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 Squash St. Cloud

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Four goals in a row by Pernilla Winberg lead the Bulldogs to an 8-0 win over St. Cloud State, February 18, 2011 at Amsoil Arena.

Haley Irwin scored UMD's 5th goal, in her first game back from an undisclosed injury, while Tara Gray, Elin Holmlov, and Kacy Ambroz socred the other 'Dogs goals.

Holmlov added three assists, and Katie Wilson, Brienna Gillanders, Jocelyne Larocque, Irwin each had two assists. Jenny Harss stopped all 10 shots she saw in two periods, and Lana Steck stopped 5 shots she faced in relief, playing the third period.

Winberg celebrates her hat-trick

Brienna Gilanders looks for a rebound

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 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 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 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!

UMD Women To Frozen Four, AGAIN!

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The UMD women earned yet another trip to the NCAA Frozen Four, with a 2-1 win over the New Hampshire Wildcats at the DECC, March 13, 2010!

Jocelyne Larocque (assisted by Kacy Ambroz) got UMD off on the right foot, at 2:42 of the first, grabbing the lead on a shot from the point that found it's way to the net through a screen. Three minutes later New Hampshire's Micaela Long tied the game off a scrum in front of the UMD net.

The teams skated the next 38 minutes 15 seconds scoreless, before Jessica Wong picked up the game winner, 3:57 into the third period, from Emmanuelle Blais and Katie Wilson.

Jenny Harss stopped 23 of 24 Wildcat shots for her 27th win, while UNH goaltender Kayley Herman stopped 24 of 26 UMD shots.

Emmanuelle Blais 4 Goals Dominate North Dakota

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Last week's WCHA offensive player of the week Emmanuelle Blais scored 4 goals on 11 shots on goal, Saara Tuominen scored a goal and assist fresh off returning from the Olympics, and Jocelyne Larocque scored her first goal of the season as the Bulldogs skated to a 6-2 victory in game one of the best of three playoffs.

Jaime Rasmussen had three assists, Sarah Murray and Jessica Wong each had two assists, while Laura Fridfinnson and Katie Wilson each picked up an assist in the victory. Jenny Harss stopped 30 of 32 shots while UMD scored their 6 goals on 48 total shots on Sioux goaltender Jorid Dagfinrud.


Emmanuelle Blais

UMD Women Beat Wisconsin 5-3

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The UMD Bulldog women returned to the ice for the first time since December 13th, to host a weekend series with Wisconsin. They also gained back defenseman Jocelyne Larocque from Team Canada, after she was a late cut from their Olympic roster. Larocque's immediate impact came on a UMD powerplay in the first period, with her first assist of the season, on an Emmanuelle Blais goal that gave UMD a 2-1 lead after Wisconsin's Breann Frykas, and UMD's Katie Wilson each scored their team's first goals of the game. Jessica Wong and Laura Fridfinnson scored in the first 2:34 of the second period, before Wisconsin poured on the pressure, putting up 23 shots in the second period, to UMD's 3. Jenny Harss was up to the task and stopped 22 of those 23 shots to take a 4-2 lead to the locker room. Wisconsin's Carolyne Prevost scored 1:21 into the third period, then 17 minutes of scoreless hockey was broken by a great Jessica Wong individual effort chasing down a loose puck and scoring an unassisted goal to seal the game before Wisconsin could pull their goaltender, giving UMD the 5-3 final victory.

Jessica Wong