UND WHKY: Border battle

Grand Forks, N.D. -- Rewind to Nov. 21 of last year and the North Dakota women's hockey was on a eight-game winless skid. The team was swept by the Minnesota Gopher powerhouse and the newly revitalized Bemidji State program. They had a loss and a tie against Wisconsin.

Nothing seemed to be going right at that point in the season. But since Dec. 12, the team has gone 8-1-1. Most recently tallying back-to-back sweeps of Ohio State and BSU. Last weekend North Dakota was able to pull off a in and tie against the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs.

The games that North Dakota has won as of late haven't been high scoring or glamorous, but the program has done enough of the right things to claw themselves back from sixth place in the WCHA to fourth.

The keys to UND's success have been the defense and being backstopped by junior goaltender Shelby Amsley-Benzie. Amsley-Benzie has allowed only four goals in the last six games and has three shutouts against nationally ranked opponents. She has also been named WCHA Defensive Player of the Week twice since the beginning of 2015.

Currently North Dakota trails Minnesota Duluth in the WCHA standings by three points and is ranked 10th in the Pairwise with only six games remaining in the regular season.

This weekend North Dakota will face rival Minnesota on Friday at 7:07 p.m. and Saturday at 4:07 p.m.. The Gophers are 17-1-4 with the lone loss to Bemidji in Nov. of last year. If UND plans to be successful this weekend against the Gophers they will need carry momentum from the past three weeks and have exceptional goaltending and defense.

UND is hoping to pack The Ralph and break last year's attendance record. Attendees will receive one of these ridiculously fun(ny) foam stick hats. Tickets are available for $1 at The Ralph box office.

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.

WHKY: UND sweeps the Huskies under the rug and heads to Madison

GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- The University of North Dakota women's hockey team picked up their first home sweep of the season over St. Cloud on Sunday.

The sweep didn't come easy. Although UND held the lead for the entire game, the Huskies outperformed themselves from their Saturday afternoon showing. UND was able to hold onto a 3-1 lead to cap off the weekend before heading to Madison, Wisconsin .

North Dakota goes into their Friday and Sunday series against WCHA top-ranked Wisconsin with a three-game unbeaten streak. In their first meeting this season UND settled for a tie and a loss.

The team hopes to ride their recent momentum into this weekend. "I think we have to score early and keep the lead, and play smart like we have been," jr., forward Becca Kohler said. "Now that we have a few games under our belt we're feeling more confident."

Head coach Brian Idalski said that he anticipates a high pace, high intensity series against the Badgers. North Dakota hopes to snap Wisconsin's 10 game unbeaten streak and five game shutout streak.

North Dakota will play Wisconsin Friday at 3:07 p.m. and Sunday at 2:07 p.m.. Web audio streaming can be heard here. For more information and game day notes visit UNDSports.com.

2012-13 WCHA WOMEN’S AWARD WINNERS

The University of North Dakota landed a five players on the All-WCHA teams. Congratulations to Jocelyne Lamoureux, Monique Lamoureux, Michelle Karvinen, Josefine Jakobsen and Meghan Dufault. All five players are very deserving.  Goon's World would like to congratulate these five athletes.

 WCHA Player of the Year: Amanda Kessel, Jr., F, Minnesota (Madison, WI)

 *WCHA Outstanding Student Athlete of the Year: Jocelyne Lamoureux, Sr., F, North Dakota (Grand Forks, ND)

WCHA Defensive Player of the Year: Megan Bozek, Sr., D, Minnesota (Buffalo Grove, IL)

WCHA Rookie of the Year: Hannah Brandt, Fr., F, Minnesota (Vadnais Heights, MN)

WCHA Scoring Champion: Amanda Kessel, Jr., F, Minnesota (Madison, WI)

WCHA Goaltending Champion: Noora Räty, Sr., Minnesota (Espoo, Finland)

WCHA Coach of the Year: Brad Frost, Minnesota

All-WCHA First Team

Forward - Amanda Kessel, Jr., Minnesota (Madison, WI); (25 gp, 34-41=75); Forward - Brianna Decker, Sr., Wisconsin (Dousman, WI) (28 gp, 20-18=38); Forward - Hannah Brandt, Fr., Minnesota (28 gp, 18-38=56); Defense - Megan Bozek, Sr., Minnesota (Buffalo Grove, IL) (28 gp, 14-23=37); Defense - *Monique Lamoureux, Sr., *North Dakota (Grand Forks, ND) (28 gp, 17-27=44); Goaltender- Noora Räty, Sr., Minnesota (Espoo, Finland) (27 gp, 27-0-0, 1.05 GAA, .950 Sv%).

All-WCHA Second Team

Forward - Jocelyne Lamoureux, Sr., North Dakota (Grand Forks, ND) (28 gp, 22-32=54); Forward - *Michelle Karvinen, Jr., North Dakota (Rodovre, Denmark) (20 gp, 14-21=35); Forward - Jenna McParland, So., Minnesota Duluth (Schreiber, ON) (27 gp, 10-15=25); Defense - Brigette Lacquette, So., Minnesota Duluth (Mallard, MB) (28 gp, 5-14=19); Defense - Jessica Wong, Sr., Minnesota Duluth (Baddeck, NS) (27 gp, 7-15=22); Goaltender - Alex Rigsby, Jr., Wisconsin (Delafield, WI) (28 gp, 17-9-2, 1.60 GAA, .940 Sv%).

All-WCHA Third Team

Forward - Lauren Smith, Sr., Minnesota State (Burnsville, MN) (28 gp, 17-9=26); Forward - Josefine *Jakobsen, So., North Dakota (Aalborg, Denmark) (26 gp, 11-15=26); Forward - Kelly Terry, Jr., Minnesota (Whitby, ON) (28 gp, 5-19=24); Defense - Mira Jalosuo, Sr., Minnesota (Lieksa, Finland) (28 gp, 6-13=19); Defense - Rachel Ramsey, So., Minnesota (Chanhassen, MN) (28 gp, 8-15=23); Goaltender - Kayla Black, Fr., Minnesota Duluth (Blyth, ON) (26 gp, 12-12-2, 2.37 GAA, .916 Sv%).

All-WCHA Rookie Team

Forward - Hannah Brandt, Fr., Minnesota (Vadnais Heights, MN) (28 gp, 18-38=56); Forward - Maryanne Menefee, Fr., Minnesota (Lansing, MI) (24 gp, 11-14=25); Forward - *Meghan Dufault, Fr., North Dakota (Winnipeg, MB) (27 gp, 12-12=24); Defense - Milica McMillen, Fr., Minnesota (St. Paul, MN) (22 gp, 8-6=14); Defense - Courtney Burke, Fr., Wisconsin (Albany, NY) (28 gp, 3-14=17); Goaltender - Kayla Black, Fr., Minnesota Duluth (Blyth, ON) (26 gp, 12-12-2, 2.37 GAA, .916 Sv%).