University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Open 2011 Against MSU
1/5/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Hockey
MINNESOTA OPENS NEW YEAR WITH MINNESOTA STATE
The No. 7 University of Minnesota women’s hockey team is back in action for the first time since Dec. 12 as it hosts Minnesota State, this weekend. Friday’s game is set for a 6 p.m. start, while Saturday’s contest is at 4 p.m.
FOLLOWING THE GOPHERS
Both games will be available by audio broadcast on gophersports.com with Dan Hamann providing the play by play from Ridder Arena. Both games will feature a live in-game blog, also on gophersports.com. Friday’s game will also feature a video feed from the Gold Zone.
Minnesota’s lone televised game this season will be on Saturday, Jan. 8 against the MSU Mavericks. The game will be on live on the BTN.
ON THE DOCKET
Minnesota hosts in-state rival, Minnesota Duluth next weekend. The Gophers will play UMD at 7 p.m. on Friday and 4 p.m. Saturday. UMD swept the Gophers, 3-2 and 4-2 at the end of October.
FIRST HALF RECAP
The Gophers held a 13-6-0 overall record in the first half of the season and an 8-6-0 within the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. After a tough month of October, the Gophers rebounded and went 8-2 from Nov. 5-Dec. 12 and a 7-1 mark since Nov. 19.
COMING OUT OF THE BREAK
Since Minnesota added hockey as a varsity sport in 1997-98, a three-week break has taken place in December, with games resuming in the first or second week of January. The Golden Gophers hold a 19-4-1 all-time series/game record coming out of the break. The last time Minnesota fell in its opening game of the semester dates back to 2006-07 when it fell in a two-game series to eventual NCAA champions Wisconsin. Along with two losses in Jan. 07 to UW, the Gophers fell once to Bemidji State in 2006 and once to Minnesota Duluth during the 2003-04 campaign. The lone tie came in 2008 when the Gophers and the Wayne State Warriors tied, 3-3 on Jan. 6, 2008.
GOPHERS AT THE USA HOCKEY WINTER CAMP
USA Hockey had five players with Gopher ties participate at the 2010 Women’s Winter Training Camp, Dec. 26-31st at the National Sports Center's Schwan Super Rink in Blaine, Minn. The camp will serve as a tryout and training session for the U.S. Women's National Team. Along with the players represented, assistant coach Joel Johnson also served as a camp coach.
Named to the USA Hockey camp roster was current Gophers Sarah Erickson, Anne Schleper and Jen Schoullis. Also being named to the roster was former Gopher Gigi Marvin and in-coming signed recruit Rachel Ramsey. The five Gophers are a selected group of 40 from across the country. Amanda Kessel, who was named to the camp cancelled due to a pre-existing injury. Of the 40 initially invited, 15 currently play in the WCHA.
GOPHERS SIGN FOUR MINNESOTANS
University of Minnesota women’s hockey head coach Brad Frost has announced four Minnesota natives have signed National Letters of Intent. Forward Stephanie Anderson (North St. Paul), forward Rachael Bona (Coon Rapids), forward Meghan Lorence (Mounds View) and defenseman Rachel Ramsey (Chanhassen) have all signed and will join the Golden Gopher program next fall.
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS
The Minnesota State Mavericks have also been idle since Dec. 10-11 (Bemidji State) and have not been on the road since Nov. 26-27 at Wayne State. Entering the Minnesota series at 6-11-3 overall and 5-8-1 in the WCHA, the Mavericks will look to get their first win since November. After sweeping Ohio State on Nov. 12-13, MSU fell to Minnesota (Nov. 19-20) and Wayne State (No. 26-27), and a loss and tied to both Robert Morris (Dec. 3-4) and Bemidji State (Dec. 10-11). Leading the scoring drive for MSU is freshman Kathleen Rogan with 17 points, followed by Nina Tikkinen with 12. In net for MSU is Alli Altmann and Danielle Butters. Altmann has played in 15 games and holds a 3-9-2 record, while Butters is 3-2-1 in nine games played.
THE SERIES
Minnesota holds a 49-3-3 all-time mark against Minnesota State, dating back to October of 1998. Minnesota earned back-to-back wins the last time out at All Seasons Arena in November.
THE LAST TIME
The Golden Gophers visited All Seasons Arena on Nov. 19-20, earning a sweep and six points in the WCHA standings. On Nov. 19, Sarah Erickson scored the lone goal of the game at 8:22 in the second period en route to a 1-0 win. Noora Räty stopped all 27 shots on goal. Following the 1-0 win, the Gophers broke open the second game with a 6-2 victory and the series sweep. Erickson and Becky Kortum each scored twice in the Nov. 20 game, while Sarah Davis and Kelly Terry each netted a goal. Räty was in net again and had another 27-save performance. She was later named the WCHA Defensive Player of the Week.
MINNESOTA’S LAST ACTION
Minnesota hasn’t played since Dec. 10 and Dec. 12th against Ohio State. Due to weather conditions, the second game of the series was postponed until Dec. 12. It was the first time the Gophers had to postpone a home game due to the weather. In the first game of the series, Minnesota jumped out to a quick 2-0 start when Sarah Erickson and Kelly Terry each scored a goal. Erickson’s goal later proved to be the gamewinner, while Terry’s goal was the first short-handed goal of the season. Jen Schoullis and Becky Kortum each scored in the second, while Anne Schleper and Schoullis tacked on another two in the third for a 6-0 final. Amanda Kessel tallied a career-high four assists in the win. Noora Räty collected her sixth shutout of the season.
In the second game, the two teams went scoreless through two periods. At 6:58 in the third, OSU scored a five-on-three power play goal to go up, 1-0. Kelly Seeler and the Gophers responded with a goal at 10:19 in the third and sent the game into overtime. Minnesota won its first overtime game played this season when Megan Bozek scored the game-winning goal at 3:14.
WORKING THROUGH IT
Minnesota has had its fair share of injuries so far this season. Senior captain Emily West only saw action in four games this season and will be out the remainder of the year because of a knee injury. Junior goalie Alyssa Grogan has missed action since the middle of October due to an injury. Noora Raty missed the North Dakota (10/15-16) series, while Amanda Kessel missed the second Wisconsin game (11/6) and the MSU series, all due to injuries. Minnesota has not had a full squad since the opening series against Clarkson, dating back to Oct. 1 and 2.
WCHA STRENGTH
Minnesota is one of five teams currently ranked in the top 10. Wisconsin, Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota, North Dakota and Ohio State are all currently ranked, while Bemidji State is receiving votes. All WCHA teams being beaten at least twice already in conference competition. Wisconsin has lost twice, UMD dropping five, while UND and Minnesota have lost six conference games.
PAIRWISE RANKINGS
The Golden Gophers currently sit sixth in the PairWise Rankings, a tool generally used for the NCAA committee to determine the NCAA field in March. Like the polls, Wisconsin sits first, followed by Cornell and Boston University. Minnesota Duluth is fourth, followed by Mercyhurst in fifth and Minnesota in sixth. Rounding out the top eight (only eight qualify for NCAA Regional competition) is Boston College and North Dakota.
ROOKIE SENSATIONS
This weekend features some of the best freshmen in the WCHA between Minnesota and Minnesota State. Kelly Terry leads the WCHA rookies with 20 points in conference play, while MSU’s Kathleen Rogan has 14 points against conference foes. Also featured is Sarah Davis (13 points) and Amanda Kessel (12 points). Rogan leads the Mavericks’ overall scoring drive with 17 points, while Kelly Terry (22) and Amanda Kessel (20) add a one-two punch for the Gophers.
BETWEEN THE PIPES
Minnesota holds arguablely one of the nation’s best goalies in sophomore Noora Räty. A returning All-American and Finland’s starting goaltender in the 2010 Winter Olympics, Räty holds a .945 save percentage and a 1.55 goals against average this year. She has also collected six shutouts this year and 13 in her career. She currently ranks second in the WCHA in save percentage and third in GAA.
GOPHER SPECIAL TEAMS
Following the break, the Gopher hope to continue it’s special teams numbers. On the season, Minnesota has scored 18 power-play goals in 78 chances for 23.1 percent. Minnesota has also killed off 85 of 93 penalties for a 91.4 penalty-kill percent. Minnesota ranks first in the WCHA in penalty kill, while trailing only No. 1 Wisconsin on the power play. The Gophers hold the nation’s fourth-best power-play and penalty kill percentage.
