University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Gear Up for Season Opener
9/30/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Hockey
GOPHERS OPEN SEASON AGAINST SYRACUSE
Minnesota begins the 2009-10 season with a non-conference battle against Syracuse. The season begins at 6 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 2 and concludes on Sunday, Oct. 4 at 2 p.m. With the Orange just beginning their program in 2008-09, this will be the first meeting between the two insitutions.
FOLLOWING THE GOPHERS
All of the home games and a majority of the road games will be broadcast live on gophersports.com. All home games will include a live video feed, while road games will be audio only. Fans can follow the follow through gophersports.com Gold Zone. For free score updates go to http://twitter.com/gopherscores.
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.
GOPHERS AND THE WCHA ALL-STARS
Minnesota had three players represented on the WCHA All-Star Team, which faced the U.S. National Team on Sept. 25th. Alyssa Grogan, Anne Schleper and Emily West all saw significant action in the game. Team USA jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead after the first and cruised to a 6-1 win over the WCHA All-Stars in front of a crowd of 4,284 at the Xcel Energy Center. West fed linemate Holly Roberts the puck in the slot and scored the lone WCHA goal. Grogan played in the third period and had eight saves and allowed one power-play goal.
SEASON NO. 13 BEGINS FRIDAY
Minnesota begins its 13th year as a varsity program this Friday. Since the start in 1997-98, the Golden Gopher program holds a 343-79-30 (.792 winning percentage). The Golden Gophers have had over 20 wins in each season. The 2008-09 season marked the fourth time in school history the Golden Gophers have earned 30 wins in a season, as they went 32-5-3. Minnesota’s record is 36 in the 2005 championship season.
THE SYRACUSE ORANGE
In the inaugural season, Syracuse held a 9-16-3 overall record and a 2-11-3 mark within College Hockey America. Syracuse ended the 2008-09 season with six straight wins before Niagara ended its season in the CHA quarterfinal. The Orange are led by Paul Flanagan, who created St. Lawrence into a power-house and an national championship contender. In his 10 seasons of college coaching, Flanagan enters the 2009-10 campaign with a 239-99-27 coaching mark.
Returning to Syracuse’s lineup is their 2008-09 leading scorer, Stefanie Marty. As a sophomore last year, Marty had 22 points, while Megan Skelly was second with 21 and Julie Rising and Lisa Mullan were third with 19. In addition to the 15 letterwinners, they add eight freshmen to the lineup.
INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR
Minnesota adds six freshmen to the mix this season. Of the six three are from the home state, while another is from Illinois and two from Finland. Megan Bozek has seen action with the U.S. Under-18 Team as she won a gold medal in 2009. Mira Jalosuo and Noora Räty hail from Lieksa and Espoo Finland. The duo mark the first European players to compete with the Gopher program. Both competed with the Finnish National Team last year that won a bronze medal at the 2009 IIHF World Championships. The Gophers’ hometown kid include Minnetonka’s and 2009 Ms. Hockey Becky Kortum. Also hailing from the state of Minnesota is Sam Downey, who played at Proctor-Hermantown-Marshall and Katie Frischmann, who was with the Minnesota Thoroughbreds and a Rochester Century graduate.
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.
MINNESOTA SET TO HOST 2010 FROZEN FOUR
The NCAA Women's Ice Hockey Committee selected the University of Minnesota and Ridder Arena as the site of the 2010 NCAA Frozen Four. The 2010 tournament marks the third time in 10 years the Golden Gophers will host the Women's Frozen Four and the first time in Ridder Arena. Minnesota hosted the inaugural Women's Frozen Four in 2001 and again in 2006 in Mariucci Arena. Along with announcing Ridder as the host site next year, the committee selected Mercyhurst (Erie, Pa.) and Tullio Arena to host the 2011 Frozen Four. Mariucci Arena was the site of the 2001 and the 2006 Frozen Fours. In the two-day championship in 2006, Minnesota drew 7,577 fans. Minnesota hosted the inaugural Women's Frozen Four in 2001, bringing in an attendance of 5,114 during the two-day tournament. Mariucci Arena was also the site of the 1999 American Women's College Hockey Alliance National Championship. The tournament had an attendance of 4,954, including 2,507 for the championship game. The university opened the doors to Ridder Arena at the start of the 2002-03 season. Ridder Arena, which seats approximately 3,400 people, has been host to a variety of events, including five WCHA conference championships and the Minnesota state girls’ tournament in 2003, 2004 and 2005. The only arena in the nation built solely for a women’s hockey team, Minnesota’s largest single-game attendance came on January 6, 2007, when 3,251 fans entered the doors.
OSIECKI AND JOHNSON RETURN TO COACHING STAFF
Tom Osiecki and Justin Johnson are returning for their second stints as Gopher coaches. Johnson returns as the Gopher goalie coach after he was with the staff during the 2006-07 season. Johnson will coach both the men’s and women’s goalies this year. Osiecki served as an assistant coach during Brad Frost’s interim head coaching year in 2007-08 and left the program to coach the USA Hockey Blaine Residency Program. Osiecki, who is a 43-year coach of the game, will primarily coach the defensemen for the 2009-10 season.
