UMD Women Sweep Mavericks

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The UMD women took care of business in the first round of the 2011 WCHA playoffs, sweeping Minnesota-State Mankato 3-0 Friday and 5-0 Saturday at Amsoil Arena. On Friday, Elin Holmlov put the Bulldogs ahead in the first period, 1-0, 6:44 into the first period. After a sloppy second period, the Bulldogs still only led 1-0. The 'Dogs dominated the third period, outshooting the Mavericks 19-6 and scoring goals by Jocelyne Larocque and Holmlov for the 3-0 win. Haley Irwin had two assists Friday while Holmlov, Pernilla Winberg, and Mariia Posa each had one assist. Kim Martin stopped all 20 Maverick shots she faced.

 
On Saturday, UMD again finished the first period with a 1-0 lead, on a goal by Audrey Cournoyer at 14:08 of the period. The 'Dogs didn't wait until the third period to put the game away on Saturday night, scoring three second period goals. Katie Wilson scored at 6:24 of the period, then Jessica Wong scored 26 seconds later. Larocque made it 4-0 at 16:44 of the second period. Vanessa Thibault finished the scoring with a goal at 9:18 of the third period. Irwin picked up 3 assists on Saturday, as did Elin HOlmlov. Jamie Kenyon, Noora Jaakkola, and Kacy Ambroz also had an assist in Saturday's game. Jenny Harss picked up the shutout Saturday, stopping 25 Maverick shots. Mavericks' goaltender Alli Altmann stopped 75 of 83 UMD shots in the two games.

Elin Holmlov scored twice Friday

UMD Women Beat Bemidji, Regain WCHA 4th Place

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Coming into the 2 game series with Bemidji State, the Bulldog women were 2 points behind the Beavers in the WCHA standings, in 5th place after a short winless streak of 5 games.

The 'Dogs got down 1-0 quick, on an unassisted goal by Bemidji captain Erin Cody at 3:04 of the first.Tara Gray evened the score blasting a missile through a crowd and past goaltender Alana McElhinney, who never saw the puck.

Laura Fridfinnson notched goals 3:18 apart in the second period to give the 'Dogs a 3-1 lead, but Cody scored two more (for the hat trick) faster, scoring at 11:18 from the blue line on a bouncing puck that fooled Kim Martin and again at 12:34.

Elin Holmlov didn't wait long in the third period, scoring at 4:03 from Pernilla Winberg and Jessica Wong to put UMD ahead 4-3, that was the eventual final score. Kim Martin stopped 21 of 24 shots faced, while McElhinney stopped 31 of 35 UMD shots. Former Cloquet Lumberjack defenseman Montana Vichorek assisted on the two Cody goals in the third period.

Kacy Ambroz gets in tight on McElhinney

Friddy celebrates a goal

UMD Women Beat North Dakota 4-1

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The Bulldog women began their final series in the DECC Arena, before moving to Amsoil Arena, with a 4-1 win over the North Dakota Fighting Sioux. Jessica Wong gave UMD a 1-0 lead with a goal at 17:30 of the first period, assisted by Elin Holmlov, and the first of three assists by Haley Irwin.

Pernilla Winberg gave the 'Dogs a 2-0 lead at 8:30 of the second period, assisted by Irwin, though the 2 goal lead only held for 4 minutes, when North Dakota's Candace Molle scored to cut the lead in half.

Elin Holmlov scored a shorthanded goal at 8:02 of the third, from Irwin, and Joceylyne Larocque scored UMD's 4th goal with 21 seconds left to complete the UMD victory. Kim Martin stopped 23 of 24 shots for the win, while Sioux goaltender Stephanie Ney stopped 25 of 29 in taking the loss.

Haley Irwin puts a shot on Sioux goaltender Ney

Pernilla Winberg and Haley Irwin celebrate Winberg’s goal

UMD Women Get a Tie & Win Vs. St. Cloud

On Friday, December 3rd, the UMD Women and St. Cloud skated to a 2-2- tie, despite UMD outshooting the Huskies 41-23 for the game.  Former Mirage player Julia Gilbert scored her second goal of the season and Molli Mott, combined to give St. Cloud a 2-0 lead over the ‘Dogs. 

Jessica Wong scored both UMD goals, first cutting the lead in half at 17:53 of the second period with a goal assisted by Haley Irwin and Pernilla Winberg.  Wong then scored the game tying goal at 5:51 of the third period, assisted by Brienna Gillanders and Irwin.  Jenny Harss stopped 19 of 21 shots she faced in the tie, while Huskies goaltender Ashley Nixon stopped 39 UMD shots.

On Saturday, the ‘Dogs dominated from the start, picking up a 5-0 shutout win over the Huskies.  Jocelyne Larocque got UMD on the board, scoring at 5:06 of the first period.  Haley Irwin then scored the first goal in her natural hat-trick just 1:03 after Larocque’s goal.  The second Irwin goal came at 19:00 of the first period, and she capped off the natural hat-trick just 4:01 into the second period.  Gillanders finished the Bulldog scoring with a goal at 6:11 of the second period.  UMD outshot St. Cloud 52-20 on Saturday, with Kim Martin picking up yet another shutout, the 14th in her career. 

Haley Irwin’s hat-trick propelled the Dogs past St. Cloud on Saturday

UMD Women Lose in Overtime

The scoring summary from UMDBulldogs.com

UMD struck first behind the power-play prowess of rookie forward Brienna Gillanders, who netted her fourth career goal -- and power-play tally -- seven minutes into the opening period.  Gillanders, whose score was assisted by Elin Holmlov and Jocelyne Larocque, has now recorded a point in her last four games.  At 11:45, the Bulldogs took a stunning 2-0 lead on sophomore forward Pernilla Winberg's fifth goal of the season, with assists to Holmlov and Haley Irwin, and just like that, UMD took a two goal advantage into the first intermission.

Wisconsin pulled to within a goal just 2:58 into the second period on a power-play tally by Brianna Decker, but the score would hold steady at 2-1 until late in the third stanza.  With just 25 seconds remaining in regulation, Geena Prough found a way to beat UMD senior netminder Kim Martin to equalize, sending the Bulldogs and Badgers into their 17th skate with extra time.

It only took Decker and Wisconsin 10 seconds into overtime to pull out the 3-2 victory over UMD, however, and with the loss, UMD slips to 9-4-0 and 7-4-0 in the WCHA and 4-3 against opponents ranked in the top-ten.

Martin made 35 stops for the Bulldogs, while her Wisconsin counterpart in net, Alex Rigsby, made 37 saves for the 12-1-0 and 8-1-0 Badgers.  UMD was 1-of-5 on the power-play, Wisconsin 1-of-4, and the Bulldogs just barely outshot Wisconsin 39-38.

Brienna Gillanders

UMD Women Split With Bemidji State University

On Friday the Bulldogs dropped a 1-0 game, despite 30 saves by Kim Martin.  Former Grand Rapids/Greenway star Emily Erickson scored for the Beavers, on the powerplay, with 6:35 left in the third period.  The ‘Dogs put 38 shots on Zuzana Tomcikova but couldn’t put one in the net.

On Saturday, the Dogs beat the Beavers 3-1.  Audrey Cournoyer scored her 5th goal of the season, which was matched by Erickson scoring her 5th to tie the game at 1.  Brienna Gillanders scored her first career Bulldog goal, the eventual game winner, on the powerplay at 10:07 of the first period.  Elin Holmlov scored her 4th of the season with 6:29 left in the third period to give the ‘Dogs a 2 goal lead that held to the finish.   Kim Martin started again for UMD, stopping 27 of 28 shots she faced, while Tomcikova stopped 31 of 34 on her net.

UMD is off for a week while the 4 Nations Cup tournament takes place, before Ohio State comes to the DECC November 19/20th.  The game on the 19th starts at 7:30 due to the Christmas City of the North Parade.

UMD Women Finish Sweep of UConn

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The Bulldogs finished the weekend sweep of UConn with another shutout, winning 4-0 October 24th. UConn gave a better performance than Saturday, with 21 shots on goal, but Kim Martin gave the Bulldogs their 3rd straight shutout of an opponent. Haley Irwin opened the UMD scoring 2:59 into the first period, for the only goal of the period. Audrey Cournoyer scored at 1:36 of the second for a 2-0 UMD lead, and Irwin's second of the game gave UMD a 3-0 lead with 3 minutes left in the second period. Cournoyer finished the scoring with her own second goal, at 9:08 of the third period to finish the scoring. Dana Gallop, Jocelyne Larocque, and Jessica Wong all had 2 assists for the 'Dogs. Jamie Kenyon also picked up an assist, on Cournoyer's second goal.

Former Grand Rapids/Greenway Lightning player Dana Gallop had two assists on Sunday.

Pernilla Winberg and Elin Holmlov help celebrate a Haley Irwin goal

UMD Sweeps Minnesota-State Mankato

Usually I will post an entry per game, but this was an extra busy weekend!

The UMD women must have thought Saturday's game started at 4 pm... they came out flat and had a 2-0 defecit at the end of the first period on goals by Mavericks' players Emmi Leinonen and Kathleen Rogan. Whatever Shannon Miller said in the locker room woke up the Dogs, as Jessica Wong socred 50 seconds into the second period, and Pernilla Winberg tied the game less than two minutes later. Laura Fridfinnson scored the go-ahead goal (and game winner) at 13:58 and Haley Irwin finished the second period scoring at 19:04 to give UMD a 4-2 lead after the second period. Irwin scored again in the third period, the only Bulldog goal, at 15:39. Jenny Harss, medically cleared coming off of off season surgery, got the start for UMD, but was lifted after the second Mankato goal, with Kim Martin taking over in the Bulldog net. After the teams each had 11 shots on goal in the first period, UMD outshot Mankato 31-8 for the second and third periods. Both teams were 1 of 3 on powerplay chances.

On Sunday, the Dogs continued what they finished on Saturday, completing the sweep of the Mavericks at the DECC. Haley Irwin opened the scoring for UMD, scoring an unassisted goal at 7:45 of the first period. At 15:05, Gina Dodge attacked a loose puck and buried a low show between Mavericks goaltender Alli Altmann and the post for a 2-0 UMD lead after 1 period. UMD scored four goals in a span of two minutes nineteen seconds in the second period to build a 6-0 lead. Elin Holmlov scored at 4:04 from Pernilla Winberg, then returned the assist 13 seconds later as Winberg scored from Holmlov. Holmlov then scored her second goal of the game at 5:54 of the period, unassisted. 29 seconds later Katie Wilson scored the final UMD goal of the day from Laura Fridfinnson and Audrey Cournoyer. Jenny Harss got the start in goal for UMD, earning the shutout with a 26 save performance. 

Haley Irwin takes a draw against Mankato

Grand Rapids native Dana Gallop is a UMD freshman this season.

Gina Dodge finds just enough space between the goaltender and the net

UMD Women Start Season Off Right

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The UMD women started the defense of their 5th National Championship in style, shutting out North Dakota 4-0 on Friday, October 8th. Kim Martin stopped all 23 shots she saw, including 10 in the third period to earn the shutout. 4 Bulldogs scored, with Jocelyne Larocque scoring in the first period, and Jessica Wong, Audrey Cournoyer, and Haley Irwin all notching goals in the second period. Larocque and Cournoyer's goals were both powerplay goals.


The win is Kim Martin's 54th as a Bulldog, and 12th shutout according to the Collegehockeystats.net website.

National Championship game winning goal scorer Jessica Wong now has 16 goals, and 33 total points in her short career.

 

UMD/Whitecaps Tie 3-3

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The 2010-11 edition of the Bulldog women's hockey team debuted at the DECC, October 2nd, 2010, with an exhibition series against the Minnesota Whitecaps. Audrey Cournoyer got the Dogs off on the right foot, scoring 1:11 into the game with assists to Tara Gray and Katie Wilson. From that point on, the Whitecaps controlled the first period, getting goals from Megan McCarthy and Bulldog Alum Jenny Potter 39 seconds apart, and Allie Sanchez at 14:41 of the period. The undermanned Whitecaps, playing with 12 skaters, couldn't keep up the fast pace, and UMD tied the game on a second period goal by Haley Irwin, and a third period goal by Jessica Wong. Wong also picked up an assist on Irwin's goal, while Katie Wilson added a second assist on Wong's goal. Elin Holmlov notched two assists as well for the Bulldogs.

Bulldog Alum Jenny Potter, for the Whitecaps

Haley Irwin returns to the Bulldogs after redshirting last season for the Olympics

UMD Season (16 Days and counting down!)

UMD 2010-11 Season
Not only do they defend their 5th National Championship, but have a nice new arena to defend the second half of the season. There are only 5 seniors on the roster, to replace the 5 that graduated, plus Libby Guzzo's transfer to St. Scholastica, making 20 total roster players with the three goaltenders (Harss, Martin, and Steck.)

4 players are listed as defensemen.. giving me the idea that Jessica Wong and Elin Holmlov will see some blue line time this season. Some people were asking what the roles of Gina Dodge and Kacy Ambroz would be this season (with the Olympians returning).. but I don't think there's reason to wonder after their play last season.

UMD should be able to roll 3 lines with anyone this year, with defense being the one spot with possible questions with Rasmussen and Murray graduating. Larocque and Gray will be on the ice a lot with Posa (Soph) and Noora Jaakola (Freshman), and whoever they do decide to move from forward to defense to fill in.

Might we see a goaltender battle between Harss and Martin this winter? Martin didn't have a really excellent Olympic tournament, but they (Team Sweden) didn't play anyone for tuneup matches so she had a really bad defensive team in front of her. Sweden would have been far better off to leave it's players on their NCAA teams seeing high caliber opponents, but that's getting off topic. She (Martin) is (reported as) probably the healthiest (knees) she's been as a Bulldog so it will be fun to see both goaltenders probably rotate at least until after Christmas.

Shannon Miller can't go anywhere for at least 5 years.. if not more.. she has 5 rings for 5 fingers.. but needs 5 more for the other hand!

Bulldog Olympians February 15th

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Caroline Ouellette picked up two assists in a 10-1 Canada win over Switzerland on Monday...

Pernilla Winberg picked up *4* goals, Erica Holst had two assists, Elin Holmlov had a goal AND 2 assists and Jenni Asserholt scored goal as the present and former UMD Bulldog women led Sweden to a 6-2 win over Slovakia. Kim Martin got the game off for Sweden.

Bulldogs Past/Present In Olympics Feb 13/14

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So far in 4 Olympic women's hockey games:

February 13
Kim Martin has shut out Switzerland 3-0, making 16 saves for Sweden against the Swiss.

UMD Grad Caroline Oullette scored a goal and added four assists, and red-shirted Bulldog Haley Irwin picked up two goals in Canada's 18-0 drubbing of Slovakia.

February 14
Jenny Potter had a hat-trick and two assists vs China, while former assistant coach and Harvard alum Julie Chu scored a goal and had two assists.

Saara Tuominen and Heidi Pelttari each had an assist in Finland's 5-1 win over the Russian women's hockey team.