University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota's Second Season Begins This Weekend
2/24/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Hockey
SECOND SEASON BEGINS THIS WEEKEND
The No. 3/5 University of Minnesota women’s hockey teams begins the post-season this weekend. In the WCHA First Round Playoffs, the Golden Gophers host Ohio State, Feb. 25-27. In a best-of-three series, Friday’s game is at 6 p.m., followed by Saturday at 5 p.m., and Sunday at 4 p.m. (if needed). All games will be played at Ridder Arena.
FOLLOWING THE GOPHERS
Dan Hamann and the Gold Zone will provide the audio/video for this week’s games against Ohio State. The Gold Zone and the live in-game blog can be found on gophersports.com
GOPHERS IN THE WCHA FIRST ROUND
Since the new format of the WCHA Championships, dating back to 2005-06, Minnesota has gone 10-0 in the WCHA First Round. Minnesota earned two wins against Minnesota State last year. In the first game, Minnesota won, 8-5, followed by a triple overtime game on Feb. 27. The game marked the Gophers’ longest in school history at 3 hours and 47 minutes. In the first round, the Gophers have faced MSU (05-06, 09-10), Bemidji State (06-07, 08-09) and North Dakota (07-08). This year marks the first time Minnesota has face Ohio State in the first round. The Gophers saw OSU in the WCHA semifinal game last year and earned a 5-4 double-overtime win to advance to the WCHA Championship game.
WCHA FINAL FACEOFF TICKETS ON SALE
Tickets for the 2011 WCHA FINAL FACE-OFF championship, set for March 4-5 at Ridder Arena, are on sale now through the University of Minnesota Ticket Office (612 624-8080, or 1-800-U-Gopher, or online at Gophersports.com).Three-game session tickets for the women's playoff championship tournament are available at three prices: $20 for a reserved seat, $18 for general admission, and $15 for seniors and youth (age 18 and under). Single session tickets, priced at $15, $12 and $8, will be available on the days of the semifinals and championship game.The two semifinal games will be played on Friday, March 4 at 4:07 pm CT and 7:07 pm CT. The 2011 WCHA FINAL FACE-OFF Championship game will be played on Saturday, March 5, at 7:07 pm CT.
CLOSING IN ON 100
Sarah Erickson is three points to establishing her 100th career point. The last Gophers to accomplish the feat was Emily West and Brittany Francis last year. If Erickson reaches the 100-point mark, she would be the the 18th player in school history to crack 100. Minnesota’s all-time leader in scorer came from Gopher assistant coach Natalie Darwitz with 246 career points in just 99 games played.
FINDING THE NET
Since Minnesota’s loss to Wisconsin (1/29), the Gopher line of Amanda Kessel, Sarah Erickson and Jen Schoullis have led the Gophers’ scoring driving with 34 points. In the past six games, Kessel has contributed 13 points, followed by Erickson with 12 and Schoullis with nine. In that span, the trio also scored three power-play goals, two short-handed goals and two game-winning goals.
ABOUT THE BUCKEYES
Ohio State closed out the regular season with an 8-17-3 WCHA record and holds an overall 14-17-3 mark. After posting two wins against St. Cloud State (1/28-29), OSU has been on six-game winless streak. Dropping both series to ranked teams against North Dakota and Minnesota Duluth, OSU fell, 4-1, and tied 1-1 at Bemidji State last weekend. The Buckeyes hold one of the conference’s most dangerous forwards in junior Natalie Spooner. Missing action with the Canadian Under-22 Team, Spooner has played in 27 games this year and has produced 39 points. Laura McIntosh and Hokey Langan also are offensive threats with 45 (McIntosh) and 30 points (Langan). Goalie Lisa has played the most minutes by any goalie in the WCHA at 1679 and 2039 in overall action. She holds a goals against of 3.09. Last time at Ridder Arena, Steffes had 39 saves in the 2-1 overtime loss to Minnesota.
DID YOU KNOW?
Minnesota holds a 15-game win streak over Ohio State, dating back to Oct. 20, 2007. During that span, Minnesota has outscored OSU, 97-26. Overall, The Gophers are 44-8-1 all-time against the Buckeyes, dating back to 1999.
DURING THE REGULAR SEASON
Minnesota went 4-0-0 against Ohio State during the regular season. At Ridder Arena, the Gophers earned a 6-0 win the first night, including a two-goal performance from Jen Schoullis. Due to a snow postponement, the Gophers played the second game of the series on Dec. 12. After the two teams went scoreless in the first and second, Hokey Langan scored a five-on-three goal at 6:58 to go up, 1-0. Kelly Seeler responded at 10:19 in the third to send the game into overtime. Megan Bozek scored the overtime, gamewinner at 3:14 for the win.
In the last series, OSU held the lead twice, but the Gophers responded each time for a 4-2 win, Jan. 21. Melissa Feste scored just 21 seconds into the contest, but Amanda Kessel scored at 18:26 in the second to tie the game. After OSU’s Ally Tarr scored at 5:18, Minnesota scored three goals at 10:26, 12:46 and 13:06 for the win. Minnesota scored early and often in the 8-1 series finale. The Gophers had seven different goal scorers and knocked out OSU goalie Lisa Steffes, giving Loren Carrier her only action of the season.
PAIRWISE RANKINGS
The Golden Gophers currently is tied for fourth in the PairWise Rankings, a tool generally used for the NCAA committee to determine the NCAA field in March. Wisconsin sits first, followed by Cornell and Boston University. Minnesota is tied with Mercyhurst for fourth, while Minnesota Duluth, Boston College, North Dakota and Dartmouth are tied for eighth.
USA PRELIM CAMP ROSTER
The Golden Gophers is well represented on the preliminary camp roster for the 2011 World Championships. Making the prelim camp roster is Megan Bozek, Amanda Kessel, Anne Schleper and Jen Schoullis, while former Gopher Gigi Marvin was also invited to the camp. The athletes will take part in a selection/training camp in Ann Arbor, Mich., from April 4-12, with the final 21-player roster set to be announced on April 9. The players who make the team will depart on April 12 for the 2011 IIHF World Women's Championship, which runs from April 16-25 in Zurich and Winterthur, Switzerland.
The No. 3/5 University of Minnesota women’s hockey teams begins the post-season this weekend. In the WCHA First Round Playoffs, the Golden Gophers host Ohio State, Feb. 25-27. In a best-of-three series, Friday’s game is at 6 p.m., followed by Saturday at 5 p.m., and Sunday at 4 p.m. (if needed). All games will be played at Ridder Arena.
FOLLOWING THE GOPHERS
Dan Hamann and the Gold Zone will provide the audio/video for this week’s games against Ohio State. The Gold Zone and the live in-game blog can be found on gophersports.com
GOPHERS IN THE WCHA FIRST ROUND
Since the new format of the WCHA Championships, dating back to 2005-06, Minnesota has gone 10-0 in the WCHA First Round. Minnesota earned two wins against Minnesota State last year. In the first game, Minnesota won, 8-5, followed by a triple overtime game on Feb. 27. The game marked the Gophers’ longest in school history at 3 hours and 47 minutes. In the first round, the Gophers have faced MSU (05-06, 09-10), Bemidji State (06-07, 08-09) and North Dakota (07-08). This year marks the first time Minnesota has face Ohio State in the first round. The Gophers saw OSU in the WCHA semifinal game last year and earned a 5-4 double-overtime win to advance to the WCHA Championship game.
WCHA FINAL FACEOFF TICKETS ON SALE
Tickets for the 2011 WCHA FINAL FACE-OFF championship, set for March 4-5 at Ridder Arena, are on sale now through the University of Minnesota Ticket Office (612 624-8080, or 1-800-U-Gopher, or online at Gophersports.com).Three-game session tickets for the women's playoff championship tournament are available at three prices: $20 for a reserved seat, $18 for general admission, and $15 for seniors and youth (age 18 and under). Single session tickets, priced at $15, $12 and $8, will be available on the days of the semifinals and championship game.The two semifinal games will be played on Friday, March 4 at 4:07 pm CT and 7:07 pm CT. The 2011 WCHA FINAL FACE-OFF Championship game will be played on Saturday, March 5, at 7:07 pm CT.
CLOSING IN ON 100
Sarah Erickson is three points to establishing her 100th career point. The last Gophers to accomplish the feat was Emily West and Brittany Francis last year. If Erickson reaches the 100-point mark, she would be the the 18th player in school history to crack 100. Minnesota’s all-time leader in scorer came from Gopher assistant coach Natalie Darwitz with 246 career points in just 99 games played.
FINDING THE NET
Since Minnesota’s loss to Wisconsin (1/29), the Gopher line of Amanda Kessel, Sarah Erickson and Jen Schoullis have led the Gophers’ scoring driving with 34 points. In the past six games, Kessel has contributed 13 points, followed by Erickson with 12 and Schoullis with nine. In that span, the trio also scored three power-play goals, two short-handed goals and two game-winning goals.
ABOUT THE BUCKEYES
Ohio State closed out the regular season with an 8-17-3 WCHA record and holds an overall 14-17-3 mark. After posting two wins against St. Cloud State (1/28-29), OSU has been on six-game winless streak. Dropping both series to ranked teams against North Dakota and Minnesota Duluth, OSU fell, 4-1, and tied 1-1 at Bemidji State last weekend. The Buckeyes hold one of the conference’s most dangerous forwards in junior Natalie Spooner. Missing action with the Canadian Under-22 Team, Spooner has played in 27 games this year and has produced 39 points. Laura McIntosh and Hokey Langan also are offensive threats with 45 (McIntosh) and 30 points (Langan). Goalie Lisa has played the most minutes by any goalie in the WCHA at 1679 and 2039 in overall action. She holds a goals against of 3.09. Last time at Ridder Arena, Steffes had 39 saves in the 2-1 overtime loss to Minnesota.
DID YOU KNOW?
Minnesota holds a 15-game win streak over Ohio State, dating back to Oct. 20, 2007. During that span, Minnesota has outscored OSU, 97-26. Overall, The Gophers are 44-8-1 all-time against the Buckeyes, dating back to 1999.
DURING THE REGULAR SEASON
Minnesota went 4-0-0 against Ohio State during the regular season. At Ridder Arena, the Gophers earned a 6-0 win the first night, including a two-goal performance from Jen Schoullis. Due to a snow postponement, the Gophers played the second game of the series on Dec. 12. After the two teams went scoreless in the first and second, Hokey Langan scored a five-on-three goal at 6:58 to go up, 1-0. Kelly Seeler responded at 10:19 in the third to send the game into overtime. Megan Bozek scored the overtime, gamewinner at 3:14 for the win.
In the last series, OSU held the lead twice, but the Gophers responded each time for a 4-2 win, Jan. 21. Melissa Feste scored just 21 seconds into the contest, but Amanda Kessel scored at 18:26 in the second to tie the game. After OSU’s Ally Tarr scored at 5:18, Minnesota scored three goals at 10:26, 12:46 and 13:06 for the win. Minnesota scored early and often in the 8-1 series finale. The Gophers had seven different goal scorers and knocked out OSU goalie Lisa Steffes, giving Loren Carrier her only action of the season.
PAIRWISE RANKINGS
The Golden Gophers currently is tied for fourth in the PairWise Rankings, a tool generally used for the NCAA committee to determine the NCAA field in March. Wisconsin sits first, followed by Cornell and Boston University. Minnesota is tied with Mercyhurst for fourth, while Minnesota Duluth, Boston College, North Dakota and Dartmouth are tied for eighth.
USA PRELIM CAMP ROSTER
The Golden Gophers is well represented on the preliminary camp roster for the 2011 World Championships. Making the prelim camp roster is Megan Bozek, Amanda Kessel, Anne Schleper and Jen Schoullis, while former Gopher Gigi Marvin was also invited to the camp. The athletes will take part in a selection/training camp in Ann Arbor, Mich., from April 4-12, with the final 21-player roster set to be announced on April 9. The players who make the team will depart on April 12 for the 2011 IIHF World Women's Championship, which runs from April 16-25 in Zurich and Winterthur, Switzerland.
Players Mentioned
D
/ Women's Hockey
F
/ Women's Hockey
F
/ Women's Hockey
D
/ Women's Hockey
F
/ Women's Hockey
F
/ Women's HockeyHighlights: Gophers 6, St. Cloud State 1
Sunday, March 01
Highlights: Gophers 4, St. Cloud State 1
Saturday, February 28
Abbey Murphy Breaks Goals Record
Saturday, February 28
Highlights: Gophers 2, UMD 3
Friday, February 20