After scoring only one goal in their previous four games, the UMD women’s hockey team knew that they needed to ramp up the scoring against Ohio State if they wanted to maintain home-ice advantage in the playoffs. With their 3-1 win on Friday night, the Bulldogs guaranteed they’d be sleeping in their own beds this upcoming weekend when the Western Collegiate Hockey Association postseason begins.
“I think it’s fabulous because the way I’ll lay it out to them is after this we’re going to be traveling all three weekends,” Head Coach Shannon Miller said. “There’s the WCHA tournament, then if we’re in the top eight, and we will be, there’s traveling for the NCAA tournament and then the Frozen Four.”
The Bulldogs (19-10-5, 14-10-4 WCHA) will be facing off with Bemidji State University (18-15-1, 13-14-1 WCHA) this Friday, Saturday and Sunday, if necessary, for a best of three series that will send the winner to the WCHA Final Face-Off.
Other matchups across the league include Minnesota vs. Minnesota State Mankato, Wisconsin vs. St. Cloud State and North Dakota vs. Ohio State.
The Bulldogs found their way into the No. 4 spot in the WCHA, thanks to their wins this weekend over Ohio State. It’ll be the first time in three years that Bulldogs and Buckeyes won’t face off in the first round, and also marks the 16th straight year that the Bulldogs receive home-ice advantage in the playoffs.
“We still have a lot of work to do,” Miller said. “Yes, it’s my last season with the team, but it’s not about me. It’s about them and it’s about us getting to the finish line. We set a goal as a team to make it to the Frozen Four. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Miller said she sees her team as one of the “in-betweeners” — a team that isn’t quite at the top of the conference with powerhouses Wisconsin and Minnesota, but also not a thoroughly blue-collar, shot-blocking team like Bemidji State. Miller said that getting her team into that blue-collar mindset is one of her goals before Friday night’s matchup.
“It’s going to end up being a foot war, a war on the wall, a war in front of the net,” Miller said. “I don’t have as many people as I would like that will lay down and block a shot. I’ve got to convince them through the course of the week that you’ve got to be willing to block a shot or to go down and take a hit. That’s my task for the next couple of days.”
In the four games with the Beavers earlier this season, the Bulldogs split even, winning 2-1 and 2-0 but losing 4-1 on two separate occasions. Bemidji State has done well across the board in the WCHA, taking down tough opponents like the Minnesota Golden Gophers and Wisconsin Badgers. Miller knows her team needs to prepare for a difficult opponent and, in particular, their goaltender Brittni Mowat.
“They’re a good team because their goaltending is fantastic,” Miller said. “She’s beating teams by herself out there. If you have a great goaltender you can take risks and you do a lot. You can do a lot. They work hard and they block shots. It’s blue collar, man. They gut it out and nothing stops them from getting to the net. It’ll be a different kind of battle.”
BY NICOLE BRODZIK
Sports Editor