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 Trounce UConn

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The Bulldog women trounced the University of Connecticut 8-0, October 23, 2010. The Huskies were outshot 63-9, with a portion of their 9 shots coming from outside the offensive zone. UMD got a hat-trick from Jessica Wong (her first career hat-trick), and goals from Audrey Cournoyer, Haley Irwin, Katie Wilson, Laura Fridfinnson, and the first career goal for freshman Jamie Kenyon. Pernilla Winberg put 10 shots on the Connecticut net, but couldn't light the lamp.

Jessica Wong finds herself wide open in front of the UConn net, and buried the puck for a goal

Laura Fridfinnson with a  scoring chance

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 Faces Bemidji State Saturday

Emmanuelle Blais was named a top 10 finalist for the Patty Kaz award, while she and Jamie Rasmussen were named to the All-WCHA First Team, Laura Fridfinnson to the Second Team, and Jenny Harss to the Third Team.

The Dogs head to Ridder Arena for a noon game Saturday with Bemidji State, and the winner of that faces the winner of.. Minnesota and Ohio State! Yes, that is read correctly, Wisconsin's season was ended (barring a low-seed invite to the NCAA tourney) via two overtime losses to Ohio State in the WCHA first round.


Jamie Rasmussen

Emmanuelle Blais

UMD Women Sweep North Dakota, Move On To WCHA Final Faceoff

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On Saturday, with help from players not looked at to score many goals, the Bulldogs defeated the Sioux 4-1 to gain their regular trip to the WCHA Final Face Off tournament. Their opponent is yet to be decided as Bemidji State and St. Cloud State will play a third game as the two teams split their first two games.

UMD got out to a 3-0 lead, with Jocelyne Larocque scoring her second goal in as many games at 18:20 of the first period, Gina Dodge scored her 4th career goal (and of the season) 5:43 into the second period, and Sarah Murray picked up her second goal of the season 1 minute 40 seconds later to give UMD that 3-0 lead. North Dakota cut the game to a 3-1 UMD lead when Megan Gilbert scored for the Sioux at 12:11 of the second, but that was the only Sioux goal in the game.

Laura Fridfinnson scored her 20th of the season, an empty net goal with 28 seconds left to give UMD the 4-1 victory. Jenny Harss stopped 18 of the 19 shots she faced AND picked up an assist on Larocque's goal, while the Bulldogs chased Sioux starter Stephanie Ney after Murray's goal, and Dagfinrud, who played Friday finished the game for the Sioux. In total UND goaltenders stopepd 30 of 34 Bulldog shots Saturday.

Jocelyne Larocque

Gina Dodge

Sarah Murray

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 Sweep Bemidji, Win Regular Season WCHA Championship!

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By way of a 3-0 Jenny Harss shutout of the Bemidji State Beavers, the UMD Bulldog women claimed a share of the WCHA regular season title! They will be the co-champion as the Minnesota Gophers beat the Wisconsin Badgers to secure the split of first place. The Bulldogs, by having more conference victories than the Gophers, get the first seed in the WCHA playoffs and face North Dakota at Heritage Center next weekend.

Emmanuelle Blais scored twice (63 career goals, 66 assists), giving her 22 regular season goals, and Jamie Rasmussen completed another great offensive regular season as a defenseman with her 6th goal of the season and another assist (her 14th) in the win. Jessica Wong picked up two assists, while Laura Fridfinnson and Katie Wilson each picked up one assist.

UMD Beats Bemidji State, Tied For First Place

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The UMD Women beat the Bemidji State Beavers, while the Wisconsin Badgers beat the Minnesota Gophers in overtime, to give UMD a TIE for first place in the WCHA with one game remaining in the regular season!

Emmanuelle Blais got UMD off on the right foot, opening the scoring at 3:30 of the first period, but Bemidji tied the game at 5:37 when Annie Bauerfield scored, and the teams took a 1-1 tie to the first intermission.

Erin Cody gave Bemidji a 2-1 lead 2:49 into the second period, but from the 5:49 point of the second, when Laura Fridfinnson tied the game at 2, the game was all UMD. Jessica Wong put UMD up for good 17 seconds after Fridfinnson's goal, then added some insurance at 9:48 of the third for a 4-2 lead. A Blais powerplay goal finished the scoring at 14:54 of the third period.

Jenny Harss stopped 38 of 40 Bemidji State shots, while Alana McElhinney stopped 25 of 30 UMD shots.

Blais added two assists to give her a four point game and Katie Wilson picked up three assists. Jamie Rasmussen picked up one assist, and Kirsti Hakala picked up her second point of the season adding an assist on Blais game opening goal.

Jessica Wong

Emmanuelle Blais (aka "Manue")

UMD Women Beat Ohio State 5-4 in Overtime

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Laura Fridfinnson missed a large part of the third period and overtime, after taking a knee to knee hit from an Ohio State player, but gutted out 2 overtime shifts and scored the game winning goal, burying a rebound of an Emmanuelle Blais shot at 3:53 of overtime. Gina Dodge's 3rd goal of the season was sandwiched between Ohio State goals by Sandy Nelson and Hokey Langan to give OSU a 2-1 first period lead. Fridfinnson scored her first goal of the game only 1:12 into the second period and Vanessa Thibault's 7th goal of the season, scored 3 minutes later gave UMD a 3-2 lead. The Buckeyes' Raelyn LaRocque tied the game at 3 at 17:32 of the second period. UMD's Jessica Wong scored her 9th goal of the season at 7:49 of the third and OSU's Natalie Spooner tied the game at 15:13 of the third. Fridfinnson's overtime winner was her 18th goal of the season. Jessica Wong had two assists to go with her goal, while Blais picked up two assists, Jocelyne Larocque, Audrey Cournoyer, Kacy Ambroz all earned an assist. OSU's Laura McIntosh assisted on each of the Buckeyes' four goals. Jenny Harss stopped 41 of 45 shots for UMD, while OSU's Chelsea Knapp stopped 19 of 24 UMD shots.

Vanessa Thibault

Jessica Wong

Jenny Harss

UMD SWEEP! Bulldogs Beat Gophers 3-0 Saturday

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On Saturday, the Bulldogs finished the job they started on Friday, winning 3-0 to complete the sweep of the Gophers at the DECC. UMD's three goals were all on the powerplay, one per period. Emmanuelle Blais scored in the first period, Laura Fridfinnson scored in the second, and Tara Gray scored in the third. Katie Wilson picked up two assists, while Blais, Gray, Jamie Rasmussen, and Vanessa Thibault each added an assist also. Jenny Harss stopped all 31 shots she faced, earning her third shutout of the season. Jenny Lura, in net for the Gophers, stopped 23 of 26 shots, equaling Grogan's total from Friday night.

The almost obvious offensive and defensive players of the week this week?

One of Friddy's many shots on goal

Jenny Harss

UMD Beats Mankato 3-1

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Laura Fridfinnson led UMD to a 3-1 victory over the Mavericks, scoring the first goal of the game and assisting on goals by Saara Tuominen and Audrey Cournoyer. Katie Wilson picked up an assist as did Tuominen on the Cournoyer goal. Jenny Harss stopped 32 of 33 shots she faced, and UMD killed off all 8 powerplays they gave up.

This is late notice with today's game starting 20 minutes from typing this.. but watch live video http://www3.mnsu.edu/athletics/ of today's game.

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

Junior Laura Fridfinnson Set To Break 100 Point Mark

With her 2 goals and 2 assists against Boston College, Junior Laura Fridfinnson now has 99 points in her career and should join teammates Emmanuelle Blais (this year) and Saara Tuominen (last year) in the 100 point club in the series at Wisconsin this Friday/Sunday in Madison.

Saara Tuominen has 127 career points

Emmanuelle Blais now has 106 points

Laura Fridfinnson at 99, should hit 100 career points vs Wisconsin

Katie Wilson Hat Trick Leads tUMD To Sweep of Boston College

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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)

UMD Women Shut Out Boston College 3-0

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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.)

UMD Beats Ohio State 5-3, Sweeps Series

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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.

UMD Shouts Out St. Cloud 5-0

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.

UMD Beats St. Cloud 5-3

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Despite a hat trick from Huskie Caitlin Hogan (which included a rare 5 on 3 shorthanded goal,) UMD defeated the St. Cloud State Huskies 5-3 at the DECC, Saturday October 10, 2009. Jennifer Harss stopped 20 of 23 shots for the UMD win, while Audrey Cournoyer and Katherine Wilson each scored their first collegiate goals. Laura Fridfinnson (2nd of the season), Jessica Wong (3rd), and Emmanuelle Blais (2nd) also scored for the Bulldogs.

Audrey Cournoyer scored her first UMD goal tonight vs the Huskies.

Laura Fridfinnson and two Huskies players take out Huskie goaltender Ashley Nixon

Jennifer Harss glove save late in the third period.

UMD Beats Robert Morris University 5-2

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UMD won it's home opener against RMU 5-2 at the DECC October 2nd


, 2009. Laura Fridfinnson had a goal (the game winner) and 3 assists, and Jessica Wong scored twice in the third period to seal the game for the Bulldogs. Jaime Rasmussen and Saara Tuominen also scored their first goals of the season and Jennifer Harss notched her first NCAA win stopping 14 of 16 shots put on her.

#47 Emmanuelle Blais eyes a pass to #9 Katherine Wilson during the first period.

Jamie Rasmussen lets a shot go!

Laura Fridfinnson goes 5-hole on the RMU goaltender!

Post game celebration.

Pos