WHKY: North Dakota splits with top-ranked Minnesota

Grand Forks, N.D. - Thursday evening's match up against the top-ranked Minnesota Gophers did not produce the kind of results that the University of North Dakota women's hockey hoped for. North Dakota suffered a 5-1 loss to the reigning national champions. UND was never able to surmount the three-goal first period deficit.

Friday was another story when North Dakota  snapped the Gopher's 12-game winning streak that dated back to the Western Collegiate Hockey Conference's Final Face-Off tournament.

"There are so many times they've smacked us around and we've been able to respond the next day, play well and shake it off," head coach Brian Idalski said.

North Dakota was able to hold the Gopher's off for a 4-3 win in front of a crowd of 3,361 at Ralph Engelstad Arena. The team performed 55 minutes of the game without Tanja Eisenschmid who received a five-minute major and game misconduct early in the first period. UND was able to weather the storm holding the Gophers to only two shots on goal during the advantage.

Minnesota's Captain Hannah Brandt opened up the scoring shortly after North Dakota killed a penalty with 3:20 remaining in the first period.

North Dakota's Amy Menke hit back a little over a minute into the second period on a gritty play with traffic around the Gopher net. After that, UND didn't trail again.

Idalski's adjustment for game two was to put Menke and senior, forward Meghan Dufault on the same line. That change paid off.

“He told us if he’s putting us together, we have to produce multiple points,” Menke said. Before the end of the night, Menke and Dufault each tallied two goals a piece. 

Dufault's goals coming only nine seconds apart with about six minutes remaining in the second.

During the third period, Menke tacked on her second goal of the evening. North Dakota held a two-goal lead with less than four minutes remaining in the frame. When trailing, the Gophers, have almost always found a way to turn the game around in their favor.

North Dakota was able to hold the one-goal lead and as the seconds ticketed down, the Kelly green and white fanbase counted down with it.

UND will have a bye week before hosting Ohio State Nov. 14-15.  OSU is 4-4-0 and will face Bemidji State this weekend.

Note: North Dakota was without Halli Krzyzaniak due to her participation in the Four Nations Cup.

You can watch the recap video from Friday's game at UNDSports.com - including Dufault's back-to-back goals.

UND Sports game-day story
Grand Forks Herald - UND beats No. 1-ranked Minnesota 
Box score

Dufault, Kohler, Krzyzaniak UND's Now, Canada's Future

The UND Women's Hockey Team  has had its fair share of dynamic players and probably none better than two time Olympic silver medalists Jocelyne and Monique Lamoureux. However, there are three players on the roster who are leading the way for UND and are the future of Canadian Women's Hockey. Becca Kohler, Meghan Dufault, and Halli Krzyzaniak have done everything to solidify them in Hockey Canada's future plans.

This past weekend, the trio put their skills on display in UND's sweep against Mankato. Kohler tallied up five points this weekend and was named WCHA offensive player of the week. Her play out front of the net is some of the best in the country and look for her to do big things this season as UND looks to charge back into the NCAA tournament.

As for Meghan Dufault, she has been getting big line minutes since coming to UND, showing that size isn't everything, it's heart. Her hat trick this past Friday night is just a little example of her big time play on the ice. She is always someone you expect to produce and no matter what you throw in front of her, she usually gets at least one point out of a weekend.

Dufault also put on a show at Canada's development camp this past summer, stealing the show on offense and turning the heads of the women's hockey community, all be it no surprise to me.

Halli Krzyzaniak is the workhorse on the blue line for UND. Although Tanja Eisenschmid may be seen as the top defender in a UND uniform right now, Krzyzaniak is much to UND as Ryan Suter is to the Minnesota Wild. You will always find her on the ice at key points of the game, and will rarely take a penalty or make a costly mistake. She does not score often, but that's not her role with UND. She does have that ability, which is a nice added bonus with her, but her strength to play big minutes will only make the UND

blue line that much better.

These three have what it takes to take their games to the next level. Hockey Canada should be put on alert because there is a green wave about to take over in the likes of Dufault, Kohler, and Krzyzaniak, in the very near future.

Women's Hockey Week One: What We Learned

As the regular season opened last weekend for the UND Women's Hockey Team, we saw a lot of things that are needing to be addressed, some good and some bad. With a split on the weekend, the team would take an early big hit in the pairwise rankings seeing as both games were non-conference.

Friday night the offense was put on display as they fired seven goals past the RPI goaltender. Becca Kohler showed a net front presence once again, leading the team with a hat trick. Sophomore Marissa Salo finally was able to find the net Friday night too. The hard working Salo not only would net her first goal, but get two as well. This was a long time coming for her and it showed UND's depth off very well.

The downside to Friday was the penalties. However, as UND Women's Hockey fans, we should be used to this right? Although they did not surrender a power play goal on the 11 opportunities that RPI was given, still 11 penalties is something that no team wants to have. When it comes to WCHA play, there needs to be a stress on discipline, or it could be a very long season that will have an early end.

Shelby Amsley-Benzie looked like she was in mid season form already, making 20 saves on 21 shots against. She was square to the puck, didn't leave out many rebounds, and seemed very relaxed in her junior season opener. Playing like this, she could be stealing a lot of games for UND this season.

There wasn't many good things to say about Saturday night. It looked as if a completely different team was on the ice. Not many passes were being completed. Terrible turnovers in the defensive zone were committed and the offense looked powerless. I am not docking the play of Vermont because they played very well, but if UND was playing their best game, the score would have likely been very different.

Not one player stood out as excellent Saturday night and very few stood out as decent at that. The top line of Becca Kohler, Meghan Dufault, and Josefine Jakobsen did combine for the lone UND goal, but that would be about all they had to offer. They did have a couple of very late scoring chances, however were not able to put one in. Gracen Hirschy is the player who stood out the most for me, playing the most consistent game out of everyone.

Two of the three Vermont goals were the cause of two very terrible defensive zone turnovers giving goalie Lexie Shaw no chance what so ever to make a save. Breakouts were sloppy and passing was way off target in the Saturday night loss.

If we learned anything from opening weekend, is that game play consistency between nights needs to be way better, or this season could be a very long one up in Grand Forks.

UND Women's Hockey Season Preview

With Fan Fest just four short days away, and the unofficial opener for the women's hockey season just 10 days away, it's that time to let you know what to expect for the upcoming season with who we added, who we subtracted, player predictions, and where we stand in the rest of the WCHA.

Starting off, it's time to look at who will not be in uniform for UND this season. UND graduated two seniors last year, senior captain Michelle Karvinen, and Fargo native Kayla Berg. However, there was also one big subtraction in would have been sophomore Susanna Tapani. She had decided to give up the UND uniform and stay in Finland to compete with her national team. This hit to the offense will be very noticeable with the losses of Karvinen and Tapani, but this just gives room for someone else to take charge and fill that offensive vacancy.

There are two additions to the team this season, and one red shirt freshman to add into the picture. Red shirt sophomore transfer out of Northeastern, Jordan Hampton, was granted a medical red shirt after only playing six games with a minus three rating. She has experience with the USA U18 team, winning a silver medal at the 2012 World Championships. Her addition to the blue line should be one to keep an eye on if she is able to stay healthy. The only true freshman addition is that of Kara Tupa out of Fargo. She helped Fargo South High School complete an undefeated season in 2011-2012 and lead them to a state championship that year as well. She also earned all-state honors in 2012-2013. Finally, red-shirt freshman Nicole Novak. A native of Grand Forks, Red River High School, was named first team all-state in 2013 and second team in 2012. Was named team MVP in 2011 and 2013 for the Knightriders (combined women's high school team from Central and Red River) and recorded 60 points (24 goals, 36 assists) in her senior season there. The forward is ready to show her hometown what she can provide for the university, and I'd expect nothing more then a 100% effort every chance she gets to play.

For returning players, the team is going to be lead by their three seniors, Andrea Dalen, Josefine Jakobsen and Tori Williams. Although Williams saw limited playing time last season, she showed why she was deserving of the time she got whenever she got the chance to hit the ice. As for the two European players, Josefine Jakobsen has consistently been around that 35-40 point mark for each of her three seasons at UND. Last season she set a career high in plus minus with an amazing plus 21 ranking, putting her three year totals at an outstanding plus 50. Whenever Jakobsen is on the ice, you know the team is a threat to put the puck in the net, whether it is her, or a teammate, doing it. Finally, we have Andrea Dalen. A great team leader and a very hard worker on the ice. Has not put up the big points so far in her career at UND, but her play away from the puck is what you will mostly notice about her play. However, when Dalen gets the chance to show off her offensive skills, she will.

The Junior class holds an Olympian, a future Olympian, in my opinion, and the most consistent playing returning class to UND. Being lead by Meghan Dufault on offense, Tanja Eisenschmid on defense, and Shelby Amsley-Benzie in goal, this Junior class has a lot to offer. Dufault recently was at the Canadian U22 development camp, and was one of the best players during the intersquad scrimmages tallying three goals in two games. Eisenschmid is coming off of her first, of many, Olympic games with the German National Team. Paired with now sophomore Halli Krzyzaniak on the blue line, she has become a solid defensive machine for UND with a plus 10 rating in her sophomore campaign last season. Also don't forget about Sam Hanson and Sam LaShomb on the blue line either. Both are not afraid to step in front of shots and they have the post game ice packs and bruises to prove it. One can't forget about Becca Kohler either. Her play in the offensive zone, controlling the front of the net and the corners, is some of the best in the country. She is one player not afraid to get the dirty goals by camping right on top of the blue paint, a goalie's nightmare.

The now sophomore class was very impressive in their rookie seasons last year as well. Blue liner Gracen Hirschy was probably the most impressive of all the freshman with her outstanding two way play from the back end. Her 22 points (9 goals, 13 assists) and a plus 19 rating are something great to build off of for this upcoming season. Just think, she was a second line defender last season too. Then you had Halli Krzyzaniak, who is probably one of the best fundamental defenders in the entire WCHA, if not the NCAA. Usually square to the puck, Krzyzaniak does not leave many lanes open for their opponents to slide the puck through. On the offensive side, Amy Menkie was a forward not afraid to get to the front of the net. With that mentality, you will see her point totals continue to grow on last season's. When you talk about this class, you can't help but mention Lexie Shaw in net. With a goals against average of 1.92 in her rookie year, things look promising for this young, talented goalie. Her first collegiate win came against St. Cloud in late October, but perhaps the game everyone will remember is when she was in net for a 3-2 victory over the Minnesota Gophers, snapping their 62 game winning streak.

As for where I see this team compared to the rest of the WCHA? Well, I see them in the top half, but can rank anywhere between 2nd and 4th. Minnesota is the clear favorite to win once again, but between Wisconsin, UND, and UND, I see things tightening up and becoming very competitive down the stretch run standings wise.

This season should be a fun, and competitive one, for the North Dakota Women's Hockey team. Will they make a return to the NCAA playoffs after just missing last season? Only time will tell, but I think they make the return with a vengeance.

Dufault Remains Hot with Two Goal Performance

Game two in the Canadian Women's Hockey Development Camp saw much of the same from game one, and that is team Yellow beating team Blue by a multiple goal margin with a score of 4-1. Team Blue would score the game's first goal, but Yellow came storming back, scoring four unanswered.

UND junior forward, Meghan Dufault, is showing why she belongs at this camp by scoring two more goals, helping solidify another team Yellow victory. She is showing all of Canada that size isn't everything in women's hockey, it's heart and a want to win the game. Halli Krzyzaniak also played once again, but held off the score sheet as she was in the previous game.

With the outstanding summer play of the two athletes, especially Dufault being able to find the net more and more, just makes the upcoming season look that much more promising for UND. Now I know it takes more than two players to change the outcome of a team, but two dynamic players on each side of the puck might be just what the locker room needs to find themselves back in the NCAA tournament for the first time in the post Lamoureux era.

Dufault, Krzyzaniak Take Part in Canada Development Camp

After a long summer of no women's hockey news to report, we finally get a taste of some with Meghan Dufault and Halli Krzyzaniak participating in Canada's development camp. Junior Becca Kohler was also invited, but was unable to attend this camp.

Today saw team Blue, with Halli Krzyzaniak, go against team Yellow, with Meghan Dufault. Krzyzaniak was held relatively quiet on the stat sheet with zeros across the board today in her team's 3-1 loss to team yellow. However, Dufault

was able to find her way on the score sheet as she opened up the games scoring to put team yellow up 1-0.

Even though Kohler was unable to attend this camp, I believe that her, along with Dufault and Krzyzaniak, will be a big part of Canada's women's hockey future. These three have the talent to take their games to the next level after they are done with the NCAA squad. It is going to be very exciting to see how their games progress over the next two seasons for Kohler and Dufault, and three for Krzyzaniak.