Wisconsin Badgers Head to 2011 NCAA Division 1 Women's Frozen
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WCHA Administrative Office Bruce M. McLeod Commissioner Carol LaBelle-Ehrhardt Assistant Commissioner of Operations Greg Shepherd Supervisor of Officials Mailing Address Western Collegiate Hockey Association 2211 S. Josephine Street, Room 302, Denver, CO 80210 p: 303 871-4223. f: 303 871-4770. [email protected] March 15, 2011/For Immediate Release WCHA Women’s Office; Wisconsin Badgers Head to 2011 NCAA Division 1 Women’s Frozen Public Relations Sara R. Martin Four as WCHA Looks to Extend Record Streak of 11 Consecutive Associate Commissioner p: 608 829-0104. f: 608 829-0105. National Championships [email protected] Conference Regular Season, Playoff Champion and No. 1-Ranked UW to Take on Boston College Doug Spencer Associate Commissioner for Public in First National Semifinal Friday in Erie, Penn.; It’s Boston Univ. vs Cornell in Second National Relations Semifinal; Badgers Sport Nation’s Best 25-Game Unbeaten Streak; Wisconsin’s Meghan Duggan p: 608 829-0100. f: 608 829-0200. [email protected] Highlights 2010-11 WCHA Individual Awards as Conference Player of the Year; UW’s Duggan One Bill Brophy of Three Finalists for 2011 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award; Four WCHA-Member Teams Ranked Women’s Public Relations Director p: 608-277-0282. Among Nation’s Top 10 in Latest USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Div. 1 Women’s Hockey Poll [email protected] … Wisconsin No. 1, Minnesota No. 3, Minnesota Duluth No. 7, North Dakota No. 9; WCHA’s Non- Mailing Address Western Collegiate Hockey Association Conference Record Stands at 24-12-3 (.654) this Season 559 D’Onofrio Drive, Suite 103 Madison, WI 53719-2096 MADISON, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin will be the standard bearer of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, which has won the last 11 women’s national championships, at this weekend’s 2011 NCAA Women’s WCHA Women’s League Frozen Four on Friday, March 18, and Sunday, March 20 in Erie, Pa. Bemidji State University The top-seeded Badgers (35-2-2) will make their fifth NCAA Women’s Frozen Four appearance, meeting No. University of Minnesota 4 seed Boston College (24-6-6,) in Friday’s first semifinal at 5:00 pm EDT at Tullio Arena in Erie, Pa. No. 2 seed University of Minnesota Duluth Cornell (31-2-1) faces No. 3 seed Boston University (26-6-4) in the 8:00 pm ET semifinal. Friday’s two winners Minnesota State University University of North Dakota will then play at 2:00 pm ET on Sunday for the national championship. Ohio State University The Badgers are making their sixth NCAA national tournament appearance and continue the quest for their St. Cloud State University fourth national championship after taking home the title in 2009, 2007 and 2006. UW is 12-2-0 in the national University of Wisconsin tournament for a .857 winning percentage. Wisconsin, the WCHA regular season and playoff champion, is currently on a 25-game unbeaten streak, Home of a Record 11 con’t Consecutive National Championship Teams 2010-11 WCHA Women’s Standings –––––––––––––––––––––––––––– 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 Conference Only Overall Pts GP W L T SW Win% GF- GA GP Record Win% GF- GA 2011 WCHA FINAL FACE-OFF 1 Wisconsin !* 76 28 24- 2- 2 2 .893 140- 50 39 35- 2- 2 .923 205- 67 March 4-5 • Ridder Arena 2 Minnesota Duluth 57 28 18- 7- 3 0 .696 109- 49 34 22- 9- 3 .691 132- 55 Minneapolis, MN Minnesota 57 28 18- 8- 2 1 .679 100- 52 38 26-10- 2 .711 132- 69 4 North Dakota 50 28 16-10- 2 0 .607 96- 79 36 20-13- 3 .597 116-103 visit us on the web at the all-new: 5 Bemidji State 39 28 11-13- 4 2 .464 53- 71 35 14-17- 4 .457 70- 88 WCHA.com 6 Ohio State 30 28 8-17- 3 3 .339 69-100 36 14-19- 3 .431 99-116 7 Minnesota State 22 28 7-20- 1 0 .268 47-101 36 8-25- 3 .264 53-122 8 St. Cloud State 5 28 1-26- 1 1 .054 23-135 35 1-33- 1 .043 31-177 ! WCHA regular season champion. * WCHA playoff champion. Note: Teams are awarded three points for each win in regulation or overtime, and one point for an overtime tie. Conference games tied after 65:00 advance to a three- player shootout with the winning team receiving an extra point in the standings (denoted in the SW column. This Week in the WCHA –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– 2011 NCAA Women’s Frozen Four @ Erie, PA Semifinal Games for Friday, March 18: Boston College vs Wisconsin (NC), 5:00 pm ET; Boston University vs Cornell (NC), 8:00 pm ET. Championship Game for Sunday, March 20: Boston College/Wisconsin winner vs Boston University/Cornell winner (NC), 2:00 pm ET. 2010-11 WCHA Women’s Release • Week 24 • 031511 posting a 23-0-2 record since losing to defending national champion 2011 WCHA Playoff Results Minnesota Duluth on Nov. 28, 2010. The Badgers earned the WCHA’s automatic berth to the national tournament after defeating Minnesota First Round • Best-of-Three 5-4 in overtime in the league’s playoff championship game at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis on March 5. Results of Friday, February 25 #6 Ohio State 2 @ #3 Minnesota 4 Wisconsin is the lone WCHA team in this year’s Frozen Four, marking the first time since 2005 that the WCHA has only had one team among #7 Minnesota State 0 @ #2 Minnesota Duluth 3 the final four teams. The league has had multiple teams in all but three #8 St. Cloud State 3 @ #1 Wisconsin 9 (Eagles’ Nest, Verona, WI) Frozen Fours (2001, UMD; 2004, Minnesota; 2005, Minnesota). This year #5 Bemidji State 2 @ #4 North Dakota 3 (Purpur Arena, Grand Forks, ND) also marks the first time that multiple Hockey East Association teams Results of Saturday, February 26 have qualified for the Frozen Four (Boston College, Boston University). #6 Ohio State 2 @ #3 Minnesota 3 (UM wins series 2-0) #7 Minnesota State 0 @ #2 Minnesota Duluth 5 (UMD wins series 2-0) In the 10 years of NCAA-sponsored championships, WCHA-member teams have won all 10 titles – Minnesota Duluth has five, Wisconsin has #8 St. Cloud State 1 at #1 Wisconsin 5 (Eagles’ Nest, Verona, WI) three and Minnesota has two. UMD defeated Cornell 3-2 (3 ot) in the (UW wins series 2-0) 2010 national championship game at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis. #5 Bemidji State 3 at #4 North Dakota 0 (Purpur Arena, Grand Forks, ND) The Badgers secured their place in this year’s Frozen Four with a 2-1 (series tied 1-1) win over No. 7 Minnesota Duluth in the NCAA quarterfinal round last Results of Sunday, February 27 weekend at the Kohl Center in Madison. In its second-straight comeback #5 Bemidji State 2 at #4 North Dakota 3 ot (Purpur Arena, Grand Forks, ND) win, Wisconsin scored two unanswered goals after trailing the Bulldogs (UND wins series 2-1). 1-0. Meghan Duggan scored her sixth game-winning goal of the season 2011 WCHA FINAL FACE-OFF @ Ridder Arena, Minneapolis, MN and Hilary Knight had a goal and an assist. Goaltender Alex Rigsby made 29 saves as she improved to 25-1-2 on the season. Results of Friday, March 4 • Semifinals Minnesota, which, along with UMD, was a WCHA at-large team invited to (4) North Dakota 0 vs (1) Wisconsin 3 the eight-team NCAA field, fell to host Boston College, 4-1, in a quarterfinal (3) Minnesota 4 vs (2) Minnesota Duluth 2 at Boston. Results of Saturday, March 5 • Championship Game Wisconsin has a 3-0-0 all-time mark against Boston College, but the Minnesota 4 vs Wisconsin 5 ot teams have not met in over nine years. The last meeting between the two squads saw the Badgers skate to a 7-0 shutout victory in Boston on Jan. 26, 2002. USA Hockey announced that Wisconsin’s Meghan Duggan is one of USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Women’s Div. 1 three finalists for the 2011 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, presented annually to the top Div. 1 women’s hockey player, is presented by Lake Erie College Hockey Poll College of Osteopathic Medicine. Hilary Knight, Duggan’s teammate on March 15, 2011 the U.S. Olympic Women’s Hockey Team in 2010, was a top 10 finalist for the Patty Kazmaier award, while fellow Badger Brianna Decker received Rk Team, Points (1st place) Record Last Wk Wks Top 10 attention as a nominee. The 2011 award winner will be announced 1 Wisconsin, 190 (19) 35-2-2 1 23 Saturday, March 19 in conjunction with the Frozen Four. 2 Cornell, 171 31-2-1 2 23 Knight is one point shy of becoming the third Badger and 16th player 3 Minnesota, 140 26-6-4 4 23 in NCAA history to hit 200 career points. She netted her 100th career 4 Boston University, 136 24-6-6 6 23 goal against Bemidji State (Feb. 4), becoming the first Badger to reach 5 Mercyhurst, 114 22-9-3 7 23 100 career goals. Knight currently has 112 goals and 87 assists for 199 6 Boston College, 98 29-6-0 5 23 career points. 7 Minnesota Duluth, 82 26-10-2 3 22 In this week’s (March 24, 2011) USCHO.com Division 1 Women’s College 8 Dartmouth, 45 22-12-0 8 7 Hockey Poll, four of the WCHA’s eight-member teams are again ranked 9 North Dakota, 38 20-13-3 9 23 in the top ten.