After staying unbeaten in 44 skates all-time against Bemidji State University, the No. 5 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team will try to keep that streak intact through this weekend as the Bulldogs host the Beavers at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center. UMD, just two points out of first place in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, and BSU, just one point out of third, will hit the ice Saturday and Sunday at 3:07 p.m. The series will mark the last two games for the Bulldogs in 2009.
UMD GAME VS. BEMIDJI STATE
THE SERIES: The No. 5 Bulldogs own a 43-0-1 record all-time against their counterparts to the north, Bemidji State. The Beavers have the distinction as the only team in the WCHA that has not beaten UMD. The one tie between the programs came back on Feb. 3, 2002, a 3-3 knot at the DECC.
UMD was 4-0 last season against BSU, outscoring the Beavers 15-5 in those four skates.
LAST WEEK: The No. 5 Bulldogs earned two points the hard way last weekend in Madison, dropping the Friday contest 3-1 to the No. 7-ranked Badgers before picking up a 2-2 tie and shootout win Sunday to stay in second place in the WCHA.
Rookie netminder Jennifer Harss was the story of the weekend, making 73 saves on the 77 shots she faced. Harss turned away 40 shots in Friday's 3-1 setback (the third goal was an open-netter in the final four seconds), and then made 33 in Sunday's 2-2 tie. The Bulldogs received goals from senior forward Emmanuelle Blais and rookie forward Jessica Wong on Sunday, with junior forward Laura Fridfinnson picking up her 100th career point on Blais' tally with an assist. Three Bulldog rookies stepped up for the shootout, with Audrey Cournoyer and Katie Wilson scoring on their attempts. But it was Harss who kept the net empty to help UMD pick up the extra league point from the shootout win.
The overtime game on Dec. 6 was the 14th in history between the Bulldogs and Badgers, and the eighth in the past four seasons. UMD is 23-19-9 all-time against Wisconsin, and the Bulldogs' nine ties are the most UMD shares with any other team in the NCAA.
HARSS NAMED WCHA DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: No other goaltender in the NCAA has seen more ice time so far this season than rookie Jennifer Harss, and UMD knows just why.
The freshman neminder, who has been a pillar between the pipes for the Bulldogs this season, was named the WCHA's Defensive Player of the Week Wednesday. The first UMD goaltender to grab the award since Kim Martin earned the honor last season on Jan. 14, (after stonewalling the same Badgers), Harss made 73 saves on 77 shots for a .948 saves percentage in a two-game WCHA series at No. 7-ranked Wisconsin last weekend, including both shootout shots she faced on Sunday.
Harss, a native of Rieden, Germany, who made her first appearance in The Kohl Center last weekend, leads not only the WCHA but also the nation in minutes played (1178:18) and saves (559), and ranks 10th in the NCAA with a .927 saves percentage. The rookie also currently owns the fifth most saves made in a Bulldog career, and is four saves away from tying Riitta Schaublin's 2003-04 563 saves mark that gave her the fifth most in a UMD single-season.
AND FRIDFINNSON MAKES 13: Laura Fridfinnson became the 13th member of UMD's 100 career point-club last Sunday, and is the second Bulldog this year to join the club. She joins Emmanuelle Blais and senior forward Saara Tuominen as the third currently rostered UMD player to reach the milestone.
Fridfinnson, a native of Arborg, Manitoba, had the assist on Blais' goal on Sunday at 17:20 of the first period. The assist was No. 49 of her career, while her 100 points came in just 100 career games. Fridfinnson -- who currently is the Bulldogs' second leading scorer this season with 22 points (9g, 13a) -- is the No. 9 all-time goal scorer in UMD history with 51 tallies.
The junior forward is the sixth Bulldog in the past two seasons to notch 100 points over a career. She is also the third player in that group to reach 100 during her junior season (Tuominen and Elin Holmlov did it last year.) Fridfinnson's clasmmate, Haley Irwin, recorded her 100th point as a sophomore late last season.
ROOKIES GOING ROGUE: With only nine players returning from the 2008-09 squad, it was assumed the 2009-10 Bulldogs would have to rely heavily on their influx of new freshmen to carry the load this season. While the current crop of rookies have held up to the early expectations, having scored 26 of UMD's 61 goals to date, they are more of a rule than an exception in Bulldog program history.
20 games into the current season, four freshmen have recorded 10 or more points, including Katie Wilson with 20, and Audrey Cournoyer who has 16. While two of those rookies rank in the top-ten for scoring by freshmen in the nation, with Wilson at No. 4 (9g, 11a) and Cournoyer at No. 8 with 16 (4g, 12a), in program history, the Bulldogs have had four or more rookies score 10 or more points during seven of 11 seasons.
The Bulldogs' rookie class of 2007-08, which included current players Laura Fridfinnson and Tara Gray, had five freshmen score score 10 points, four of whom had 25 or more, and three, including Fridfinnson, registered over 40 in 39 skates.
UMD's initial rookie class of 1999-00 had seven players rake in 10 points, with six over 24 points and three who turned in 50 or more through 32 games.
BLAIS-ING TOWARDS A CAREER SEASON: She is merely four weeks removed from becoming just the 12th player in UMD history to become a member of the 100 career-point club, but senior forward Emmanuelle Blais shows no signs of slowing down.
The native of LaSalle, Quebec continues her torrid pace for a career season, leading UMD in scoring with 12 goals and 15 assists for 27 points. Blais ranks No. 11 in the NCAA and first in the WCHA in point scoring. Blais has notched two or more points during an outing on nine occasions so far this season, or in almost half of UMD's games. She has notched a point in 15-of-20 contests, and has three times recorded three or more points.
Currently, Blais is on track to set a new personal season best for scoring. Her current pile of 27 points leaves her just seven points shy of her freshman career high output of 34 (14g, 20). Her career point haul of 107 points puts her just one points away from tying centralized Sara O'Toole for the No. 10 slot on UMD's all-time scoring list. With 53 goals (as well as 54 assists) in her 124 career skates, she ranks No. 8 among Bulldogs' in all-time for goals.
RASMUSSEN CLIMBS THE CAREER LADDER: Senior defenseman Jaime Rasmussen is rewriting some career offensive marks from the blueline of her own.
The Garden Grove, Calf. native, had a breakout season offensively in 2008-09, scoring nine goals and 12 assists for 21 points, but is already pushing her own personal marks 20 games into her senior season. Rasmussen -- who has 14 points (5g, 9a) -- is currently the No. 7 all-time career points by a defenseman with 60 (17g, 43a) in 132 outings. She is now closing in on former Bulldog Brittny Ralph, who sits No. 6 all-time with 61 points (19g, 42a). Rasmussen also ranks No. 5 for career goals by a blueliner with 17, just one short of the No. 4 marker held by Navada Russell, (who netted 18 between 1999-03), and is sixth all-time in assists from a defenseman with 43.
Rasmussen is also just eight games away from setting UMD's all-time career games played (144), which was set by Bulldog alum Tawni Mattila last season. Rasmussen's 136 skates at UMD currently ranks her in the sixth spot, tying her with current assistant coach Michelle McAteer, who skated 136 times for the Bulldogs between 1999-03.
BULLDOG NOTES: UMD has three players in the top-ten for scoring in the WCHA (Emmanuelle Blais, No. 1, Laura Fridfinnson, No. 3 and Katie Wilson, No. 7), and have six of the top-20 players in points in the league...UMD has nine players who have scored in double-digits and three who have recorded 20 or more points...Blais leads UMD with a +15 plus/minus rating, while Wilson owns a +14...Sunday's shootout win over Wisconsin was only the second time since the WCHA started using the shootout a season ago that the Bulldogs have grabbed the extra point...It also came against the Badgers, back on Jan. 11 at the DECC.
ON THE AIR: Fans can listen to the Bulldogs on WGEE 970 AM Saturday and Sunday with Tom Hansen, who is in his tenth season covering play-by-play duties for the Maroon and Gold. Pre-game will begin 15 minutes before the puck drops. Bulldog fans can also catch the action online with B2tv Networks at http://www.b2tv.com.
