Minnesota Wins Women's Division I National Title

Go, go Gophers.

The University of Minnesota bested Western Collegiate Hockey Association rival and defending national champion Wisconsin on Sunday afternoon by a 4-2 count at Amsoil Arena in Duluth, in the 2012 Women's Division I NCAA Championship Game. Minnesota won its third national title, and first since 2005 when it finished off back-to-back championships.

Amanda Kessel, a sophomore forward and the younger sister of the Toronto Maple Leafs' Phil Kessel, opened the scoring less than nine minutes into the contest for Minnesota. Sarah Erickson then staked the Gophers to a 2-0 lead, before Stefanie McKeough and Brooke Ammerman connected for the Badgers.

Emily West then tallied the game-winning goal on a penalty shot late in the first period, to give Minnesota a 3-2 lead, before Erickson added an insurance marker early in the third period. Noora Räty finished with 42 saves in net for Minnesota, while Alex Rigsby made 21 stops for Wisconsin.

The Gophers, who finished 34-5-2 overall, ended the season on an eight-game winning streak, and also won 13 of their last 14 outings. They won the WCHA Tournament with a 2-0 victory over Minnesota-Duluth on March 3rd, and then bested both North Dakota and Cornell in the NCAA Tournament before denying the Badgers (33-5-2) a second consecutive national crown.

Räty, a native of Finland, went 32-5-2 this season for Minnesota with a 1.33 goals-against average, a .941 save percentage and a nation-best 10 shutouts. Wisconsin native Kessel finished third in the nation in scoring with 31 goals and 48 assists for 79 points.

And Then There Were Four

The NCAA Division I women's hockey season will come to a close this weekend at Amsoil Arena in Duluth, Minn. with the 2012 Frozen Four.

Defending national champion Wisconsin (32-4-2 overall) will take on Boston College (24-9-3) in the first semifinal on Friday in a rematch of a game from last season, while the other contest will pit Cornell (30-4-0) against Minnesota (32-5-2). The winners will meet on Saturday afternoon. Of the foursome, only Minnesota won its conference tournament this year, while the other three schools all played in last year’s Frozen Four in Erie, Pa.

All four advanced by winning home games last weekend in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Wisconsin ousted Merychurst, while BC rebounded to upend St. Lawrence. Cornell outlasted Boston University in three overtimes, while Minnesota topped newcomer North Dakota.

Wisconsin will be seeking its second straight national title and fifth overall, while Minnesota claimed back-to-back crowns in 2004 and 2005. BC and Cornell will both be looking to win their first NCAA championship.

2012 NCAA Division I Women's Championship Field Set

The eight-team field is set for the 2012 NCAA Division I Women's Ice Hockey Championship.

The three schools earning automatic bids for winning their conference playoff championship were Boston University (Hockey East), Minnesota (WCHA) and St. Lawrence (ECAC), while the five at-large invitees include Boston College, Cornell, Mercyhurst, North Dakota and Wisconsin. Both Minnesota and Wisconsin have recorded 31victories apiece this season, while Cornell has registered 29 wins.

The four first-round games will be played on March 10 at campus sites. Defending national champion Wisconsin is the top seed in the tournament and will host eighth-seeded Mercyhurst, while second-seeded Minnesota will entertain first-time NCAA participant ans seventh seed North Dakota. Boston University will visit third-seeded Cornell, while St. Lawrence will travel to fourth-seeded Boston College.

The semifinals will be played on March 16 at Amsoil Arena in Duluth, Minn., followed by the national championship contest on March 18. Wisconsin, which defeated Boston University by a 4-1 count in last year's championship game, is seeking its fifth NCAA title, which would tie it all-time with Minnesota-Duluth. The Badgers also claimed Division I crowns in 2006, 2007 and 2009.

Junior forward Jocelyne Lamoureux of North Dakota leads all NCAA Division I women's skaters with 48 assists and 72 points so far this season, while junior forward Brianna Decker of Wisconsin is tops in the nation with 36 goals to date. Senior forwards Bailey Bram and Kelly Steadman of Mercyhurst are tied for the national lead with 12 power-play goals apiece, while Steadman is also tied for first in the nation with four shorthanded tallies.

Junior goaltender Noora Räty of Minnesota (pictured above) has gone 30-5-2 this season with a 1.35 goals-against average and a .940 save percentage, along with a nation-best 10 shutouts. Sophomore netminder Alex Rigsby of Wisconsin sports a nation-best .952 save percentage.

Minnesota-Duluth Remains at No. 1

New year, same standings.

Defending NCAA Division I men's champion Minnesota-Duluth, unbeaten in its last 16 outings, remains atop the USCHO.com poll. UMD (14-3-3 overall) garnered all 50 first-place votes in the Jan. 9 poll, putting it ahead of Ohio State, Notre Dame, Boston College and Minnesota. It's the fifth straight week that the Bulldogs have been ranked first in the nation.

The Bulldogs, who defeated Michigan in April to win their first-ever national title, haven't lost since a 5-4 setback to rival Minnesota on Oct. 15. Since then they've gone 13-0-3, and senior center Jack Connolly is tied for the national scoring lead with 12 goals and 21 assists for 33 points. UMD is also leading Division I with an average of 4.1 goals scored per game.

Boston University, Merrimack, Colorado College, Cornell and Western Michigan round out this week's USCHO top ten. UMD will attempt to keep its No. 1 streak going this weekend in a pair of games at Nebraska-Omaha.

WCHA to Absorb CCHA Teams

The Western Collegiate Hockey Association extended invitations to the remaining Central Collegiate Hockey Association schools this week, and three have already accepted - Alaska (Fairbanks), Ferris State, and Lake Superior State.

http://www.uscho.com/2011/08/26/ferris-state-the-latest-to-accept-wcha-invitation-bgsu-still-undecided/

The Nanooks, Bulldogs and Lakers will all join the "new" WCHA in 2013-14 and play against Alaska Anchorage, Bemidji State, Michigan Tech, Minnesota State, and St. Cloud State. Northern Michigan previously rejoined the WCHA earlier this summer after spending the last 15 seasons in the CCHA. Colorado College, Denver, North Dakota, Minnesota-Duluth and former CCHA member Nebraska-Omaha are all leaving the WCHA to help make up the nascent National College Hockey Conference.

Bowling Green is undecided so far about joining the WCHA, while Notre Dame and Western Michigan still seem to be weighing joining the NCHC, which also boasts current CCHA member Miami. That league will begin play two years from now, at the same time that CCHA schools Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State begin formal play in the Big Ten along with WCHA schools Minnesota and Wisconsin, and varsity newcomer Penn State.

It's still not known where current independent Alabama-Huntsville will wind up; but all these moves will definitely spell the end of the CCHA, which got its start back in 1971 with Bowling Green, Ohio, Ohio State and St. Louis. The league has crowned eight national champions since 1984, but will pass into memory after two more seasons.

Congrats All Around

Congratulations to BC's Brooks Dyroff on winning the Hockey Humanitarian Award. Congratulations to Miami's Andy Miele on collecting the Hobey Baker Memorial Award. And congratulations to Minnesota-Duluth for earning its first-ever men's national hockey title with tonight's 3-2 OT win over Michigan at the Xcel Energy Center on a goal by senior forward Kyle Schmidt. An exciting ending to another NCAA hockey campaign - and half a year from now it all starts all over again.

It's U-M vs. UMD on Saturday

It'll be Wolverines against Bulldogs on Saturday night in St. Paul for it all. And really, who out there had that final pairing picked when the brackets were announced on March 20? Yet here we are.

Minnesota-Duluth again used a trio of power-play goals to record its latest victory, and held on to beat Notre Dame, 4-3, behind Kenny Reiter's 31 saves in the first semifinal played Thursday at the Xcel Energy Center. In the nightcap, Shawn Hunwick made 40 stops and allowed a first-period tally by Ben Winnett to hold up as Michigan blanked No. 2 North Dakota, the school favored by many to win this year's national championship, by a 2-0 count.

Michigan will be looking for its 10th national title and first since 1998, along with its fourth straight win over a WCHA team, when the puck drops tomorrow night. UMD will be seeking its first-ever NCAA crown in its first Frozen Four since 2004, and its first national final appearance in 27 seasons.

It's been quite a ride so far this spring in the NCAA Division I tournament - some expected outcomes, several exciting finishes, and even a few surprising upsets. All the final answers will be revealed on Saturday when the 2010-11 college hockey campaign concludes.