Under head coach Shannon Miller's direction, the No. 3/4 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team has never won fewer than 20 games in a season, so it probably isn't a newsflash that the 2008-2009 Bulldogs have stuck to the program's historic script.
UMD earned win No. 20 of the year Friday night against Ohio State University by knocking off the Buckeyes 4-1 at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center. The win boasts the Bulldogs' overall record to 20-7-4, and 15-6-4 in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. The triumph also helps UMD maintain a 37-3-4 all-time record against the Buckeyes, including an impressive 17-2-1 on the DECC ice.
Just three points shy of 100 career-points coming into Friday's contest, senior Sara O'Toole added No. 98 in the form of her tenth goal of the season at 10:52 of the first period. O'Toole caught a wrist-shot from sophomore defenseman Jocelyne Larocque in front of the net, and connected with the puck once it hit the ice to beat Ohio State's Liana Bonanno for the 1-0 lead. The Buckeyes would equalize when Melissa Feste redirected a shot from Shannon Reilly on a Buckeye power-play at 15:26 to even the game 1-1, and after 20 minutes of play, both teams were knotted up.
After an OSU breakaway attempt that nearly gave the Buckeyes the advantage, early in the second stanza, UMD's Haley Irwin skated in behind the OSU goal, popped out to the left of Bonanno, and wristed a shot into the net for her 19th goal at 5:10. Despite two Bulldog power-play attempts in the first ten minutes of the second period, UMD would opt to score an even-strength goal at 15:25 instead. Junior Elin Holmlov juggled a feed from O'Toole in the slot, but managed to come up with the puck to notch her team-leading 20 goal of the season, building the UMD lead to 3-1 heading into the final intermission.
The Bulldogs' Jaime Rasmussen scored the only tally of the third period, ripping a shot from the left point into traffic to give the Maroon and Gold the 4-1 victory. Rasmussen's goal, her seventh on the year, was UMD's only power-play goal of the game, with the Bulldogs going 1-of-4 on the man advantage. Ohio State, which had the benefit of four power-play attempts in the final 10 minutes of play, was just 1-of-6 with the extra skater.
Senior netminder Johanna Ellison collected 12 saves in the outing to earn her eighth win of the season and is now 11-1-1 in her career as a Bulldog. Bonanno made 25 stops for the Buckeyes, who fall to 8-20-3 overall and 6-17-2 in the WCHA. UMD outshot OSU 29-13 on the evening, the fewest shots the Bulldogs have allowed a team all season.
Both teams will square off again tomorrow night at the DECC as the Bulldogs will play their final game of the regular season at home. The puck will drop at 7:07 p.m., with a special presentation in honor of the six UMD seniors to follow after the game.
BULLDOG NOTES: Four players struck for two points in the outing, including Sara O'Toole (1g, 1a), Jaime Rasmussen (1g, 1a), Haley Irwin (1g, 1a) and Jocelyne Larocque (2a)…O'Toole is sitting at the career milestone of 100 points with 99 points (37g, 62a)…OToole is also currently on a career-high scoring streak of six games, which started on Jan. 24…She has scored five goals and handed out seven assists during that span...Irwin has now run up a tab of 96 points in her Bulldog career…Irwin, who has 42 goals and 54 assists, has played in just 68 games…Jaime Rasmussen is on a four-game scoring streak, the longest of her career…She has scored one goal and four assists over that string…Three other Bulldogs are on three game scoring-sprees --- Saara Tuominen, Heidi Pelttari and Laura Fridfinnson.
