University of Minnesota Athletics
No. 2 Gophers Host No. 3 Clarkson at Ridder
11/25/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Hockey
GOLDEN WEEKEND SET AT RIDDER ARENA
The No. 2 University of Minnesota women’s hockey team faces No. 3 Clarkson this weekend at Ridder Arena. The Golden Gophers face the Golden Knights, Friday at 7:07 p.m. and Saturday at 3:07 p.m. The series marks the first meeting between the two schools.
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 video/audio of the games against the Golden Knights. Fans can follow the Gophers through the Gold Zone. For free score updates go to http://twitter.com/gopherscores. Along with the Gold Zone opportunity, Saturday’s game can also be found on USCHO.com with Brian Schulz giving the play-by-play.
ON THE DOCKET
Following the Gophers’ series against Clarkson, Minnesota travels to Harvard (12/4-5) and close out the first half at North Dakota (12/12-13). Minnesota’s next home series comes Jan. 8-9 when Ohio State comes to town. Team USA plays the Gophers on a quick turnaround on the following Tuesday, Jan. 12, also at Ridder Arena.
ABOUT THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS
Clarkson enters the Minnesota series with a 12- 2- 1 overall record and a 6-1-0 record in the ECAC. Under second-year head coaches Shannon and Matt Desrosiers, the Golden Knights are ranked second in the ECAC and high in the national standings. Ranked No. 2/3 (in opposite polls as the Gophers) Clarkson was off last weekend. The only losses of the year have come against Vermont (10/17) and Cornell (11/13) two weeks ago. The Golden Knights earned a 6-2 win over New Hampshire (10/23), a 2-1 win over Harvard (11/6) and a 3-1 win over Dartmouth (11/7). Dominique Thibault, who transferred to Clarkson after competing three years with Connecticut, leads the team with 19 points in 15 games played. Britney Selina follows closely behind with 17 points, while Juana Baribeau and Melissa Waldie has 16 and 15 points respectively. The Gophers will most likely face Lauren Dahm in goal, the starting goalie in the previous 15 games. This season Dahm has a 1.13 goals against average and a .941 save percentage.
CONNECTIONS BETWEEN THE GOPHERS AND KNIGHTS
Minnesota assistant coach Jamie Wood ran the Warner Hockey School from 2003-07. During his time there, he coached now Clarkson players Courtney Olson and Hailey Wood. Clarkson also has Kali Gillanders, sister of incoming Gopher signee, Baylee Gillanders.
GOPHERS IN NON-CONFERENCE ACTION
Minnesota is playing in its second non-conference series of the season this weekend. The Gophers opened the 2009-10 campaign with a series sweep over Syracuse (10/2 & 4). Minnesota opened the season with a 4-3 win and followed with a 4-1 victory for the sweep. Under head coach Brad Frost’s tutelage, Minnesota has gone 11-1-2 against non-conference opponents during the regular season.
CONNECTING ON THE ICE
Minnesota’s line of left wing Terra Rasmussen, center Kelli Blankenship and right wing Jaimie Horton competed well against Bemidji State last weekend. Both Blankenship and Rasmussen scored a goal in the Friday game against the Beavers and also tallied assists. Blankenship scored the Gophers’ first goal, while Rasmussen added the game-winning goal in the 4-2 win. Although she didn’t collect a point, Horton established a career-best six shots on goal last Friday. Her previous best of five came, coincidentally, also came against the Beavers on Jan. 17, 2009. Last Saturday, Rasmussen scored the Gopher insurance goal at 18:39 in the third to give the Minnesota a 3-1 win. Blankenship tallied an assist on the goal.
COMING THROUGH IN THE CLUTCH
Minnesota has had a balanced attack of players earning the game-winning goal this year. In the 11 wins, Emily West has scored three game-winners, while Sarah Erickson, Anne Schleper and Terra Rasmussen each have two. Chelsey Jones and Brittany Francis each have one. Along with Schleper’s two game-winners, she also netted the game-tying goal against Minnesota State (11/14) and scored the lone goal in the shootout during the fourth round.
