Women's Hockey Gets Swept by No. 2 UMD
by Dan Myers
December 06, 2005
The Minnesota State women’s hockey team (9-6-1 overall, 6-5-1 WCHA) traveled to the north shore this weekend to take on the No. 2 Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs. Gaining its first win over UMD since the 2003-04 season proved to be a difficult task for the Mavericks as not only did MSU lose a pair of games, but also one of their top forwards to injury.
The Mavericks fell behind early to the Bulldogs and lost 4-1 in Friday's opener.
The night got off to a rough start for MSU as sophomore forward Amanda Stohr — the team's leading scorer last season — lost an edge during pre-game warm-ups and crashed into the boards. Stohr went to the hospital and was diagnosed with a separated shoulder, the fourth shoulder injury sustained by the Mavericks this season.
"[Stohr] is a heart-and-soul player for us," said head coach Jeff Vizenor. "We all had to kind of rally and we all needed to re-focus a bit after that."
UMD was without a top forward of its own, as Noemie Marin missed the series because of the Pan Am Games, playing softball for Team Canada in the tournament. The loss was thought to be huge not only because of Marin's status on the 'Dogs top line, but her place as the nation's leading scorer.
But the Bulldogs proved early that the talent left behind in Duluth was more than able to pick up the slack.
Duluth jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a pair of first period goals — one by Jessica Koizumi and another by Sara O'Toole. But the Mavericks pulled within one in the second when freshman Maggie Fisher tallied her ninth goal of her season. The goal came unassisted at 13:43 of the period and gave the Mavericks new life heading to the third.
But UMD quickly ended any hopes of a Mavericks upset. Just 43 seconds into the final frame, the Bulldogs' own impact freshman lit the lamp as Michaela Lanzl scored her 16th of the season. Duluth added yet another insurance goal at 6:23 to end the scoring.
"Koizumi and Lanzl are pretty good players, so they still had plenty of talent out there," Vizenor said. "That is such a tough place to play, the fans are great and they just play so well in front of that crowd."
For the game, the Bulldogs outshot the Mavericks 42-31, as Maverick goalie Brit Kehler allowed four goals, her second highest total allowed this season. Junior Riita Shaublin made 30 saves to earn the victory.
Shaublin and the Bulldogs took the second game the next night with a 5-1 victory. The Bulldog netminder was vital, keeping the Mavericks (who outshot the Bulldogs 33-25) off the board until the 'Dogs already held a 1-0 lead. Fisher struck again Saturday, scoring her 10th goal — which matched Stohr's team leading mark of 10 from all last season. The tally came on the power play less than two minutes into the second frame, but was the last time the Mavs found the scoreboard on the weekend.
The Bulldogs scored a pair of goals in each the second and the third to pull away.
"It could be argued that Schaublin is their best player," Vizenor said. "She's that good."
Despite the sweep, Minnesota State held onto a top-10 spot in the USCHO National Polls, coming in at No. 10. The Mavericks return to All Seasons Arena this weekend to face-off with No. 5 Minnesota. The Mavericks lead the Gophers by a single point in the WCHA standings and the series has huge implications on the conference standings.
Face-off from ASA is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Friday and 3:05 p.m. Saturday.
Dan Myers is a Reporter staff writer