University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Start Conference Season Friday
10/8/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Hockey
GOPHERSBEGIN CONFERENCE ACTION THIS WEEKEND
Minnesota begins the Western Collegiate Hockey Association season this weekend when it travels to Ohio State, Oct. 9-10. Both games will be played at the OSU Ice Rink at 7:07 p.m. in Columbus, Ohio.
FOLLOWING THE GOPHERS
All of the home games and a majority of the road games will be broadcast live on gophersports.com. This weekend, gophersports.com will have both audio/video of the games against the Buckeyes. Fans can follow the Gophers through the Gold Zone. For free score updates go to http://twitter.com/gopherscores. An in-game blog and live stats will also be available through gophersports.com.
GOPHERS RANKED SECOND IN BOTH POLLS
In what could be a wide-open race for the national championships, the Gophers have established themselves second in the both the USCHO.com and the USA Today polls. Last week, the Gophers were third, but with a loss to North Dakota, Wisconsin fell out of the top spot with Mercyhurst and Minnesota moving up to No. 1 and No. 2, respectively. In the second week, Following Minnesota is New Hampshire (3), Wisconsin (4) and St. Lawrence (5).
MINNESOTA TABBED SECOND IN COACHES’ POLL
Minnesota is tabbed to finish second in the conference standings, according to the WCHA Preseason Coaches’ poll. The Badgers collected six first place votes and 48 total points in the poll of the eight head coaches and edged out defending WCHA regular season champion University of Minnesota, which placed second with 43 points and two first place votes. The University of Minnesota Duluth, with 38 points, was selected to finish third. St. Cloud State University was picked to finish fourth in the final regular season standings, followed by Ohio State University in fifth, University of North Dakota in sixth, Minnesota State University, Mankato in seventh place and Bemidji State University in eighth.
ALL-TIME SERIES
Minnesota holds an all-time series record of 35-8-1 over the Buckeyes. OSU may be looking for revenge this weekend as the Gophers outscored the Buckeyes, 37-6, in four games last year. Of the eight losses all time to OSU, four came at the OSU Ice Rink.
THE OHIO STATE BUCKEYES
Ohio State opened the season at Boston University and earned a pair of ties against the Terriers. Coming from behind in both games, the Buckeyes salvaged a tie last Friday and Saturday evening. Melissa Feste scored the power-play goal at 14:54 in the third to give the Buckeyes the 1-1 tie. Last Saturday, both teams went back and forth with the two tied at 2 after the first period. BU came back to score two goals in the second, while OSU scored two power-play goals in the third for the eventual 4-4 tie.
In just two games for the Buckeyes, 11 players have recorded at least a point. Leading the charge is the foursome of Feste, Teal Bishop, Minttu Tuominen and Raelyn LaRocque with two points. Feste has scored two goals, while the other three have a goal and an assist. OSU returns its two of its three scorers in Laura McIntosh and Natalie Spooner. Both freshmen last year, McIntosh had 39 points, while Spooner had 30 points in 30 games played.
GOPHERS AGAINST CONFERENCE OPPONENTS
With the Gophers beginning the conference season this weekend, Minnesota owns a 201-41-18 (.808) all-time record against WCHA opponents. The record dates back to the start of the league in 1999-2000.
OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN
Minnesota has four captains this season in seniors Brittany Francis and Michelle Maunu and juniors Terra Rasmussen and Emily West. It is the first year for all as a team captain.
GOPHERS START SEASON WITH SWEEP OVER SYRACUSE
The Golden Gophers earned a 4-3 win Friday and followed with a 4-1 win Saturday en route to a series sweep over Syracuse last weekend. In Friday’s action, Minnesota scored its first goal of the season at 13:42 in the first when West scored an unassisted goal. West scored her second goal of the game at 5:03 in the second period with a rebound attempt. The Orange, however, cut the lead to one when Julie Rising scored a power-play goal at 9:13 in the second, bringing the game to 2-1 after two. The third period was an up-and-down battle between the two teams, scoring four goals in the stanza. Syracuse tied the game at 9:13 when Janelle Malcolm scored a power-play goal. Brittany Francis helped the Gophers re-gain the lead just :36 later at 7:17 in the third with West tallying the lone assist. Malcolm scored her second goal of the period at 9:30 when she scored on a rebound attempt. Minnesota, however, took advantage of its third power-play attempt at 17:02 in the third when Chelsey Jones tipped in a Kelly Seeler slapshot, while Megan Bozek tallied the second assist. The Friday win marked the 12th time in school history the Gophers opened their season with a win.
In Saturday’s game, Anne Schleper and Chelsey Jones each scored two to give the Gophers a 4-1 win and the series sweep. Minnesota got on the board twice in the first period when Schleper scored back-to-back power-play goals 50 seconds in between each other at 7:03 and 7:53. Syracuse cut the Gophers’ lead to one when Megan Skelly took advantage of a Minnesota turnover at 11:03 in the second. However, Jones put the game back to a two-goal lead when she scored her second goal in two days at 15:29 in the second. Jones added an additional goal at 18:39 in the third period. May and Jones created a two-on-one with May taking the first shot, with Jones adding the follow-up for her second goal and third point of the game. Kortum added her first point as a Golden Gopher when she added the second assist. Noora Räty played in her first collegiate game today. She had six saves in the first, six in the second and five in the third for a three-period total of 17. Minnesota went 2-for-5 on the power-play, while holding the Orange scoreless in five attempts, including a five-on-three power-play.
GOPHERS START NO. 13 ON GOOD NOTE
The Gophers started their 13th season last weekend. The Friday win over the Orange marked the 12th time in school history the Gophers opened their season with a win. The only time in school history the Gophers did not win the first game of the season came last year in a loss to Robert Morris.
FIRST-WEEK ACTION IN THE WCHA
After one week of play, the Gophers were the only team within the WCHA to earn two in the win column. North Dakota earned a 2-0 win over Wisconsin on Friday, but the Badgers battled back and had a 3-0 win over UND to split the series. Minnesota Duluth was victorious over Robert Morris Friday, 5-2, but fell to the Colonials, 4-1 in the second game. St. Cloud State split action against the Niagara Purple Eagles, while Ohio State earned two-straight ties against Boston University. Minnesota State, although in exhibition, tied the Minnesota Whitecaps, 2-2 on last Friday. Mercyhurst gained a series sweep over Bemidji State. In the battle between the CHA and the WCHA last weekend, each conference won three games.
