If Jan. 16 marked one of the lowest points in the University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team's 2008-09 season, then March 14 may well have marked its highest. 

Almost two months to the day of losing junior All-American goaltender Kim Martin on Jan. 16, back-up senior goaltender Johanna Ellison made 21 saves, including stopping a penalty shot, to help lead the Bulldogs over the then No. 4 University of New Hampshire 4-1 in Durham, NH on March 14.  The win punched the 2008 NCAA champion UMD's third NCAA Frozen Four ticket in as many years, and secured a sixth trip to college hockey's grandest stage for the Bulldog program.  Perhaps most impressive of all, UMD reached Boston on the back of Ellison, who prior to filling in for Martin had played just five complete games in her two-year Bulldog career.  In relief of Martin, Ellison went 13-2-1 and gave UMD a shot at a postseason berth that the Bulldogs had no trouble cashing in.

By reaching the 2009 NCAA Frozen Four, UMD secured its third-consecutive Frozen Four berth (2007-2009) for a second time in school history (the first time was between 2001-2003, all NCAA titles for UMD).  The Bulldogs -- who already own a record four NCAA titles, including the only three-peat (2001-2003) --  are also now tied for an NCAA-leading six Frozen Four appearances, and have made the NCAA tournament a record eight times in nine NCAA sanctioned seasons. 

UMD posted a 26-9-4 overall record this year, keeping the Bulldogs' all-time program streak of 20-win seasons firmly intact at ten straight.  While nearly impossible for UMD to touch-up as many records as the 2007-08 NCAA champions rearranged, the 2008-09 Bulldogs worked hard to write some history of their own.

With 234 minutes between Feb. 20 through March 7 in which UMD held its opponents scorless, the Bulldogs, along with Ellison, earned the third-longest shutout streak in school history.  The 2008-09 season also witnessed the Maroon and Gold reach another milestone -- four different times.  For the first time in ten seasons, four players hit the 100-career point mark in the same year.  Among the four players, which included senior forward Sara O'Toole, and junior forwards Elin Holmlov and Saara Tuominen, sophomore forward Haley Irwin raced to the career plateau faster than any player in the past five seasons.  Irwin, who hit 100 points on the same night as O'Toole -- also a UMD first -- back on Feb. 14, became the first played since Caroline Ouellette did it during the 2003-04 season to reach the milestone in less than two seasons as a Bulldog. 

Three Bulldog seniors also extended a UMD career benchmark, as senior forward Tawni Mattila, senior defenseman Myriam Trepanier and O'Toole became the No. 1, 2, 3 Bulldogs in career games played.  Mattila, a Duluth native and two-year captain -- the first ever Duluth native to hold that honor --  skated in a UMD record 144 games over her career.  Trepanier, who is the seventh-highest blueliner scorer in Bulldog history with 59 points (19g, 39a), is No. 2 with 142 career games, and O'Toole, the 10th all-time scorer at UMD with 108 points (39g, 69a), ranks No. 3 with 141 games.

Sophomore defenseman Jocelyne Larocque  grabbed something no other Bulldog in history had done as a rear-guard -- she earned 2008-09 RBK First Team All-American honors.  Larocque, who has already been called up to centralize with Team Canada next August ahead of the 2010 Olympics, also earned First Team All-WCHA accolades and led the nation in scoring as a defenseman for the last eight weeks of the season.  She was joined by Holmlov on the All-WCHA Second Team, and both Irwin and Martin on the All-WCHA Third Team.

Holmlov's team-high of 51 points (23g, 28a) makes her the third-straight player in three-consecutive years to have scored 50 or more points in a season.  It is also the seventh year UMD has had at least one player amass 50 or more points over a season.

Rookie forward Pernilla Winberg became the fifth Bulldog freshman in three-straight seasons to tally 40 or more points.  UMD, who has had a rookie register 40 points or more since the 2006-07 season -- when Tuominen recorded 40 (12g, 28a) -- received 41 from Winberg (14g, 27a) in just 38 outings, ranking her No. 8 in the nation among all other rookies in scoring.

Overall, the Bulldogs averaged 3.85 goals a game, making them the fifth-highest scoring squad in the NCAA this past season.  12 players scored 10 or more points on the year, while nine UMD players tallied 20 or more.

Head coach Shannon Miller is now 260-70-29 in ten season behind the helm of the Bulldogs' bench.  MIller, who earned her 250th win this season on Jan. 23 at Minnesota in a 4-2 victory, reached 250 victories faster than any coach in NCAA history.  Miller also owns a 12-3 record in the NCAA tournament, giving her more tournament wins than any head coach in the history of NCAA Division I women's hockey.

Despite the odds stacked on Jan. 16 against the 2008-09 Bulldogs, UMD once again proved why it has been the NCAA's most successful Division 1 women's hockey program en route to reaching its NCAA-best sixth Frozen Four.  While the Bulldogs could have as many as eight currently rostered players on 2010 Olympic squads during the 2009-10 season, the 2008-09 team reminded the rest of the NCAA what all UMD players have always known --  never, ever, count the Bulldogs out.  

UMD's mere presence in Boston last weekend reminded us all of that, and just how much the Bulldogs had to celebrate this past season.

2008-09 BULLDOG WOMEN'S HOCKEY SUPERLATIVES AND HONORS:

RBK ALL-AMERICAN
Jocelyne Larocque (First Team)

All-WCHA
Jocelyne Larocque (First Team)
Elin Holmlov (Second Team)
Haley Irwin (Third Team)
Kim Martin (Third Team)

2008-09 WCHA SCHOLAR ATHLETES
Johanna Ellison
Laura Fridfinnson
Sarah Murray
Myriam Trepanier

2008-09 ALL-WCHA ACADEMIC TEAM
Emmanuelle Blais
Johanna Ellison
Laura Fridfinnson
Jocelyne Larocque
Tawni Mattila
Sarah Murray
Heidi Peltarri
Jaime Rasmussen
Myriam Trepanier
Saara Tuominen

WCHA Player of the Week
Oct. 29 Elin Holmlov (Offense/MSU)
Nov. 19 Pernilla Winberg (Rookie/OSU)
Nov. 26 Elin Holmlov (Offense/UND)
Dec. 3 Jocelyne Larocque (Defense/Darthmouth)
Jan. 14 Kim Martin (Defense//UW)
Jan. 21 Pernilla Winberg (Rookie/ MSU)
Jan. 28 Jocelyne Larocque (Offense/UM)
Feb. 11 Heidi Pelttari (Defense/BSU)
Feb. 18 Haley Irwin (Offense/OSU) 

NCAA Frozen Four Skills Competition Participants
Sara O'Toole
Johanna Ellison