UND Takes on OSU in WCHA First Round

The regular season is now over in NCAA Women's Hockey as conference playoff first rounds begin to fire up this weekend. For North Dakota, the stars seemingly are starting to get together and making the NCAA tournament a near reality this season.

With UND being the third seed, they get the advantage of home ice yet again this season in the first round with their opponent being Ohio State this weekend. Last time against OSU, goaltender Shelby Amsley-Benzie pitched back to back shutouts and now has eight since the turn to 2015, one of which was a 3-0 shutout against the "mighty" Minnesota Gophers.

One added bonus for UND this season is the WCHA Final Faceoff is at Ralph Engelstad Arena this season. The UND ladies need to take advantage of this bonus home ice if they wish to sneak into the NCAA tournament.

Along with the stout goaltending of Shelby Amsley-Benzie, the depth of scoring on the roster is quite remarkable. Every player who has suited up for one game this season has recorded at least one point, and this includes goalie Amsley-Benzie who has one assist on the season. There are also five players above the 20 point mark on the season. Both senior forwards, Captain Andrea Dalen, and Josefine Jakobsen are among the top five in scoring. Jakobsen does hold the team lead in goals with 15.

In order for UND to advance to the Final Faceoff next weekend, North Dakota needs to continue to have great goaltending, and they also need their seniors to lead the way and keep the sense of urgency alive, although still showing some composure by staying out of the penalty box.

UND wins this series 2 games to 0, but both wins are one goal games, two if an empty net goal is scored.

WHKY Weekend Preview: Green & White meets Orange

GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- UND women's hockey returns to play against Syracuse this weekend at the Ralph Engelstad Arena for an afternoon Saturday-Sunday series. The non-conference series will be the first time the teams have met in program history.

UND heads into second-half action after a road sweep of RIT.  "We finished stronger than we started. Hopefully we can carry that and be stronger when the play-offs come around," Andrea Dalen said.

This weekend they will focus on containing Syracuse Orange's leading scorers Stephanie Grossi and, fellow freshman, Alysha Burriss. Prior to Saturday's series opener, the Orange are coming off of a 2-0 loss to Colgate.

Look for North Dakota to attempt to carry some momentum and building blocks from the first half of the season. "We want to see a lot more wins, obviously," head coach Brian Idalski said. "I think structurally we're much better. Talent wise, development of some of our younger kids being comfortable within their role."

North Dakota gets underway tomorrow at 2:00 p.m.. Live audio can be heard (free) at UND Sports Tickets are available at the REA box office: adults $7, youth $5 and UND students free with student ID.