in 80 games), surpassing the previous mark by 19 games (Jana Harrigan, 100th point in 99th game). McIntosh was one of four Buckeyes with multiple points last Friday as Hokey Langan also had three points (1g, 2a), Natalie Spooner scored twice and Kelly Wild had a goal and assist. Rookie goalie Lisa Steffes made 44 saves in the 6-2 win last Saturday. Spooner had three points on two goals and an assist.

Looking ahead to the weekend of Friday and Saturday, Nov. 12-13, there are just four WCHA-member teams in action. Those two league series will find Ohio State hosting Minnesota State and Bemidji State entertaining North Dakota. Minnesota, Minnesota Duluth, St. Cloud State and Wisconsin will all be idle.

Games for Friday, November 5: Wisconsin at Minnesota (WCHA), 6:07 pm CT; Minnesota Duluth at Bemidji State (WCHA), 7:07 pm CT; St. Cloud State at Minnesota State (WCHA), 7:07 pm CT.

Games for Saturday, November 6: Ohio State at North Dakota (WCHA), 2:07 pm CT; St. Cloud State at Minnesota State (WCHA), 3:07 pm CT; Wisconsin at Minnesota (WCHA), 4:07 pm CT; Minnesota Duluth at Bemidji State (WCHA), 6:07 pm CT.

Games for Sunday, November 7: Ohio State at North Dakota (WCHA), 2:07 pm CT.

Results of Friday, October 29
Minnesota State 2 at Wisconsin 3 (WCHA)
St. Cloud State 2 at Bemidji State 3 (WCHA)
Minnesota 2 at Minnesota Duluth 3 (WCHA)
Syracuse 1 at Ohio State 5 (NC)

Results of Saturday, October 30
Minnesota State 1 at Wisconsin 6 (WCHA)
St. Cloud State 0 at Bemidji State 4 (WCHA)
Syracuse 2 at Ohio State 6 (NC)
Minnesota 2 at Minnesota Duluth 4 (WCHA)