The University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team will make a triumphiant return to the Western Collegiate Hockey Association's Final Face-Off after a one-year hiatus. The Bulldogs will face the No. 3 University of Wisconsin Saturday at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis, Minn. in the first of two semifinal games scheduled. UMD and the top-seeded Badgers will get underway at 2:07 p.m. For ticket information, go to http://www.gophersports.com/sports/w-hockey/spec-rel/2016-final-faceoff.html.
THE SERIES: All-time, the Badgers hold a 29-38-12 record against UMD. The Bulldogs are winless in their last five games against UW, including a 0-4 regular season record this past year. The Badgers outscored the Bulldogs 15-4 in those four outings.
In their last head-to-head series back on Jan. 8 & 10 in Madison, Wisc., UMD was without head coach Maura Crowell (due to U-18 USA World Championship coaching responsibilites) and senior goaltender Kayla Black for the entire series. The Bulldogs were also without Lara Stalder, Maria Lindh and Linnea Hedin because of the Nations Cup.
On Jan. 8, the heavily depleted Bulldog roster suffered a 5-1 setback and surrendered four first period goals, including three between the 5:41 and 9:29 marks to put the Bulldogs in a hole they couldn't recover from. Senior goaltender Karissa Grapp made a career-high 38 saves on 39 shots after entering the game for the final 40 minutes.
Two days later, on Jan. 10, UMD allowed two goals in the second period, including one power play tally, and fell behind 3-0 after two periods of play. Blueliner Sidney Morin put the Bulldogs on the board at 15:32 of the third period, and UMD outshot the Badgers 9-8 in the final staza, but the Bulldogs would come no closer. Grapp made 29 saves for a grand total of 67 saves posted in five periods of play. UMD was 0-of-3 on the power play and 1-of-7 in the series against the Badgers.
The Bulldogs and Badgers have skated in 23 overtime games between them.
UMD AND WISCONSIN IN POSTSEASON PLAY: The Bulldogs and Badgers have played in 10 postseason games in their storied history, including six in the WCHA playoff semifinals. UMD is 3-3 in those encounters, with two of those contests having gone into overtime.
The last time the Bulldogs and Badgers met in the postseason was back on March 2, 2012 in the WCHA Final Face-Off semifinals held at AMSOIL Arena in Duluth, Minn. Wisconsin was also the top-seed, but UMD upended the Badgers 3-1 with a goal in each period, including a shorthanded tally by then freshman Brigette Lacquette with 18 seconds left in the contest to ice the game.
UMD and UW have met twice in the NCAA Frozen Four championship game (2008 and 2007), with each earning a title from the other (UMD in 2008, Wisconsin in 2007). The two also met in a NCAA Frozen Four semfinal game back in 2009, a controversial game that ended 5-1 in favor of the Badgers, and also in an NCAA Regional quarterfinal on March 12, 2011, a 2-1 win for Wisconsin in Madison.
UMD WCHA POSTSEASON HISTORY: After the Bulldogs sweep of Bemidji State University last weekend, UMD is now 21-6 all-time in the first round of the WCHA playoffs, and 35-15 in overall WCHA postseason play. The Bulldogs are 7-7 in WCHA semifinal action over their program history.
UMD's last WCHA semifinal game was against the University of Minnesota on March, 2014, a 1-4 loss (that included an empty-netter) at the neutral site of the Sanford Center in Bemidji, Minn. Just eight players remain on the roster from the that squad, and no current players have participated in the tournament when it has been held at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis, Minn.
In all, the Bulldogs own five WCHA playoff crowns, with the last one won in 2010. (The other were won in 2008, 2003, 2001 and 2000.
LAST TIME OUT: UMD pulled off an upset of No. 7 Bemidji State in Bemidji, Minn. in the WCHA's opening first round of the playoffs last the weekend, stunning the Beavers last Friday afternoon by a score of 5-1 before using overtime to seal the series with a 2-1 win Saturday.
After UMD went 0-4 against BSU during the regular season -- the Beavers were the only team that shutout the Bulldogs twice during the regular season -- UMD scored more goals Friday than it had on BSU all season. In fact, the Bulldogs third period Friday night equaled their goal total against the Beavers previous four games.
Junior Katherine McGovern scored two goals, the first with 1:13 remaining in the first period, and the second cam just 1:35 into the second period. Senior Michela Cava tucked the game-winning goal between McGovern's tallies15 seconds into the second stanza, and Ashleigh Brykaliuk added a goal late in the same period to give UMD the 4-1 lead after 40 minutes. Lara Stalder added another goal at 7:18 of third period and Kayla Black made 33 saves for the Bulldogs in the win.
In all, UMD's five goals tied a season-high that the Bulldogs have now reached three times, and four players registered two or more points (Stalder --1g, 2a, McGovern -- 2g, Cava and Brykaliuk -- 1g, 1a).
Saturday, the Bulldogs played into their sixth overtime game of the season, after pulling to an even 1-1 with BSU on a goal by Brykaliuk at 4:32 of the second period. BSU outshot UMD 40-17 through the first 60 minutes, but Black kept the game even and the result was overtime. The Bulldogs had the first five shots in overtime and out shot the Beavers 14-7 before Stalder finally netted the game-winner at the 11:10 mark in extra time to seal the playoff sweep. Black tied a career-high with her 46 saves in the contest.
NOTES FROM THE BEMIDJI STATE SERIES: UMD improves to 64-12-5 all-time against the Beavers, and 8-2 in playoff skates.
--Ashleigh Brykaliuk and Lara Stalder are UMD's point leaders against the Beavers, with Brykaliuk now posting eight goals and four assists for 12 points in 16 games against BSU, while Stalder has scored four goals and added seven assists 11 points in the same 16 contests.
--The Bulldogs sweep over ranked BSU marks the first sweep by UMD over a ranked team since the Bulldogs swept then No. 9 Ohio State in Columbus back on Jan. 25-26, 2013 by scores of 7-5 and 3-2. UMD had back-to-back wins over ranked teams earlier in the season (No. 7 North Dakota on Nov. 21 by a score of 1-0, followed by a 4-2 win over then No. 8 Harvard on Nov. 27.)
--UMD is now 21-6 all-time in the first round of the WCHA playoffs, and 35-15 in WCHA postseason play.
--Kayla Black's win Saturday was her 56th win between the pipes for the Bulldogs. Already fourth all-time at UMD for goaltender wins (56-44-16), Black is now just one triumph shy of the No. 3 spot held by former netminder Jennifer Harss (57-44-16).
--UMD has now played 22 games against teams ranked in the top-eight in the country. The Bulldogs are 4-18-0 against those squads and own the third toughest strength schedule in the country according to the current KRACH (behind Minnesota and Wisconsin, respectively).
BRYKALIUK BURIES 100TH CAREER POINT: Scoring arguably one of the most important goals of her career, junior forward Ashleigh Brykaliuk became the 19th member of UMD's career 100 point club last Saturday. Brykaliuk joined some lofy company when the Brandon, Manitoba native drew the Bulldogs even at 4:32 of the second period, the 45th goal of her three-year career.
Brykaliuk is the first Bulldog to hit the 100 point mark since 2012-13, when then seniors Jessica Wong (122 career points), Katie Wilson (102 career points) and Pernilla Winberg (111 career points) all reached the plateau.
The last junior to reach the mark was Audrey Courney, who joined the club in 2011-12.
STALDER AND BLACK NAB WCHA WEEKLY AWARDS: Without question, Kayla Black and Lara Stalder were key factors in the UMD advancing to the Western Collegiate Hockey Association's Final Face-Off, and the conference's weekly honors reflected that Tuesday.
Stalder was named the WCHA's Offensive Player of the Week for her two goal -- including a game-winner -- three assist weekend, while Black was named the WCHA's Defensive Player of the Week after turning away 79 shots in the series.
The junior winger had a hand in five of UMD's seven goals against No. 7 Bemidji State University over the weekend, including the game-winning goal Saturday in overtime to push the Bulldogs into the WCHA Final Face-Off semifinals. Stalder, a native of Luzern, Switzerland, had an assist on UMD's second and fourth goals of the game in the second period before netting one of her own at 7:18 of the third period. Stalder's assist on the Bulldogs second goal ended up as the game-winning assist, and besides posting a goal and two assist in the contest, she had four shots and was +1. In Saturday's 2-1 overtime win, Stalder figured in both scores, assisting on the game-tying goal at 4:32 of the second period. Stalder then scored the game-winner 11:10 into overtime -- her fifth point in the series (2g, 3a) -- to send UMD into next week's semifinals. With three shots and a +2 on Saturday, Stalder wrapped up the weekend with seven shots and a plus/minus rating of +3.
Stalder ranked fifth in scoring for all WCHA players over the weekend with a 2.50 ppg average, and 2nd in assists with a 1.50 apg average. Nationally, Stalder ranks 18th in scoring at 1.24 ppg on 17 goals and 24 assists for 41 points. She ranks 21st in goals and 6th with six power play tallies. This is Stalder's second weekly honor by the conference this season. She was also named the WCHA Offensive Player of the Month for December.
Black, a senior goaltender, played all 131:10 minutes between the pipes for the Bulldogs against BSU, turning in 0.91 goals against average over the series. A product of Blyth, Ontario, Black made 33 saves on 34 shots Saturday before tying a personal best 46 saves Saturday in UMD's 2-1 overtime thriller against the Beavers. In all, Black made 79 stops on the weekend and posted a saves percentage of .975. Black owns an overall record of 10-5-1 this season, which ranks her 16th in the NCAA for winning percentages among all goaltenders. UMD is currently on the NCAA's seventh-longest win streak -- three-games -- all games Black has backstopped in.
BULLDOG NOTES: Ashleigh Brykaliuk continues to lead UMD in scoring with 18 goals and 29 points for 47 points in 36 games. Lara Stalder sits second with 41 points on 17 goals and 24 assists in 33 games, while Michela Cava leads the Bulldogs with 19 goals and 38 points overall for third.
Nationally speaking, Brykaliuk is ranked 11th in the NCAA with a 1.36 point production rate, and also 12th in assists (0.81 apg). Stalder ranks 18th with a 1.24 ppg average, 21st for goals, 16th in assists (0.73 apg) and sixth with six power play goals. Cava is the nation's 20th ranked goal scorer with 19 goals in 36 outings.
LACQUETTE AND LAROCQUE NAMED TO CANADA'S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM: Former UMD defensemen Jocelyne Larocque and Brigette Lacquette have been named to Canadian national team that will compete at the IIHF Women's World Championship that will take place in Kamloops, British Columbia from March 28 through April 4.
Lacquette, a native of Mallard, Manitoba, left UMD as the third all-time goal scorer from the backline with 20 goals in just three seasons. Lacquette's Team Canada resume includes a silver medal with Canada at the 2015 IIHF Women's World Champiohship last spring, and a silver medal with Canada's National Team at the 2015 Four Nations Cup.
UMD's only two-time First Team All-American defenseman, Larocque, who hails from Ste. Anne, Manitoba, has been a pillar on the Canadian national team since winning a gold medal at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. Larocque also won a gold medal with Canada at the 2014 Four Nations Cup, as well a silver medal last spring with Canada at the 2015 IIHF Women's World Championship. Larcoque ranks as the 16th highest scorer in program history and the second blueliner ever to reach the 100 career point mark.
Video Feed: http://www.wcha.com/women/index.php
Audio Feed (UW's feed): http://www.iheart.com/live/the-mic-921-2665/
Full PDF of this release here.
