University of Minnesota Athletics
No. 2 Gophers Travel to Bemidji State this Weekend
10/26/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Hockey
Oct. 26, 2011
The Golden Gopher women's hockey team hits the road for a series at Bemidji State on Friday and Saturday. Both games will begin at 7 p.m. Fans can follow the game live with a feww audio broadcast on gophersports.com, as well as live stats and a live game blog.
Minnesota is listed at No. 2 in the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine national polls. This week's opponent, Bemidji State, is not listed in the national polls, but is receiving votes in both polls.
The Gophers are the top team in the WCHA on the penalty kill, and are currently 34-35 on the penalty kill this season. Minnesota has successfully killed every penalty in the last seven games. Nationally, Minnesota is ranked No. 2 on the penalty kill, successfully killing 97.1 percent of its penalties. The top-ranked team on the penalty kill is Brown, who has killed five of five penalties.
Minnesota allowed a power play goal against Union in the season opener, and has not allowed another opponent to score on the power play. Minnesota killed nine penalties against Minnesota State last weekend.
The Gophers are averaging just 9.5 penalty minutes per game, which ranks seventh among eight teams in the WCHA.
Minnesota has the fewest number of goals allowed in WCHA play, with just five goals allowed in six conference games and six goals allowed overall. The next closest team is Wisconsin, with 15 goals allowed, all coming in WCHA games.
The Gophers rank second in the nation and first in the WCHA in scoring defense, averaging 0.75 goals per game. Junior defenseman Megan Bozek and freshman defenseman Rachel Ramsey both rank among the nation's top 20 in points per game by a defenseman.
Bozek is sixth nationally and second in the WCHA in scoring by a defenseman with 1.12 points per game. Bozek has five goals on the season, including three gamewinners. She needs just one goal to match her season totals from her freshman and sophomore seasons as she scored six goals in each of her first two seaosns with the Gophers. Bozek has 56 career points to rank ninth on the Minnesota all-time scoring list for defensemen.
Ramsey is 16th nationally and seventh in the conference with 0.88 points per game. Ramsey is tied for No. 1 in the WCHA in scoring by a freshman.
The Gophers are second in the nation in scoring margin, winning by an average of 4.12 goals. Minnesota has outscored its opponents 39-6 in eight games this season, including a 29-5 margin against WCHA opponents.
Junior goalie Noora Räty has started seven of eight games for the Gophers this season. She has 116 saves on the season, with six goals allowed in the first eight games. On Oct. 21 against Minnesota State, Räty recorded her 19th career shutout. She is currently third on Minnesota's all-time career shutouts list and needs just two shutouts to tie the Minnesota career record. The record is currently held by Erica Killewald, who had 21 career shutouts from 1998-2001. Jody Horak had 20 shutouts in her career from 2002-05.
Räty leads the WCHA and ranks third nationally in goals against average at 0.90. She's also first in the WCHA (fourth nationally) in save percentage at .951. She has three shutouts so far this season and has 116 saves in seven games played.
Four Minnesota freshmen have recorded goals in the first four weekends of play. Rachel Ramsey had her first goal in the season opener, scoring the sixth goal in Minnesota's 6-1 win over Union (Sept. 30). The following weekend, Meghan Lorence socred a goal in each of Minnesota's shutout wins over St. Cloud State (Oct. 7-8). At Wisconsin (Oct. 14, 16), Rachael Bona got her first goal against the top-ranked team in the nation (Oct. 14). Stephanie Anderson notched her first goal in the Gophers' 3-0 win over Minnesota State last weekend.
Speaking of freshmen, goalie Shlyer Sletta got her first career start when Coach Frost gave her the nod last Thursday evening against Minnesota State. Sletta had a shutout win, stopping all 20 shots in the game. She is one of two freshmen goalies in the WCHA to start a game this season (Julie Friend from St. Cloud State is the other), and is the only one with a shutout or a winning record.
The BSU Beavers are 5-1-2 this season, with a 2-1-1 record in WCHA play. They currently sit at fourth in the WCHA standings with seven points. Last weekend, Bemidji State swept St. Cloud State 8-1 and 5-2 at home.
Leading the Beavers in scoring are senior defenseman Montana Vichovek and junior forward Sadie Lundquist. Both have four goals and 10 assists for 14 points. Junior forward Emily Erickson is the leader in goals with six on the season.
Minnesota is 45-3-5 all-time against Bemidji State. Last season, the teams split in Bemidji, and Minnesota swept in Minneapolis. Of the last four games between the Gophers and Beavers in Bemidji, the Gophers have a 1-1-2 record. Minnesota has fared better when playing Bemidji State at home, winning the last 11 games against BSU in Ridder Arena.
