NCAA Division III Women�s Hockey
Quarterfinal Preview �
UW-Stevens Point (17-6-4) at Gustavus Adolphus College (22-5)
Don Peters Ice Rink � St. Peter, Minnesota
Saturday, March 13, 2004 � 7 p.m.
Game Overview:
A berth in the NCAA Division III women�s
frozen four is at stake this weekend when the only two entrants in the
national tournament from the West Region square off in a quarterfinal game
in St. Peter, Minn. UW-Stevens Point and Gustavus Adolphus were both second
place finishers in their respective conferences, but won conference
tournament titles to earn berths in the seven-team national tournament. The
teams split a series on Nov. 14-15 with Gustavus Adolphus winning 3-2 the
first night and UW-Stevens Point taking a 6-3 win the second night.
Postseason History:
UW-Stevens Point is making its first-ever NCAA
Division III tournament appearance.
Gustavus Adolphus played in the inaugural
Division III women�s hockey tournament in 2002, beating St. Mary�s in the
quarterfinals and beating Bowdoin (Maine) for third place after a semifinal
loss to eventual national champion Elmira (N.Y.).
The Coaches:
UW-Stevens Point coach Brian Idalski has a
63-12-6 record in his third season with the Pointers. Idalski has guided the
Pointers to NCHA playoff titles in two of his three seasons.
Gustavus Adolphus coach Mike Carroll has a
100-35-8 record in his fifth season with the Gusties. He was the 2003-04
MIAC co-Coach of the Year and won his 100th career game in the MIAC playoff
title game over St. Thomas.
Playoff Format:
UW-Stevens Point received one of three at-large
berths to the tournament, while Gustavus Adolphus received one of four
automatic bids to the seven-team field. The winner of Saturday�s game
advances to the NCAA Division III women�s frozen four to meet top-seeded
Manhattanville (N.Y.). The frozen four will take place March 19-20 at the
campus site of one of the four participating schools, though Manhattanville
will not host the frozen four. In other quarterfinal matchups, Elmira (N.Y.)
is at Middlebury (Vt.) on Friday and Bowdoin (Maine) travels to Plattsburgh
State (N.Y.) on Saturday afternoon.
Series History:
UW-Stevens Point
leads the all-time series over the Gusties 3-1-1. The Pointers won the first
meeting between the schools 4-3 in St. Peter in 2001-02. Last season, the
Pointers posted a 5-0 win before a 2-2 tie the following day in Stevens
Point. Gustavus Adolphus beat the Pointers 3-2 this year in St. Peter and
the Pointers rallied for a 6-3 with three goals in the final 10 minutes on
the following day.
Pointer Update:
UW-Stevens Point
had a week-long wait to see if it would earn its first-ever NCAA tournament
berth. The Pointers claimed the NCHA playoff title with 2-1 double overtime
win over UW-Superior on Feb. 29 after beating UW-River Falls 2-1 in the
semifinals.
UW-Stevens Point trailed in both games and rallied for victories. The
Pointers enter the postseason having played five straight games decided by
one goal or an empty net goal.
UW-Stevens
Point features a balanced scoring attack led by junior Ann Ninnemann with 13
goals and 11 assists for 24 points. Kim Lunneborg scored goals in each
playoff game and has seven goals with a team-high 16 assists for 23 points.
Jackie Schmitt has a team-leading 13 goals with nine assists for 22 points.
Freshman Amy Statz has started 22 games in goal and has a 1.70 goals against
average with a .923 save percentage.
Gustie
Update:
Gustavus Adolphus enters the tournament
on a roll, having won 10 straight games since returning from an eastern
trip. The Gusties have outscored the last 10 foes 55-7 and posted a 3-2 win
over top-seeded St. Thomas on Saturday in the MIAC tournament final.
Gustavus Adolphus had three freshmen score goals in the title game and
freshman goalie Kristin Setterstrom earned the victory with 21 saves.
Freshman Andrea Peterson was the MIAC Player of
the Year and posted 15 goals with 22 assists for 37 points. Freshman Ingrid
Neve leads the team with 21 goals and 20 assists for 41 points. Setterstrom
has a 1.28 goals against average and .922 save percentage. The Gusties
opened the year 2-3, but won 20 of their last 22 games with the only losses
coming to eastern foes Bowdoin (Maine) and Williams (Mass.).
Quick Facts:
* - UW-Stevens Point
has played four of the other six teams in the NCAA field, posting a 1-2-2
record. The Pointers split with Gustavus Adolphus, lost to Middlebury and
tied Elmira and Plattsburgh State.
* - Despite the young
two-year history of the NCAA women�s hockey tournament, UW-Stevens Point and
Plattsburgh State are the only first-time entrants in this year�s field.
Elmira has won the first two national titles.
* - Pointers� junior
Jackie Schmitt leads the NCAA Division III with eight game-winning goals.
She had a national-best 10 game-winners as a freshman and has 22 for her
career. She has the game-winner in the Pointers� last two wins over Gustavus
Adolphus.
*- UW-Stevens Point had
eight different players score its goals in its series split with Gustavus
Adolphus this season.
* - The Pointers have
outscored opponents 40-8 in the third period this year and Gustavus Adolphus
has outscored teams 46-15 in the final period.
* - Two of the four
shorthanded goals allowed by the Pointers this season came in the 3-2 loss
to Gustavus Adolphus. The other two came in empty net situations.
* - UW-Stevens Point�s
NCHA title game lasted 82:22 and was the longest game in school history.
Sophomore Pam Stohr scored the game-winning goal for her third goal of the
year.
* - UW-Stevens Point
was shutout in two of its final three regular season games, marking only the
third and fourth shutouts in the four-year history of the program. The 1-0
loss to UW-Superior in the home finale was the Pointers� first-ever home
shutout.
* - The Pointers have
posted a 76-25-7 record in their four-year varsity history, including a
63-13-6 record over the past three years. UW-Stevens Point is 18-1-2 against
MIAC opponents over the past three seasons and had a 17-game unbeaten streak
against the league snapped in this year�s loss at Gustavus Adolphus.
* - UW-Stevens Point
has played 12 games decided by one goal or less this year and is 5-3-4 in
those games. Gustavus Adolphus is 2-1 in one-goal games, including the 3-2
win over the Pointers.
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