My NCAA Tournament Outlook

My own thoughts on the NCAA tourney brackets has Minnesota and Wisconsin advancing to Duluth past North Dakota (Min) and Mercyhurst (Wis), while Cornell/BU (Boston U) and BC (Boston College)/St. Lawrence will be the interesting games of the quarterfinals..

I'm not sure about Cornell, and St. Lawrence has a real chance to beat BC so right now I expect Minnesota/Wisconsin/BU/St. Lawrence to be the final four teams. Wisconsin would face St. Lawrence and Minnesota faces BU if that scenario unfolds..

I'm not cheering for Minnesota and Wisconsin (or any team really) just that the WCHA retains it's stronghold on the National Championship it's had since UMD won the first one way back.

UMD Women Win/Tie Vs North Dakota

The UMD Women beat North Dakota 6-1 on Saturday, then tied them 2-2 on Sunday, winning the shootout for the extra WCHA conference standings point.

Katie Wilson scored a hat trick Saturday, while Jenna McParland, Pernilla Winberg, and Haley Irwin scored the other Bulldog goals.

On Sunday, Brigette Lacquette and Audrey Cournoyer scored second period goals, while Josefine Jakobsen and Michelle Karvinen scored third period goals for North Dakota. Neither team scored in overtime, and Pernilla Winberg scored the only goal of 6 attempts during the shootout. Jenny Harss stopped 56 of 59 shots she faced on the weekend.

 

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

North Dakota Beats UMD, Earns Series Split

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Despite outshooting the Sioux, UMD dropped the second game of the series with North Dakota 4-2.  The Sioux had a 3-1 lead after two periods, and a 4-1 lead in the third period.  UMD got goals by Haley Irwin, and Vanessa Thibault, while North Dakota had lead by their first line of Jocelyne Lamoureux, Allison Parizek, and Monique Lamoureux-Kolls who each had a goal.

UMD returns home for two games against Minnesota-State Mankato October 16-17, Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

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 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 Beat North Dakota 3-1, Sweep Series

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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.

UMD Beats North Dakota 4-1

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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.