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")

Former Bulldog Potter Scores ANOTHER Hat Trick For Team USA!

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Jenny Potter scored another hat trick, and added an assist in Team USA's 13-0 victory over Russia. Julie Chu picked up one assist in the thrashing.

In Finland's 2-1 win over a surprising China team, Heidi Pelttari picked up one assist.

Bulldog Olympians February 15th

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Caroline Ouellette picked up two assists in a 10-1 Canada win over Switzerland on Monday...

Pernilla Winberg picked up *4* goals, Erica Holst had two assists, Elin Holmlov had a goal AND 2 assists and Jenni Asserholt scored goal as the present and former UMD Bulldog women led Sweden to a 6-2 win over Slovakia. Kim Martin got the game off for Sweden.

Bulldogs Past/Present In Olympics Feb 13/14

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So far in 4 Olympic women's hockey games:

February 13
Kim Martin has shut out Switzerland 3-0, making 16 saves for Sweden against the Swiss.

UMD Grad Caroline Oullette scored a goal and added four assists, and red-shirted Bulldog Haley Irwin picked up two goals in Canada's 18-0 drubbing of Slovakia.

February 14
Jenny Potter had a hat-trick and two assists vs China, while former assistant coach and Harvard alum Julie Chu scored a goal and had two assists.

Saara Tuominen and Heidi Pelttari each had an assist in Finland's 5-1 win over the Russian women's hockey team.

Ohio State Beats UMD 6-3, Seniors Honored

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Ohio State beat UMD 6-3 (including an open net goal) on Saturday. Paige Semenza got the Buckeyes on the board for the only goal of the first period. Emmanuelle Blais tied the game 5:11 into the second period, but Laura McIntosh scored less than a minute left to give OSU the lead again. Natalie Spooner but Ohio State up by two goals at 15:46, Audrey Cournoyer got UMD within one at 17:24, and Raelyn LaRocque put them back up by two at 18:29 to give a frantic end to the second period. Jessica Wong made the game 4-3 with a goal 3:27 into the third period, but UMD was held scoreless the rest of the game, while OSU got another goal from Spooner, and the empty net goal by Hokey Langan to close out the scoring. After the game the 5 seniors were celebrated for their final regular season home game. Kirsti Hakala, Emmanuelle Blais, Jamie Rasmussen, and Sarah Murray took the ice with their parents, while Saara Tuominen, in Vancouver for the Olympics also received great applause.

The Seniors

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

Saara Tuominen Olympic Blog

Click the blog title.. to check out Saara Tuominen's UMDBulldogs.com Olympic blog from Vancovuer! It's updated with stories from her and includes pictures at times also.

http://umdbulldogs.com/teams-womens-hockey.php?page=121

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

Tara Gray, WCHA Defensive Player of the Week

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WCHA.COM:

Tara Gray – Jr., D, Minnesota Duluth

University of Minnesota Duluth junior defenseman Tara Gray recorded more points over the Jan. 30-31 weekend in Grand Forks than she did all last season, helping the visiting Bulldogs to a WCHA sweep over North Dakota.

A product of Toronto, Ont., Gray scored two goals and added two assists for four points in the series against the Sioux, including the first three-point performance of her collegiate career last Sunday.

Gray dished an assist on a goal that tied the game at 2-2 in the second period in last Saturday’s 4-3 overtime comeback win for the Bulldogs. She was also a +1.

Then on Sunday, Gray had a hand in three of Minnesota Duluth’s last four goals in a 5-0 shutout victory over UND. She netted her first goal at 15:34 of the second period to push UMD to a 2-0 lead, before assisting on a power-play goal at 19:43 of the second period, a blast from Gray that was redirected in front of the net by teammate Laura Fridfinnson. Gray then scored a PPG of her own with less than 4:00 remaining in the third, giving her the first two-goal game of her career and highest point count in a single game during her three-seasons at UMD. Besides her points, Gray was +3 and helped UMD grab it’s fourth shutout of the season.

Overall, Gray, who had four shots Sunday, was +4 on the weekend. She now has eight points this season (4g, 4a), just two shy of her career season-high of 10 (1g, 9a) set during her freshman season. Her four goals this season already is a career single-season best.

Also nominated for the award this week were: Alana McElhinney, G, BSU; Alyssa Grogan, G, UM; and Kelly Wild, D, OSU.

UMD Women Rally, Beat North Dakota In Overtime

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UMD gave North Dakota a 2-0 cushion, only 7:05 into the game, with goals by Alex Williams and Holly Perkins. Audrey Cournoyer made it a one goal game at 16:13 of the first and Katie Wilson scored a powerplay goal to tie the game at 2 4:47 into the second period. That goal was answered by Sara Dagenais less than two minutes later.

Cournoyer scored her second goal of the game with 3:21 left in the third to tie the game at three, and that sent the game to overtime.

Emmanuelle Blais scored the OT game winner 1:59 into the five minute extra session.

Six Bulldogs picked up assists, with Jessica Wong, Tara Gray, Vanessa Thibault, Sarah Murray, Wilson, and Laura Fridfinnson all getting an assist on UMD goals.

In an ODD occurrence, the two teams ONLY had 7 penalties called between them, after 18 the first game in Duluth, and 19 the second game!

Audrey Cournoyer

Bulldogs Win 2-1, Sweep Mavericks In Mankato

Jessica Wong and Katie Wilson scored for UMD, and Ashley Young scored for Minnesota State-Mankato, and Lana Steck got the 2-1 win for the Bulldogs in her first start of the season. I'll post the link to the box score tonight sometime.

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.

Jessica Wong, WCHA Rookie of the Week

From WCHA.COM, Click the blog title to view the other player of the week awards

WCHA Rookie of the Week

Jessica Wong - Fr., F, Minnesota Duluth

University of Minnesota Duluth freshman right winger Jessica Wong scored two goals and added an assist this past weekend, helping the host Bulldogs take two WCHA victories from Wisconsin.

The product of Baddeck, Nova Scotia netted the Bulldogs' second goal of the game last Saturday (Jan. 16), just 1:35 into the second period. She then iced the Badgers chances of a late comeback when she skated the length of the ice and managed to sneak the puck past Wisconsin's goaltender with 1:30 remaining in the contest, giving Minnesota Duluth a 5-3 lead. Wong also had five shots and was +2 on the night, as well as helping the Bulldogs' power-play go 2-of-4.

Then last Sunday (Jan. 17), Wong dished a game-winning assist to teammate Katie Wilson, 3:13 into the second stanza. Wong was +1 in UMD's 2-1 victory over the defending national champion Badgers to make her +3 in the series.

On the 2009-10 season, Wong has 14 points (7g, 7a) for the Bulldogs.

Also nominated for the award this week were: Erika Wheelhouse, D, BSU; Megan Bozek, D, UM; Chelsea Knapp, G, OSU; and Lisa Martinson, D, SCSU.

Wong scores one of her goals, Saturday

Dogs Sweep Wisconsin

On Sunday, UMD completed the series sweep of Wisconsin, which also would give UMD the tie-breaker over Wisconsin should the teams be tied in the final league standings. Saara Tuominen started the scoring for the Bulldogs, lifting a shot over the the Badger goaltender Alannah McCready's glove that ended up going off her backside and into the net for a 1-0 first period lead. Katie Wilson put back a Jessica Wong rebound 3:13 into the second period to give UMD a 2-0 lead. Wisconsin's Geena Prough got Wisconsin on the board with 9:49 left in the second, but that was the only goal Jenny Harss would allow, as she stopped 27 of 28 shots on the night. Harss is now 15-7-2 in her freshman season for the Bulldogs. McCready stopped 23 of 25 UMD shots, picking up only her 3rd loss in 10 games.

Katie Wilson scores on a rebound of a Jessica Wong shot.

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

Jocelyne Larocque Returns to UMD Roster

Click the blog title to view the entire UMDBulldogs.com story on Larocque's return...

"Jocelyne just completed four months of Olympic training and is in the best shape of her life, and most likely playing her best hockey ever," said head coach Shannon Miller. "We understand why she wants to join us now, at this point in the season, rather than wait until next fall. We are very excited to have another player in our line-up, and someone who will play and contribute a great deal right away."

Finally, The Season Returns!

The UMD women's hockey team hasn't hit the DECC ice for a game since winning and tying (and losing in a shootout) to the Bemidji State Beavers on December 13th. This weekend, UMD returns to the DECC to take on the Wisconsin Badgers, Saturday at 7 pm, and Sunday at 4 pm. Wisconsin returned to their regular season play last weekend, splitting a series with North Dakota.