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Katie Wilson scored in each period for her first career hat trick, while Saara Touminen and Laura Fridfinnson scored a goal each, to lead the Bulldogs to a 5-1 victory, and sweep of the series at Boston College. Wilson and Fridfinnson now have 9 goals each to lead the Bulldogs, two behind Emmanuelle Blais 11 goals.
Blais had 3 assists, while Fridfinnson and Audrey Cournoyer each picked up two. Jenny Harss stopped 24 of 25 shots she faced, and has a .924 saves % with 2.28 GAA after the weekend.
UMD has outscored opponents 58-40 and on the season, while Wilson, Fridfinnson and Blais all averaging better than a point (goal or assist) per game.
The UMD women head to Madison for a series with the Badgers next weekend.
UMD's Katie Wilson (from Mankato series)
Check out the box score by clicking the blog title..
The Bulldogs scored one goal in each period, with Katie Wilson scored the game winning goal, 52 seconds into the game to jump start the 'Dogs on the road at Boston College. Audrey Cournoyer scored in the second period, and Laura Fridfinnson returned from her shoulder injury to score in the third period.
Jenny Harss stopped all 22 shots she saw for her third shutout of the season (and career.)
On Sunday, UMD gave up the first goal, but went on to dominate, winning 7-1. Sarah Murray scored her first goal of the season and second of her career, answering Ida Clark's goal for the Mavericks. UMD scored three powerplay goals in 3 minutes 20 seconds in the second period to break open the game. Two Jamie Rasmussen (her 4th and 5th) goals sandwiched an Emmanualle Blais goal to give UMD a 4-1 lead barely 6 minutes into the period, and Vanessa Thibault once again found the net at 16:13 for her sixth goal of the season. Blais and Audrey Cournoyer scored unassisted, short-handed goals, 22 seconds apart in the third period to finish the scoring for the Bulldogs. Katie Wilson had three assists, while Saara Tuominen, Jessica Wong, Cournoyer, and Thibault each had an assist themselves. UMD outshot Mankato 36-26, holding the Mavericks to 3 shots in the second period.
Jamie Rasmussen blasting her powerplay goal in the 2nd period
Emmanuelle Blais gets behind the defense for a shorthanded breakaway goal
Former Cloquet (CEC) Lumberjack goaltender Paige Thunder saw third period action on Sunday for Mankato
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The Mavericks' Ashley Young scored with 34.8 seconds left in the third period to finish their comeback from a 2-0 Bulldog lead to win the first game of the two game series in Duluth 3-2.
UMD's Vanessa Thibault cotinued her strong November, scoring the game opening goal with four minutes left in the first period while Jessica Wong scored her fourth goal of the season four minutes into the second period. From then on, Mankato picked up their game and started to take control and the shot clock showed it. UMD led 16-6 in first period shots, and 18-19 after two periods. Mankato outshot UMD 19-8 in the third period, though Jenny Harss held her ground in the third, until Young's game winner. Ida Clark and Kala Buganski scored the first and tying goals for Mankato.
Vanessa Thibault celebrates her goal
Click the blog title to view other WCHA Players of the Week
WCHA Rookie of the Week
Mariia Posa, Fr., D, Minnesota Duluth
University of Minnesota Duluth defenseman Mariia Posa, a freshman from Helsinki, Finland, dished out three assists last weekend in the visiting Bulldogs’ two-game sweep of WCHA opponent Ohio State.
Just one week after suiting up for Team Finland in the 2009 Four Nation’s Cup, Posa had assists in the Bulldogs’ first two goals in last Friday (Nov. 13) night’s 3-2 overtime win over the host Buckeyes. It was a career-high for the blue liner and Posa was also a +3 in the plus/minus department.
Posa then dished an assist on national teammate Saara Tuominen’s second period goal in last Saturday (Nov. 14) evening’s 5-3 triumph over Ohio State, giving the Bulldogs a four-point road series.
Through her first 12 UMD skates this season, Posa has five points (1g, 4a).
Also nominated for the award this week were: Sadie Lundquist, F, BSU; Noora Räty, G, UM; Hokey Langan, F, OSU; and Stefanie McKeough, D, UW.
Click the blog title to view the Box Score.
After both teams scored in the first period, UMD doubled up Ohio State in the second period to take the final game lead of 5-3.
Vanessa Thibault and Laura Fridfinnson each scored two and Saara Tuominen scored for the third game in a row (not counting the St. Cloud series she missed), while Emmanuelle Blais had two assists for the Bulldogs. Gina Dodge scored her first college point, with an assist, and four other players (Audrey Cournoyer, Mariia Posa, Katie Wilson, and Kacy Ambroz) also picked up an assist.
Vanessa Thibault
Laura Fridfinnson
I've been told that UMD is slated to celebrate the 10th anniversary of UMD women's hockey next weekend Saturday (6 pm) & Sunday (3 pm) against Minnesota State, Mankato.
Click the blog title to view the game box-score from Columbus.
Jamie Rasmussen scored 31 seconds into overtime to give UMD the 3-2 win in overtime. Saara Tuominen and Emmanuelle Blais scored UMD's regulation goals while Mariia Posa assisted on those goals. Blais and Katie Wilson assisted on the Rasmussen game winner, while Jessica Wong and Laura Fridfinnson picked up assists as well in the game.
UMD outshot Ohio State 36-26 and neither team scored a powerplay goal with UMD going 0-5 and Ohio State 0-4. Of UMD's 36 shots, Rasmussen had *9* of those shots so it seems like the perfect ending, for her to score the game winner.
Jamie Rasmussen
From WCHA.COM, Click the blog title to view the rest of the weekly awards!
WCHA Rookie of the Week
Audrey Cournoyer, Fr., F, Minnesota Duluth
Minnesota Duluth‘s Audrey Cournoyer, a freshman from Montreal, Quebec, picked up four assists as the No. 5-ranked Bulldogs split two WCHA games at St. Cloud State last weekend.
Cournoyer had an assist on the only UMD goal in last Friday’s (Nov. 6) 5-1 loss to the host Huskies and then had a helping hand in each of the Bulldogs’ first three goals last Saturday (Nov. 7) – including teammate Laura Fridfinnson’s eventual game-winner, as UMD bounced back with a 5-0 victory over the Huskies.
Cournoyer had a +4 plus/minus rating in last Saturday’s game and a +3 overall in the series. She is UMD’s fifth leading scorer this season with eight points (2g, 6a) in her first 12 games.
Also nominated for the award this week were: Erika Wheelhouse, D, BSU; Lauren Smith, F, MSU; Ashley Furia, F, UND; Hokey Langan, F, OSU.
Cournoyer and Katie Wilson celebrate Wilson's goal, assisted by Cournoyer against St. Cloud
On Saturday, UMD reversed their fortunes and did St. Cloud one better, shutting them out 5-0 after the 5-1 loss the Huskies handed them. Over the years, the Bulldog teams have overcome a bad game and situations when everything seems to be against them to perservere and this was another instance of that. Laura Fridfinnonson, out for the third period Friday with her shoulder injury, scored the first Bulldog goal on Saturday, to give UMD a 1-0 lead during the first intermission. Vanessa Thibault scored her second career goal and second in as many games to give UMD a 2-0 lead and Katie Wilson made that 3-0 on her first of two goals with 5 minutes left in the 2nd period. The third line, of Kacy Ambroz, Justine Fisher, and Libby Guzzo worked hard the entire game and that paid off with Ambroz scoring the 4th UMD goal, her second career goal, 26 seconds before Katie Wilson finished the scoring with her second of the game. Jenny Harss stopped all 24 St. Cloud shots for her second shutout of the year and her career.
Audrey Cournoyer picked up 3 assists Saturday against St. Cloud
Katie Wilson, Cournoyer after Wilson's first goal of the night.
Kacy Ambroz as her shot scores her second career goal.
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The UMD women brought 17 players to St. Cloud, including three goaltenders, with Saara Tuominen and Mariia Posa in Finland for the 4 Nations Cup tournament, and lost the first game of the Friday/Saturday series 5-1 in St. Cloud. The Bulldogs were down 1-0 after 1 period, and 2-0 3 minutes into the second period, before Vanessa Thibault scored her first career goal, on a powerplay. That goal was the only scoring that UMD could put on the National Hockey Center scoreboard. The second period ended with UMD down 3-1. Laura Fridfinnson re-aggrivated her lingering shoulder injury in the second period and sat out the third. Although UMD picked up their game some from the second period, St. Cloud still got two third period goals to finish the game 5-1. UMD was outshot 37-32 for the game, with Huskies Holly Roberts' two goals and 10 shots leading the game.
Vanessa Thibault scored her first career UMD goal in the 5-1 loss
Click the blog title to view the collegehockeystats.net box score...
Behind 39 Jenny Harss saves, the Bulldogs upset the unbeaten #1 team in the country Mercyhurst, 4-3 in Erie, PA.
Saara Tuominen, Laura Fridfinnson, and Audrey Cournoyer scored in the first 9 minutes of the second to give UMD a 3-0 lead, which was cut to 3-1 when Mercyhurst's Bailey Bram scored with 21 seconds left in the period. An Emmanuelle Blais goal 5 minutes into the third period gave UMD back their 3 goal lead, but Mercyhurst's scored back to back goals to cut the lead to the final 4-3 UMD score.
Kirsti Hakala got her first assist of the season and second as a Bulldog, while Blais had two assists, and Jamie Rasmussen and Fridfinnson again assisted on a goal.
UMD heads to St. Cloud next weekend, minus Saara Tuominen and Mariia Posa, who are gone for the 4 Nations Cup tournament. Justine Fisher played defense in the Mercyhurst series, likely to step into Posa's vancancy for the St. Cloud weekend and maybe the rest of the season?
From collegehockeystats.net box score...Click the view the boxscore.
UMD start off well, getting a 2-0 lead on goals by Tara Gray and Laura Fridfinnson... then fell apart, giving up 5 special teams goals to Mercyhurst. Mercyhurst scored 3 powerplay goals, and 2 shorthanded goals (9 seconds apart), all unanswered to win 5-2. UMD was outshot 37-22 for the game, and only got 3 shots in the second period. UMD was also, 0 for 13 on the powerplay besides giving up the two shorthanded goals.
Between the two teams, there were 27 powerplays, and 58 minutes worth of penalties handed out.
It seems like a no-brainer really.. with 4 goals and an assist against North Dakota, Emmanuelle Blais was named WCHA offensive player of the week, and Jamie Rasmussen with1 goal and 4 assists is the defensive player of the week for her efforts against the Sioux.
UMD heads to Erie, PA to face unbeaten Mercyhurst this weekend, and after that series, Saara Tuominen and Mariia Posa head to Finland for a week for the 4 Nations Cup tournament, which means they'll miss the series in St. Cloud.
Click the blog title to view both game's photos.
North Dakota again scored first (goal by Janet Babchishin,) in game 2 on Saturday, but UMD answered with first period goals by Emmanuelle Blais and Jaime Rasmussen (on the powerplay) to take a lead that they never gave up. Saara Tuominen (also on the powerplay) scored the only other goal of the game, in the second period to give UMD the final 3-1 score. Blais, Tuominen, and Rasmussen each had an assist as well, as did Laura Fridfinnson and Sarah Murray. Goaltender Jenny Harss played well again, stopping 22 of 23 shots she faced.
Emmanuelle Blais now has 91 points as a Bulldog, and Laura Fridfinnson has 88 points, as they both chase the 100 point mark.
Kacy Ambroz had one of her strongest games as a Bulldog.
Saara Tuominen scored her second goal of the season, hopefully that gets her back on track as the team leader.
Click the blog title to view all the photos
North Dakota came into the DECC with the obvious goal of "out physicalling" UMD and in the first period they did that well and had a 1-0 lead in the locker room on a goal by Mary Loken.
UMD came out of the locker room skating MUCH better, with Emmanuelle Blais scoring the first of her hat trick only 24 seconds into the period. The improved skating led to Sioux penalties, and the UMD power play took advantage with Katie Wilson and Blais each scoring powerplay goals in the period. Blais finished her hat trick on another powerplay goal midway through the third period to cap the UMD scoring and victory at 4-1. Jamie Rasmussen and Laura Fridfinnson each had three assists and Jenny Harss stopped 25 of 26 shots she faced for the win. North Dakota's Stephanie Ney, who shut out UMD 4-0 at the DECC last season, stopped 42 of 46 UMD shots in the loss.
Jessica Wong
Jenny Harss stopping North Dakota's Sara Dagenais point blank.
Once again, from the box score...click the blog title to view the box score from collegehockeystats.net
The UMD women put 29 shots on Gopher goaltender Noora Räty but couldn't 'light the lamp,' while the Minnesota women scored 3 goals on 37 shots against Jenny Harss to complete their sweep of the Dogs. TWO of the Gopher goals were scored short handed, one each against the first and second line power play units of UMD.
UMD returns home to face North Dakota Friday and Saturday nights. The Sioux women have lost two straight (and play Mankato Sunday) since knocking off Wisconsin in their WCHA opener.
From the Collegehockeystats.net box score (click the blog title to go view)
The Gophers got a goal in each period to take a 3-0 lead before UMD finally got on the board at 10:51 of the third period on a goal by Emmanuelle Blais. UMD was outshot 38-23 and only managed as many as 10 shots in the third period.
Katie Gilderman, from Proctor-Hermantown-Marshall Mirage received her NCAA clearance and dressed as the backup goaltender for UMD.
Katie Gilderman, former Proctor-Hermantown-Marshall goaltender will be UMD's third goaltender, pending NCAA clearance, that hopefully comes before the Gopher series starts tonight so she can be at Ridder Arena as the backup to Jenny Harss. She only played in one game in 08-09 but obviously will be a better backup goaltender than other players UMD's tried who couldn't skate on the flat goaltender skate blades.
Per the Duluth News Tribune:
Gilderman, a former Proctor-Hermantown-Duluth Marshall girls goalie, played only one game last high school season following knee surgery, yet recovered to pitch in the spring softball season and during the summer.
“During softball, my knee had some swelling and I wore a brace, but it’s strong now. It’s strong enough to handle this, but I just haven’t been on the ice for a while,” said Gilderman, a bio-chemistry major, who earned college academic scholarships. “UMD is a team I watched growing up and I look at this as a huge opportunity. I was not expecting anything like this, but I’m excited about the chance.”
Click on the blog title to see all Players of the Week for this week!
Per the WCHA Release:
WCHA Rookie of the Week
Katherine Wilson Fr., F, Minnesota Duluth
Katherine Wilson scored two goals and added two assists to
help No. 6-ranked Minnesota Duluth sweep WCHA rival and
visiting St. Cloud State last weekend.
The NCAA’s leading rookie scorer, with an average of 1.50
points per game in her first four games, Wilson tallied her first goal
as a Bulldog in last Saturday’s (Oct. 11) 5-3 win over the Huskies. The
native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, had an assist on her team’s first
goal in the first period, scored the second tally of the contest at 6:52
of the opening stanza, and then picked up an assist on UMD’s third
goal in the third period.
Wilson then came back to score the game-winning score last
Sunday (Oct. 11) in the second period in Minnesota Duluth’s 2-0
triumph over St. Cloud State. The freshman Wilson is tied at
the top as the Bulldogs’ leading scorer so far this season with six
points (2g, 4a) in four games and has a four-game point-scoring
streak.
Also nominated for the award
this week were: Keirsten Visser, D,
BSU; and Lauren Smith, F, MSU.
Click on the blog title to view all of the pictures!
UMD won the second game against SCSU 2-0, on a strong defensive team effort, especially in shutting down the first game star for the Huskies, Caitlin Hogan. Jenny Harss picked up the shutout stopping all 24 shots that came her way in her strongest effort in the short season. Katie Wilson scored the eventual game winner with the first goal of the game and Mariia Posa scored her first career goal.
Mariia Posa
Katie Wilson
