UMD Bulldog's women's hockey fans: Jenny Harss Shares WCHA Defensive Player of The Week Award

Click the blog title to view the rest of the WCHA player of the week awards

WCHA.COM:

WCHA Defensive Players of the Week

Jennifer Harss, Fr., G, Minnesota Duluth

Noora Räty, Fr., G, Minnesota

University of Minnesota Duluth freshman goaltender Jennifer Harss made 73 saves on 77 shots for a .948 saves percentage in a two-game WCHA series at No. 7-ranked Wiconsin last weekend, including both shootout shots she faced on Sunday.

Harss, a native of Rieden, Germany, made her first appearance in the Kohl Center last Friday (Dec. 4), making 40 saves on 42 shots on goal in a 3-1 loss to Wisconsin (the third goal was an empty-netter with :04 seconds remaining). Harss then made 33 saves last Sunday (Dec. 6) afternoon in UMD’s 2-2 overtime tie with the host Badgers. After keeping the Bulldogs in the contest for 65 minutes, Harss came up with two shootout stops to help UMD earn two league points from the outing.

The rookie goaltender leads not only the WCHA but also the nation in minutes played (1178:18) and saves (559), and ranks 10th in the NCAA with a .927 saves percentage.

Noora Räty, the University of Minnesota’s freshman goaltender from Espoo, Finland, allowed just one goal in two road games against No. 9-ranked Harvard on Dec. 4-5. This marks her third Defensive Player of the Week honor this season (also on Oct. 21 and Dec. 2).

Over 123:35 minutes played in the series, Räty allowed one goal at the :33 mark of the third period in last Friday’s 1-0 loss to the host Crimson. Prior to that goal, Räty had held her opponents scoreless for 217:29 consecutive minutes played.

Last Saturday, she held Harvard scoreless en route to her fifth career shutout and third in two weeks. Räty kept the Gophers in the game early with 14 saves in the first, 12 in the second, 11 in the third and two in overtime for a career-best 39 stops. She had a series total of 59 saves on 60 shots for a .983 saves percentage.

Also nominated this week were: Zuzana Tomcikova, G, BSU; Alli Altmann, G, MSU; Ashley Nixon, G, SCSU; and Geena Prough, D, UW.