2009–10 Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs women's ice hockey season
Introduction
Offseason *May 21: The school has announced that eight players have signed national letters of intent to attend UMD in the fall of 2009.The signees include forward Jessica Wong, goaltender Jennifer Harss, forward Andrea Lanzl, defenseman Mariia Posa and forward and Duluth native Gina Dodge. The five signees will join forward Audrey Belanger-Cournoyer, forward Vanessa Thibault and forward Katherine Wilson (Winnipeg, Manitoba) who all inked letters with the Bulldogs last November. *June 24: Former Bulldogs hockey player and assistant coach Caroline Ouellette has been selected the Most Valuable Player for the 2008–09 Canadian Women's Hockey League season. Ouellette led her team to a first-place finish with a league-record 25 wins. She led the league with 33 assists*August 19: Shannon Miller, who has guided the University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team to four NCAA national titles, has inked a contract-extension that will keep it that way through 2012–13 season. *September 9: The WCHA announced that Minnesota Duluth defenseman Jaime Rasmussen and forwards Emmanuelle Blais and Laura Fridfinnson have been named as WCHA All-Stars. The three players are among 22 players from the conference to face the 2009–10 U.S Women's National Team in St. Paul, Minn. on September 25.
Regular season *October 5: The Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team was ranked No. 6 in the country. The USCHO.com officials revealed it in their first Top-10 Women's Hockey Poll of the season. Minnesota Duluth accumulated 63 points. *October 31: Number 1 ranked Mercyhurst College suffered its first loss of the season to the hands of fifth-ranked Minnesota Duluth. The Bulldogs skated away to a 4–3 win and a split of the two-game series at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. With the loss, the Lakers fall to 7–1 on the season while the Bulldogs improve to 6–4 overall. *December 9: Jennifer Harss was named the Co-WCHA Defensive Player of the Week. She made her first appearance in the Kohl Center on Dec. 4 and made 40 saves on 42 shots on goal in a 3–1 loss to Wisconsin. Harss then made 33 saves on December 6 in UMD's 2–2 overtime tie with the host Badgers. *January 13: Senior Saara Tuominen and freshman Mariia Posa were named to Team Finland's 2010 Olympic roster. Bulldog alum Heidi Pelttari has also been added to the team. *February 11: Former Bulldog Leah Wrazidlo has been selected as a referee for women's games at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia. As a side note, she became the first woman to referee an international men's hockey game in 2005, as France met Italy on Nov. 12, 2005, in Turin, Italy. *February 25: Former Bulldogs player Caroline Ouellette (Team Canada assistant captain) and redshirt Bulldogs player Haley Irwin both won gold medals with Team Canada in women's hockey. Ouellette won her third gold medal and became the Bulldog with the most gold medals. Team USA forward Jenny Potter won the silver and became the most decorated Olympic medalist in Bulldogs hockey history. Current Bulldogs Saara Tuominen and Mariia Posa won bronze with Finland. In total, seven active or former Bulldogs won Olympic medals. Alumnus Heidi Pelttari, and Maria Rooth also won bronze with Finland. The Swedish team included former Bulldog Erika Holst and four redshirted Bulldogs. The redshirted Bulldogs representing Sweden were Elin Holmlov, Pernilla Winberg, Jenni Asserholt and Kim Martin.===Standings======Roster=== '''Number'''  '''Name'''  '''Position'''  '''Height'''  '''Class''' 	3	Jocelyne LarocqueD	5–6		Junior11	Kacy AmbrozF	5–7		Sophomore12	Haley IrwinF	5–7		Junior13	Tara GrayD	5–10		Junior14	Libby GuzzoF	5–7		Junior19	Laura FridfinnsonF	5–8		Junior20	Torri ShelafoeF	5–3		Sophomore22	Sarah MurrayD	5–3		Senior23	Saara TuominenF	5–6		Senior26	Heidi PelttariD	5–5		Senior29	Justine FisherF	5–4		Sophomore30	Kim MartinG	5–5		Senior31	Lana SteckG	5–6		Sophomore47	Emmanuelle BlaisF	5–4		Senior51	Pernilla WinbergF	5–5		Sophomore72	Elin HolmlovF	5–9		Senior84	Jenni AsserholtD	5–8		Sophomore88	Jaime RasmussenD	5–8		Senior===Schedule=== '''Date'''  '''Location'''  '''Opponent'''  '''Score'''  '''Record''' Oct.  2  Duluth, MN       Robert Morris   Win, 5–2  1–0–0 Oct.  3  Duluth, MN    Robert Morris   Loss, 4–1    1–1–0 Oct.  10  Duluth, MN   St. Cloud State      Win, 5–3  2–1–0 Oct.  11  Duluth, MN  St. Cloud State  Win, 2–0  3–1–0 Oct.  16   Minneapolis  Minnesota Loss, 3–1   3–2–0 Oct.  17   Minneapolis Minnesota   Loss, 3–0  3–3–0 Oct.  23   Duluth, MN   North Dakota Win, 4–1  4–3–0 Oct.  24   Duluth, MN   North Dakota  Win, 3–1  5–3–0 Oct.  30  Erie, PA Mercyhurst  Loss, 5–2 5–4–0 Oct.  31   Erie, PA MercyhurstWin, 4–3   6–4–0 Nov. 6 St. Cloud, MN St. Cloud State Loss, 5–1 6–5–0  Nov. 7   St. Cloud, MN    St. Cloud State   Win, 5–0 7–5–0  Nov. 13 Columbus, OH Ohio State   Win, 3–2 (OT) 8–5–0  Nov. 14 Columbus, OH Ohio State  Win, 5–3  9–5–0 Dec. 12 Duluth, MN Bemidji State Win, 4–1   Dec. 13   Duluth, MN    Bemidji State   Tie, 2–2   Dec. 12 Bemidji, MN Bemidji State Win, 5–2   Dec. 13   Bemidji, MN    Bemidji State   Win, 3–0
Player stats  = Indicates team leader===Skaters=== '''Player''' '''Games'''  '''Goals'''  '''Assists'''  '''Points'''  '''Points/game''' '''PIM''' '''GWG''' '''PPG''' '''SHG'''Emmanuelle Blais41 32 3365 1.5854 4010 122 Laura Fridfinnson 39 23 31 54 1.3846 44 5 4 1 Katherine Wilson 41 17 26 43 1.0488 48 6 3 0 Jessica Wong 41 15 16 31 0.7561 30 3 1 0 Jaime Rasmussen41 8 22 30 0.7317 54 3 4 0 Audrey Cournoyer 41 9 18 27 0.6585 14 1 3 1 Saara Tuominen 31  9  14  23 0.7419  10  2  1 0 Vanessa Thibault 41  7  8  15 0.3659  30  0  2  1 Jocelyne Larocque 19 3 10 13 0.6842 0 0 2 0 Tara Gray41 5 7 12 0.292756 0 2 0 Mariia Posa 31 2 6 8 0.2581 6 0 1 0 Kacy Ambroz41 2 5 7 0.1707 14 0 0 0 Sarah Murray41 2 4 6 0.1463 24 0 0 0 Gina Dodge41 4 1 5 0.1220 24 1 2 0 Kirsti Hakala 39 0 2 2 0.0513 16 0 0 0 Justine Fisher 22 0 1 1 0.0455 2 0 0 0 Jennifer Harss 39 0 1 1 0.0256 0 0 0 0Stephanie Lenz 38 0 0 0 0.0000 2 0 0 0 Libby Guzzo41 0 0 0 0.0000 6 0 0 0 Lana Steck 5 0 0 0 0.0000 0 0 0 0===Goaltenders=== '''Player''' '''Games'''  '''Wins'''  '''Losses'''  '''Ties'''  '''Goals against''' '''Minutes''' '''GAA''' '''Shutouts''' '''Saves''' '''Save %'''Lana Steck5 2 0 0 1 145 0.4134 1 47 .979 Jennifer Harss 39  29 8 2 80 2387 2.0110 5  1138 .934
Postseason Senior Emmanuelle Blais had 12 points over the last five games of the season, and ended her NCAA career on a five-game scoring streak. '''Date'''  '''Location'''  '''Opponent'''  '''Score'''  '''Notes''' Feb. 26  Heritage Center      North Dakota   6–2  Emmanuelle Blais scores 4 goals  Feb. 27  Heritage Center       North Dakota   3–1   Sweep series*March 7: The Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs defeated the Minnesota Golden Gophers 3–2 at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis to win the WCHA FINAL FACE-OFF playoff championship. It is the Bulldogs fifth WCHA playoff championship. This was their first postseason victory over the Golden Gophers since 2003.In addition, the Bulldogs lost three previous league playoff games against the Gophers at Ridder Arena.===NCAA tournament===*March 8: Two teams from the WCHA will compete for the 10th NCAA Women's Ice Hockey Championship. The University of Minnesota will be the host school for the 2010 Frozen Four, to be held March 19 and 21 at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis. WCHA tournament champion University of Minnesota Duluth, and at-large selection Minnesota will be two of eight competing teams.Minnesota Duluth (28–8–2) is seeded Number 2 and the Bulldogs will host the New Hampshire Wildcats (19–8–5) on Saturday, March 13 at 2:00 pm central standard time. The Golden Gophers (25–8–5) are the number 3 seed, and will host the Clarkson Golden Eagles (23–11–5), on March 13 at 4:00 pm central standard time. Minnesota Duluth won the Frozen Four for the first three years that the tournament was held (2001, 2002 and 2003). The Golden Gophers proceeded to win the next two Frozen Four tournaments (2004 and 2005). Neither team has won since. *March 13: The Bulldogs earned their fourth consecutive trip to the Frozen Four by defeating the New Hampshire Wildcats women's ice hockey program by a score of 2–1. *March 21: The Bulldogs defeated Cornell 3–2 in triple overtime to win its fifth NCAA national championship. Jessica Wong scored the game-winning goal. Saara Tuominen and Jaime Rasmussen were the only players to have had two points in the championship game.
Awards and honors *Emmanuelle Blais, WCHA Offensive Player of the Week (Week of October 26) *Emmanuelle Blais, Patty Kazmaier Award nominee*Emmanuelle Blais, 2010 Women's RBK Hockey Division I All-America First Team*Audrey Cournoyer, WCHA Rookie of the Week (Week of November 9)* Laura Fridfinnson, Patty Kazmaier Award nominee*Jennifer Harss, WCHA Co-Defensive Player of the Week (Week of December 7)*Jaime Rasmussen, WCHA Defensive Player of the Week (Week of October 26)===Preseason honors===*WCHA Preseason Player of the year finalist: Saara Tuominen, Minnesota Duluth*WCHA Preseason Rookie of the year finalist: Jennifer Harss, Minnesota Duluth ===Regular season honors===*Katherine Wilson, WCHA Rookie of the Week (Week of October 12)*Jessica Wong, Minnesota Duluth, WCHA Rookie of the Week(Week of January 20)===All-WCHA Team===*Emmanuelle Blais, F, All-WCHA First Team*Jaime Rasmussen, D, All-WCHA First Team*Jennifer Harss, G, All-WCHA Third Team selection===Postseason honors===*Emmanuelle Blais, Frozen Four Most Outstanding Player*Emmanuelle Blais, Frozen Four Tournament Team*Laura Fridfinnson, Frozen Four Tournament Team*Jennifer Harss, WCHA Final Face-Off All-Tournament Team 2010*Jessica Wong, Frozen Four Tournament Team
Postseason news *Sports Illustrated listed Emmanuelle Blais as one of its "Faces In The Crowd" (in its April 19, 2010 issue). Part of the recognition is attributed to Blais earning the 2010 NCAA Frozen Four's Most Outstanding Player award on March 21.Blais is also a 2009–10 RBK First Team All-American. Her 1.59 points per game was the fifth highest total in the country. Her 32 goals led the NCAA, and she had a career high of 65 points. *March 22: The Mayor of Duluth Don Ness presented head coach Shannon Miller with a proclamation declaring Friday, March 26, 2010 as "Shannon Miller Day'". *April 12: Emmanuelle Blais was a co-winner of the University of Minnesota Duluth's Outstanding Female Senior Athlete Award. The award was shared by four winners: the others being Jheri Booker (basketball), Clare Dahmen (soccer) and Kristin Danielson (softball). * June 7: Jessica Wong was named Nova Scotia's Female Team Athlete of the Year by Sport Nova Scotia. Wong was given the Ricoh Sport Award. She scored a goal to win the 2010 NCAA championship in triple-overtime, and she scored two goals to earn an Under-22 Women's World Championship gold.
References
External links * Official site