For the fourth year time in as many years, the University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team has had a player named a Patty Kazmaier Top-3 Finalist, as junior netminder Riitta Schaublin earned the honor today.

Schaublin joins University of Wisconsin junior forward Sara Bauer, and St. Lawrence University sophomore forward Sabrina Harbec as the 2006 Top-3 Finalists.

The award, presented annually by The USA Hockey Foundation, honors the top player in NCAA Division I women's ice hockey. This year's winner will be revealed at the ninth annual Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award Dinner on March 25 at the Radisson University Hotel in Minneapolis, Minn., and will feature all three finalists, the top two teams in the NCAA Women's Frozen Four, as well as special keynote speaker and 2005 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award winner Krissy Wendell (Brooklyn Park, Minn.).

Schaublin is the first-ever Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award Top-3 Finalist who hails from outside of North America. In 2005-06, she earned her second straight 20-win season while posting the nation's second-best save percentage (.941). Her efforts have already led to her garnering a spot on the All-WCHA First Team and also recognition as the WCHA Student Athlete of the Year.

The Basel, Switzerland native, will complete her undergraduate degree in mathematics at the end of the 2005-2006 academic year and will enroll in the match graduate program at UMD next fall.

A team co-captain, Schaublin set the Bulldog career records for goaltender wins on Dec. 3, 2005 against Minnesota State University, Mankato with her 45th career victory (she now has 5). She also has been credited with a school-record 1, 999 saves as a Bulldog, currently good for the 12th place on the NCAA all-time charts.

The Bulldogs, 22-8-3 overall, will travel to Canton, NY this weekend to play St. Lawrence University on Saturday, March 18 at 6:00 p.m. (CST) in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Tournament. Tickets will be available at the door of Appleton Arena on the day of the game. Adult tickets are $5, student and children are $3, and kids under 5 are free.

Notes: This is the seventh straight season that the Bulldogs have had a representative in at least the Top-10 list…Maria Rooth was a Top-10 Finalist in 2000-2002; Jenny Potter was a Top-10 Finalist in 2000 and a Top-3 Finalist in 2003-2004; Carline Ouellette was a Top-10 Finalist in 2004 and a Top-3 one season ago…Tickets for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award Dinner may be purchased by calling The USA Hockey Foundation at (800) 566-3288, ext. 184, or by visiting www.PattyKaz.com…Both Bauer and Harbec are the first-ever top-three finalists for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award from their respective schools…There has never been a Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award winner from the University of Wisconsin, St. Lawrence University or the University of Minnesota Duluth