While the University of Minnesota Duluth women’s hockey team may have narrowly missed advancing to the NCAA Women’s Frozen Four for the second year in a row, the Bulldogs had an impressive season in 2004-2005 and are looking to build on that experience with an ingredient that they have been missing since the 2002-2003 season- DEPTH!

“I’m excited about the season because we are going to have a tremendous amount of depth on our team,” said Head Coach Shannon Miller. “Even though replacing Caroline Ouellette and Julianne Vasichek is a big hole to fill, we are bringing in so many good young players, we are going to have depth, and you need to have depth to win national championships.”

KEY PLAYERS

Unlike years past, UMD will only have two seniors on this year’s roster, as Larissa Luther and Krista McArthur are the lone senior class representatives. However, the Bulldogs will have a strong upper class as they return 10 juniors, who will make up the core of the team. This season’s captain will be junior Allison Lehrke and her assistant captains are juniors Noemie Marin and Jessica Koizumi.

“Lehrke is a natural leader and has emerged as a leader on her own through the course of the last two years,” Miller added. “Now she is in a position to develop her leadership skills.

Others to watch this season will be junior goaltender Riitta Schaublin and sophomore defenseman Rachael Drazan. Both of these players are expected to step up their competition level after spectacular years in 2004-2005.

RETURNING OFFENSIVE POWER

The returning offensive power for the Bulldogs will come from junior assistant captains Jessica Koizumi and Noemie Marin, Just as it did a season ago. For the last two seasons, these two players have led the UMD offense tallying nearly 30 percent of the team’s total points in 2004-2005. Marin made great strides from her freshman season, becoming the second highest point getter on the team as she recorded 30 goals and 26 assists for 56 total points. She was selected to the All-WCHA Second Team and was the WCHA Player of the Week twice during the 2004-2005 campaign.

Reminiscent of the 2003-2004 season, Koizumi finished third on the Bulldog roster in points. In the 2004-2005 season she impressively garnered 41 total points (24-17). Scoring four critical goals against Harvard University landed her USCHO.com Offensive Player of the Week honors.

The Bulldogs forward lineup will be bolstered by the return of senior Larissa Luther, who redshirted a year ago, and the experience of juniors Allison Lehrke and Juliane Jubinville.



RETURNING BLUELINERS

Senior defenseman Krista McArthur will be a staple on the blueline for UMD this season. After being sidelined for the first half of the 2004-2005 season, McArthur stormed on the ice in January 2005 and made an immediate impact for the Bulldogs, tallying 11 total points in just 15 outings.

Expectations are high for All-WCHA Rookie team blueliner Rachael Drazan. After leading UMD freshman in scoring during the 2004-2005 season, recording five goals and six assists, she will be counted on as another source of leadership on the ice.



The Bulldogs will also be returning three more junior defensemen as Suvi Vacker, Jill Sales, and Ashley Waggoner are among UMD’s 16 returnees.

RETURNING GOALTENDERS

Netminding played an important role in the Bulldogs success last season, as goaltender Riitta Schaublin proved to be among the nations best. An All-WCHA First Team pick, Schaublin posted a 20-4-1 record. She was also the only player in the nation to earn three USCHO.com Player of the Week awards.

Schaublin was also named the USCHO.com 2004-2005 Most Improved Player after elevating her game and posting the best saves percentage (.942) in the nation as well as the third highest goals against average (1.51).

NEW ADDITIONS

The number 10 seems to be a special number for the Bulldogs, as UMD will have 10 rookies on the team for the third straight season. There will be seven forwards, two defensemen and one goaltender joining the ranks, including at least two that may play for their national teams at the 2006 Winter Olympics

One of those possible Olympic players is forward Michaela Lanzl. Lanzl has played with the German National Team since 1996 and has been a part of four World Championship teams and played in the 2002 Winter Olympics for Team Germany, at the age of 19. Lanzl finished the Olympic games first on Team Germany in scoring and tied for seventh in goal scoring (three) for the tournament.



Another potential national team player that will be enhancing the Bulldogs offensive line this season is Mari Pehkonen. A native of Tampere, Finland, Pehkonen is an outstanding forward who is currently a member of the Finnish U-22 team and the Ilves Women’s club team. Pehkonen finished the 2004-2005 season second in the Finnish Championship league in assists (14) She also ended the year third in the league in points (33) and fifth in goals (19). A five-year member of the Finnish Championship league, Pehkonen helped her club team (Ilves) to a second place finish in the Finnish championship league tournament.



Also joining the Bulldogs, as forwards will be Duluth native Tawni Mattila, who played for Duluth Central for four seasons. UMD will also add Jessica Hawkins (Orange, CA), Erin Olson (Elk River, MN), Sara O’Toole (Burton, New Brunswick), and Melissa Roy (Montreal, Quebec). The Bulldogs will add one netminder, Danielle Ciarletta (Blaine, MN) who will join Schaublin in goal.



Strengthening the Bulldogs defensive corps will be Cloquet native Kirsti Hakala. Hakala played for the Cloquet girl’s hockey team and was named the Lumberjacks captain for the 2004-2005 season. An All-Lake Superior Conference pick for the last three seasons. Hakala had a large part in the 2002 Minnesota State runner-up finish in AA. She has also participated with the Minnesota Selects Elite team for the past four years and has attended the USA Development Camp since 2001.



The second blueliner that UMD will be adding this season is Myriam Trepanier. A native of St-Michel-de-Bellechasse, Quebec, Trepanier played for the Levis-Lauzon Faucons for the past two seasons where she has been among the teams top scorers each year. A member of the Team Quebec U-22 team, she won a silver medal in the 2003 Canada Winter Games with Team Quebec. Like her new teammate Noemie Marin, Trepanier is also part of the Canadian National Softball system and will participate in the 2005 Canada Summer Games in softball.



With the returning strength that the Bulldogs have this season and the new talent that UMD was able to secure in this year’s rookie class, they will be a team to watch during the 2005-2006 campaign. That combination will allow the Bulldogs to gain the depth needed to contend for the national championship with the other top teams in the nation, like Harvard University, the University of Minnesota, and the University of Wisconsin.

“I think that we are going to be one of the top teams in the country this year,” said Miller. “As well as Wisconsin, Harvard and Minnesota.”

The seventh season of women’s hockey at UMD will be an exciting season to watch as both veterans and newcomers work together achieve a worldwide goal – To be the best.