March 16 No. 1 Wisconsin is set to make its sixth NCAA Women’s Frozen Four appearance, meeting No. 4 seed Boston College in Friday’s first semifinal at 5 p.m. CT at Amsoil Arena in Duluth, Minn.
2012 NCAA Women's Frozen Four
Dates
Friday, March 16 | 5 p.m. (CT) Saturday, March 18 | 3 p.m. (CT)
Key notes to consider No. 1 Wisconsin is set to make its sixth NCAA Women’s Frozen Four appearance, meeting No. 4 seed Boston College in Friday’s first semifinal at 5 p.m. CT at Amsoil Arena in Duluth, Minn.
UW secured its trip to the Frozen Four after defeating No. 8 Mercyhurst 3-1 in the NCAA quarterfinal last weekend. Hilary Knight’s game-winning goal was also the first shorthanded goal that Mercyhurst had conceded all season.
This year marks Wisconsin’s seventh NCAA national tournament appearance and the Badgers continue the quest for their fifth national championship after taking home the title in 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2011.
For all but one week this season, Wisconsin has been voted the No. 1 in both the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls since the preseason rankings were released in September.
Brianna Decker continues to lead the nation in goals with 37 and has the second most points in the country (80). Her linemate Brooke Ammerman is fourth in the nation for points with 74 (32G, 42A).
Alex Rigsby leads the nation with a .952 save percentage. She is second in the nation with a 1.36 goals against average and is also second with 9 shutouts on the season. Her 1001 saves on the season is just 5 shy of the national leader in total saves.
Hilary Knight set the single-season and career records at UW for most shorthanded goals. Knight has four shorthanders on the season for a career total of nine. The senior also currently leads the nation with nine game-winners on the season.
Last time out The Badgers bounced back from a 3-1 loss in the WCHA semifinals, as they used three goals to defeat No. 8 Mercyhurst in the NCAA quarterfinals last Saturday night at the Kohl Center. Hilary Knight netted the game-winning goal in the third period, which also was the first shorthanded goal conceded by Mercyhurst all season.
Carolyne Prévost opened the scoring on a back-door pass from Brianna Decker in the first period. However, Kelley Steadman scored in the second period to tie the game at 1-1. Knight’s game-winner on the penalty kill came within the last eight minutes of regulation and Decker scored on an empty net to seal the win. Alex Rigsby made a total of 28 saves in the contest improving to 32-4-2 on the season.
Scouting the opponent: Boston College Boston College finished in second place in Hockey East this season going 15-4-2 in conference action. The Eagles were eliminated from the semifinals of the Hockey East tournament, losing to Boston University 5-2. BC earned the No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament and defeated St. Lawrence, 6-3, to advance to the Frozen Four for second consecutive year.
Against common opponents this season, Boston College went 3-5-0, splitting with Minnesota Duluth and Mercyhurst and going 1-3 against Boston University. The Eagles were out-scored 17-30 in those eight games, with their three wins coming only by a margin of two goals or less.
Boston College ranks 16th nationally with the most penalty minutes, averaging 10.5 minutes per game. Their 81.8 percent on the penalty kill ranks 26th in the country and their 18.7 percent on the power play ranks 11th.
The Eagles are led offensively by Patty Kazmaier Award nominee Alex Carpenter, who has netted 20 goals and tallied 18 helpers on the season. Scoring 28 points in 34 games, her 1.12 points per game ranks 40th in the nation.
Boston College has five skaters in the top-50 for scoring defensemen in the nation, Blake Bolden (8G, 11A), Dru Burns (3G, 15A), Emily Pfalzer (5G, 13A), Meagan Mangene (2G, 14A) and Jackie Young (6G, 10A).
In net for the Eagles is Corinne Boyles, who has posted a 2.04 goals against average in 36 games. Boyles has 895 saves on the season for a .925 save percentage.
About the series Wisconsin has a 4-0-0 all-time mark against Boston College, and before last year’s meeting at the Frozen Four the teams last met over ten years ago when the Badgers skated to a 7-0 shutout in Boston on Jan. 26, 2002. UW also swept the Eagles in Middleton, Wis., with an 8-1 win and a 5-3 victory back on Dec. 9-10, 2000.
In last year’s Frozen Four semifinal, the Badgers posted a 3-2 win over the Eagles en route to winning the 2011 national championship. Meghan Duggan and Brooke Ammerman scored in the first period to give UW a 2-0 lead, but a goal by Blake Bolden and Taylor Wasylk tied the game at 2-2. Brianna Decker scored the game winner within the final minute of play to push Wisconsin into the title match.
About the 2012 NCAA Women’s Frozen Four The 2012 NCAA Women’s Frozen Four features all four seeded teams, as No. 1 seed Wisconsin, No. 2 seed Minnesota, No. 3 seed Cornell and No. 4 seed Boston College will battle for the national crown this weekend. This is third year the Women’s Frozen Four has been held in Duluth, Minn., but is the first time it has been held at AMSOIL Arena.
Scouting the Frozen Four field: Minnesota Minnesota is the only participant in this year’s Frozen Four to have won its conference tournament. The Golden Gophers defeated North Dakota 5-1 in the NCAA quarterfinals to advance to the Frozen Four for the first time since 2010.
The Gophers currently have the third best scoring offense in the nation, averaging 4.46 goals per game, while leading the nation with the fewest goals against per game (1.31).
Minnesota is led by Amanda Kessel, Jen Schoullis, Sarah Erickson, and Emily West on offense. The four have combined for 97 of the Gophers 174 goals this year.
Scouting the Frozen Four field: Cornell Cornell entered the NCAA tournament coming off a loss to St. Lawrence in the ECAC tournament championship. The Big Red then advanced to the Frozen Four for a third-straight year after playing in a record-breaking 8-7 triple-overtime game against Boston University. The game set new NCAA tournament records for most goals scored by a single team and highest combined score.
The Big Red have the highest scoring offense in the nation, averaging 4.71 goals per game and are averaging 1.71 goals against. Cornell’s power-play is ranked second in the nation with a 24.9 percent efficiency.
Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award top-10 finalist Rebecca Johnston leads the Big Red on offense this year with 30 goals and 31 assists. Her Brianne Jenner is in a close second with 20 goals and 37 assists on the year.
Badgers in the NCAA tournament Since Hilary Knight’s freshman year in 2008, the Badgers have gone 9-1 in NCAA tournament games. Knight leads the Badgers in career-NCAA points having recorded eight goals and 12 assists in those 10 games.
Brooke Ammerman has played in seven NCAA tournament games and has scored four goals, including a game-winner against Mercyhurst in 2009, and has tallied 2 assists.
Brianna Decker has three goals, including a game-winner against Minnesota Duluth in 2011, and two assists under her belt through four NCAA tournament games.
Carolyne Prévost scored two goals in last year’s final against Boston University and recently scored one goal and tallied an assist on the game winner against Mercyhurst last weekend.
Alex Rigsby has played in four games in NCAA tournament play, making a total of 95 saves. In just tournament play, Rigsby has posted a 1.25 goals against average along with a .950 save percentage.
WCHA dominates NCAA championships The WCHA has had more than one team in all but four Frozen Fours (2001, UMD; 2004, Minnesota; 2005, Minnesota; 2011, Wisconsin).
In the 11 years of NCAA-sponsored tournaments, WCHA members have won all 11 titles as UMD has five, Wisconsin has four and Minnesota two. The WCHA had three teams qualify for this year’s national tournament; Wisconsin, Minnesota and North Dakota. Minnesota knocked out North Dakota in the quarterfinals last weekend.
Conference hardware A total of five Wisconsin women’s hockey players earned All-WCHA honors, highlighted by Brianna Decker taking home the league’s top honor as the 2012 WCHA Player of the Year. Decker also earned All-WCHA First Team honors.
Junior defenseman Stefanie McKeough was named the Defensive Player of the Year and sophomore Alex Rigsby took home the league’s Goaltending Champion award. Both McKeough and RIgsby were also named All-WCHA Second Team.
Senior forward Hilary Knight joined Decker among the four forwards awarded All-WCHA First Team honors.
Brooke Ammerman was named All-WCHA Third Team and Head coach Mark Johnson rounded out the awards being named the WCHA Coach of the Year for the fifth time in his career.
Fantastic Forwards The group of Carolyne Prévost, Brianna Decker, Brooke Ammerman and Hilary Knight have combined for a total of 124 goals and 143 assists so far this season. The four account for over half (.600) of the team’s point production and have scored more than two-thirds (.716) of the team’s goals so far this season. Compared to other team’s top-four scorers, they are the highest scoring group in the nation with 267 points.
Rigsby, What A Champ Sophomore goaltender Alex Rigsby leads the nation with a .952 save percentage, while her 1001 saves is the second most in the nation. Rigsby also has the second-best goals against average in the nation (1.35).
After making 55 saves against Ohio State, Rigsby moved into the top-four on the all-time career saves list at UW. With 11 saves on Nov. 27 against St. Cloud State, Alex Rigsby became the fourth Badger goaltender to record 1000 saves. She’s just the second goalie in school history to reach the mark within her second year of competition.
Making 17 saves against Minnesota State on Feb. 5, Rigsby set a new program record at Wisconsin for most saves in a single season, surpassing the old mark of 801 set by Jessie Vetter in the 2008-09 season. Rigsby currently sits third all-time at UW with 1735 career saves.
Specialty Teams Wisconsin has the fourth-best power-play and best penalty-kill units in the nation. The Badgers have scored 40 goals on 172 chances for a 23.3 percent efficiency with the man advantage. With an 89.9 percent efficiency on the penalty-kill, the Badgers have successfully killed 124 of 138 penalties.
Senior Hilary Knight broke the program mark for most shorthanded goals in a season with four. Her eight career shorthanders is also the program’s best.
Shoot the puck With 1472 total shots on goal so far this season, the Badgers are averaging 38 shots on goal per game, the third most in the nation.
Making A Name For Herself Brooke Ammerman became the fourth Badger in program history to reach 200 career points, scoring on the power play against St. Cloud State on Feb. 11. The senior is 4 goals shy of becoming just the third player in program history to record both 100 career goals and assists.
#Winning With her shorthanded goal to lift the Badgers over Minnesota Duluth, 4-3, on Oct. 21, 2011, Hilary Knight became the all-time game-winning goals leader at Wisconsin. Knight currently has 29 game-winners, which eclipses the mark of 22 set by Meghan Duggan. The 29 GW’s is the second most on the NCAA Division I Women’s career list for game-winning goals, with the top mark of 39 GW’s set by Meghan Agosta of Mercyhurst.
Knight leads the nation in game-winning goals so far this season having captured eight GW’s.
Coming through clutch The Badgers are undefeated (7-0-4) in their last 11 games that have gone into overtime. On the season, Wisconsin is 3-0-2 in overtime.
Badger fans are nation’s best Wisconsin leads the nation in women’s hockey attendance this season, averaging 1,853 fans per game in 38 games. UW also boasts the best home attendance in the nation with 2,689 fans per game.
Home sweet home The Badgers have a 137-25-13 record (.820 winning percentage) all-time at the Kohl Center. Since the start of the 2010-11 season, Wisconsin has posted a combined record of 32-3-1 on home ice.
Fillin’ the Kohl Wisconsin set another NCAA women’s hockey single-game attendance record when 12,402 fans watched the Badgers earn a 1-0 win over Bemidji State in the Fill the Bowl game (Jan. 28, 2012) at the Kohl Center.
Streaky Brianna Decker’s set the program mark for longest point streak at 32 games. Spanning from Feb. 11, 2011 - Jan. 06, 2012, the junior totaled 77 points (33G, 44A) in the 32-game span.
Tip of the hat Wisconsin players have posted nine hat tricks this season, coming from four different players.
Apple trick While scoring three goals in a single game earns attention, 10 UW players have recorded three assists a total of 18 times in a single game so far this season.
Weekly Honors Six Wisconsin players have been named a WCHA Player of the Week 10 times so far this season.
Record Collection Wisconsin tied the NCAA record for longest unbeaten streak of 32 games after topping then-No. 3 Minnesota 3-2 on Oct. 14, 2011. The Badgers went 30-0-2 between Dec. 4, 2010 and Oct. 14, 2011. The old mark was also set by the Badgers back in 2007, which oddly enough also lasted until Oct. 14.
Five-point games Both Kelly Jaminski and Jordan Brickner recorded five-point games against Lindenwood. On Friday, Sept. 23, 2011, Jaminski netted her first two collegiate goals and helped on three consecutive goals to record five points. On Sunday, Sept. 25, 2011, Brickner also netted her first two goals as a Badger and added three assists to hit five points for the game.
Brooke Ammerman recorded five points, scoring two goals and helping on three others, in the Badgers 8-2 win against RPI on Nov. 19.
Carolyne Prévost set the mark for most points in a single game by a Badger this season with six points (2G, 4A) in Wisconsin’s 8-2 routing of RPI on Nov. 19.
Hilary Knight tied Prévost’s mark for most points in a single game after having a hand in all six Badger goals in a 6-2 win at St. Cloud State on Feb. 11. Knight scored one goal while recording five assists in the win.
Brianna Decker tallied her first five-point game of the season with two goals and three assists as the Badgers downed Ohio State, 7-1, on Feb. 17, 2012 at the Kohl Center.
