THIS WEEKQMinnesota is on the road for a pair games this weekend as the Gophers
traverse the Iron Range to face Bemidji State and Minnesota-Duluth.
Saturday, Minnesota is in Bemidji, Minn., to face the Beavers at 2 p.m. at the
John Glas Fieldhouse. Sunday, the Gophers face the Bulldogs in Duluth, Minn., at
2 p.m. at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center.
MINNESOTA RECENTLYQThe Gophers fell to 1-1-1 on the season after tying and
losing in their first two home games of the season.
In the opener of the All-American East-West Challenge, Thursday, Harvard handed
Minnesota a 3-1 defeat, scoring once in each period, including an empty-net goal
with 11 seconds to play.
Kris Scholz (Hugo, Minn./Stillwater Area) scored the GophersU lone goal while
Erica Killewald (Troy, Mich./Troy) stopped 35 of 37 shots.
Minnesota then skated to a 1-1 tie with defending national champion New
Hampshire Saturday. The Wildcats took a 1-0 lead in the second period but the
Gophers came back to tie the score with 9:44 to play in the game when Jenny
Schmidgall (Edina, Minn./Edina) scored her first career goal. Killewald stopped
30 shots in the game.
BEMIDJI STATE RECENTLYQIn its first season as a varsity program, Bemidji State
opened the season Saturday at home with a 4-2 loss to Gustavus Adolphus.
Jennifer Bina scored both goals for the Beavers, including a short-handed goal,
while goalie Janet Hicks stopped 52 of 56 shots.
Prior to SaturdayUs game, the Beavers will take on St. Benedict Tuesday in a 4
p.m. game in St. Joseph, Minn.
ABOUT MINNESOTA-DULUTHQIn their last season as a club program, the Bulldogs are
gearing up for their 1999 start as a varsity program. This season, UMD is under
the direction of Shannon Miller, who led Canada to the silver medal at the 1998
Winter Olympics.
THE ALL-AMERICAN EAST-WEST CHALLENGEQHarvard topped the field at the
All-American Challenge, defeating both Minnesota, 3-1, and Minnesota State,
Mankato, 8-0. New Hampshire tied the Gophers, 1-1 in overtime, while handing
MSU, Mankato a 10-0 loss.
The Crimson led the way with three all-tournament selections in forwards Tammy
Shewchuk and A.J. Mleczko, along with Angela Ruggiero on defense. New Hampshire
had two players on the team, forward Tina Carrabba and defense Nicki Luongo,
while Minnesota goalie Erica Killewald rounded out the squad.
ON THE BOARDQAfter being held without a point by Harvard, Gopher frosh center
Jenny Schmidgall scored her first collegiate goal to tie New Hampshire at 1-1
with 9:44 to play in the third period.
On the weekend, Schmidgall had five shots to go along with her goal and had an
even plus/minus rating.
REPRESENTING THEIR COUNTRYQIn December, Jenny Schmidgall and Winny Brodt will
play for Team USA at the Three Nations Cup in Finland.
The pair was chosen from the USA Hockey WomenUs Festival for the national team
and will be joined by Gopher head coach Laura Halldorson, who will serve as the
teamUs assistant coach, as part of the USA contingent.
THE COACHESQNow in her second season behind the Minnesota bench and ninth season
as a college head coach, Laura Halldorson has established herself as one of the
nationUs premier coaches in womenUs hockey, sporting a 81-83-13 overall record
and a 22-8-4 mark at Minnesota.
Halldorson began her coaching career at Colby College, where she led the White
Mules, one of only two non-Division I schools at the time in the 12-team Eastern
Collegiate Athletic Conference, to a 12-9-1 overall record in 1995-96, earning
ECAC Co-Coach of the Year honors as well as being named the New England Hockey
WritersU Coach of the Year. While at Colby, she also recruited and coached ECAC
Player of the Year Meaghan Sittler.
At the national level, Halldorson was the assistant coach for the gold
medal-winning team at the 1998 U.S. Olympic Festival. In December, she will
serve as an assistant for the U.S. National team that competes in the Three
Nations Cup in Finland.
A native of Plymouth, Minn., and a 1981 graduate of Wayzata High School,
Halldorson played four years at Princeton, where she was a co-captain and
all-conference performer while leading the Tigers to three Ivy League titles.
She graduated from Princeton in 1985 with a degree in psychology.
A member of the 1987 U.S. National WomenUs Team and three national club
championship teams with the Minnesota Checkers, Halldorson returned to her alma
mater in 1987 to begin her collegiate coaching career as an assistant.
Bemidji StateUs Ruthann Cantile is in her first season as a varsity college
hockey coach. The 1997 graduate of Western Michigan coached the BroncosU club
program for two seasons, leading them to the 1998 national club championships.
Shannon Miller is directing the UMB club program this season while she prepares
to the BulldogsU first season of varsity competition in 1999-2000. A 1985
graduate of the University of Saskatchewan, Miller has worked with CanadaUs
national teams since 1992, serving as an assistant for the 1992 and 1994 gold
medal-winning teams at the World Championships.
ITUS HOMEQThe home of Gopher WomenUs Hockey is Mariucci Arena (9,700). One of
the finest college hockey facilities in the country, Mariucci Arena will be
MinnesotaUs home until the new womenUs hockey facility, scheduled to open in the
fall of 2000, is completed.
Known as one of the toughest arenas in the nation on visiting teams, the
Gophers are 12-3-4 in the five-year old building.
ON THE AIRQA pair of Gopher games will be aired live by Midwest Sports Channel
this season.
The first telecast was ThursdayUs clash with Harvard in the opening game of the
All-American East-West Challenge.
The second will be part of a doubleheader with the Minnesota menUs team on Feb.
20. The womenUs game gets underway at 2:30 p.m. as the Gophers take on
Providence, to be followed by the menUs clash with St. Cloud State at 7:05 p.m.
Veteran broadcaster Frank Mazzocco will handle play-by-play duties while former
Minnesota North Star Tom Reid does the color commentary.
ON THE AIR, PART IIQEight Gopher games will be carried by KKMS radio this
season, beginning Nov. 27 with the Princeton Thanksgiving Invitational.
KKMS will broadcast all three games from PrincetonUs Hobey Baker Rink and will
also carry MinnesotaUs three games from the Towse Center, Jan. 29-31, at the
University of New Hampshire,
Additionally, KKMS will carry two home games, with Tom Witchen calling the
play-by-play.
ON THE AIR, PART IIIQSaturdayUs game at Bemidji State will be broadcast live by
KKBJ 1360 AM out of Bemidji. The broadcast can be heard via the internet at
http://info.bemidji.
msus.edu/Sports.
TOUGH SCHEDULEQOf the nine other teams ranked in the U.S. College Hockey Online
preseason poll, the Gophers will face eight of them for a total of 12 games.
In addition, Minnesota will face defending Canadian Interuniversity Athletic
Union champion Concordia twice, and 1998 CIAU runner-up Toronto once.
GONE POLLINGQMinnesota fell one spot to fifth in this weekUs U.S. College Hockey
Online poll. New Hampshire held onto the number one position with Harvard
jumping from fifth to second.
Team (1st Place Votes) Record Pts LW
1. New Hampshire (4) 1-0-1 92 1
2. Harvard (4) 2-0-0 88 5
3. Brown (1) 0-0-0 79 2
4. Northeastern (1) 0-0-0 77 3
5. Minnesota 1-1-1 64 4
6. Cornell 2-0-0 40 NR
7. Providence 0-0-0 37 7
8. Dartmouth 1-1-0 24 6
THE POWER PLAYQAs a team, Minnesota is 3-for-19 (15.8%) after an 0-for-11
weekend on the power play. The GophersU 19 power plays have resulted in 31:41 of
power-play time and they average a goal every 10:34 while on the power play.
Here are the individual power-play numbers.
Player GP G A Pts SOG Pct.
Brittny Ralph 3 1 1 2 7 .167
Nadine Muzerall 3 1 1 2 4 .500
Kris Scholz 3 0 2 2 1 .000
Shannon Kennedy 3 0 1 1 3 .000
Laura Slominski 3 1 0 1 1 1.000
Matty Brekken 3 0 1 1 0 .000
Courtney Kennedy 3 0 0 0 3 .000
Winny Brodt 3 0 0 0 3 .000
Jenny Schmidgall 2 0 0 0 2 .000
Ambria Thomas 3 0 0 0 1 .000
Minnesota 3 3 6 9 25 .120
Opponents 3 2 4 6 20 .100
THE PENALTY-KILLQAs a team, Minnesota is 10-for-12 (83.3%) killing penalties
with their opponents having spent 20:53 on the power play, averaging a goal
every 10:27. Here are the individual penalty-kill numbers.
Player GP G A Pts SOG Pct.
Nadine Muzerall 3 1 0 1 2 .500
Matty Brekken 3 0 0 0 1 .000
Shannon Kennedy 3 0 0 0 1 .000
Minnesota 3 1 0 1 4 .250
Opponents 3 0 0 0 0 .000
UP NEXTQMinnesota returns home for a single game when it hosts Minnesota State,
Mankato, Friday, Nov. 20. Game time at Mariucci Arena is set for 7 p.m.
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Craig Roberts, University of Minnesota
Assistant Sports Information Director
Check out the Gophers on the Web at http://www.gophersports.com
Or call the Diet Coke Gopher Sports Hotline at (612) 626-STAT
GO GOPHERS!
Women's National Collegiate Ice Hockey Stats are at:
www.gophersports.com/sportsNews/press_release.asp?news_id=273
HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to
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