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

National Championship Game Photos!

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After nearly 3 full overtimes, equaling 119 minutes and 26 seconds of hockey (4 hours and 24 minutes real time), the UMD Bulldog women's hockey team became National Champions, for the 5th time! Neither team scored in a first period that had 19 shots between the two teams, and one penalty each. In the second period, Cornell's Melanie Jue scored the only goal, a powerplay goal, at 13:44, and gave Cornell a 1-0 lead at the second intermission. Cornell took a penalty at 19:11 of the second period, and Emmanuelle Blais scored a powerplay goal 18 seconds into the third period to tie the game at 1. Jamie Rasmussen capitalized on another Cornell penalty, at 14:42, skating in deep and burying a centering pass to give the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead. Less than two minutes later though, Jue tied the game for Cornell, batting in a puck that popped up in the air and bouncing off UMD goaltender Jenny Harss. Cornell took a penatly at 16:42 of the third period, but UMD couldn't capitalize, and the game went to overtime.

The first overtime had great scoring chances for both teams. The best came when Audrey Cournoyer got the puck in front of Cornell goaltender Amanda Mazzotta, and before she could make a move around her, Mazzotta pokechecked the puck and caused it to hop Cournoyer's stick. UMD had 12 shots and Cornell 11 in the first overtime. The majority of the second and third overtime's were spent in Cornell's zone, as UMD started to skate more of the third line and rotate Kacy Ambroz and Vanessa Thibault more into the first two lines to give players a break. Ambroz forechecked hard the 2nd and 3rd overtime and helped the Bulldogs create momentum, but they couldn't get anything by Mazzotta, until the last minute of the third overtime. Laura Fridfinnson was tripped as she gained the zone and a great scoring chance, creating a UMD powerplay. The powerplay expired, but UMD still had the zone when a Tara Gray blast from the blue line was tipped into the net by Jessica Wong, 6 seconds after the powerplay ended, to win the game in overtime. Mazzotta finished the game with 61 saves on 64 shots, while Harss stopped 47 of 49 shots she faced.

UMD captain Saara Tuominen assisted on UMD's first two goals, while Jamie Rasmussen assisted on the first, Cournoyer on the second, and Mariia Posa added to Gray's assist on Wong's game winning goal. Laura Fortino assisted on both Cornell goals, while Lauriane Rougeau and Karlee Overguard each had an assist for the Big Red.

Tara Gray slapshot that Wong tipped for game winner

ALL the game shots

UMD/Bemidji Skate To 2-2 tie

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On Sunday (December 13) UMD and Bemidji skated to a 2-2 tie, and Bemidji took home the extra point via a 1-0 shootout win. UMD's Gina Dodge started the scoring by following her backhand shot with a second backhand that found it's way past Bemidji's Tomcikova into the net. Erin Cody and Erin Johnson scored second period powerplay goals for the Beavers and took a 2-1 lead into the third period.

UMD dominated the posession play in the third period, putting 18 shots on Tomcikova but only scoring once, a Mariia Posa powerplay goal that amounted to the final 2-2 score. Tomcikova stopped 44 of 46 shots, plus all three of UMD's chances in the shootout, while UMD's Jenny Harss stopped 26 of 28. Bemidji's Cody got the shootout winner to give Bemidji the extra WCHA conference point (though for overall purposes, it is an NCAA tie in the record books.)


Gina Dodge's backhand goal in the first period was her second goal of the season

Bemidji's Zuzana Tomcikova made a huge save on Katie Wilson as the third period was running out.

Beaver Erin Cody nets the shootout winner

The Bulldog women are now off on Winter break until hosting the Wisconsin Badgers January 16/17.

Mariia Posa WCHA Rookie of the Week

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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.

UMD Women Shutout/Sweep St. Cloud, 2-0 Sunday

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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