Women's Hockey Opens NCHA Playoffs Against Point

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Posted: Thursday, February 24, 2005

EAU CLAIRE - The UW-Eau Claire women's hockey team looks for its first ever postseason win when it takes on fifth-ranked UW-Stevens Point in the Northern Collegiate Athletic Conference Semifinals Saturday at the Ice Hawks Arena.

The Blugolds lost both meetings against the Pointers this year. Eau Claire played Stevens Point tough at home dropping a closely contested 2-1 decision but managed only 13 shots on goal in a 9-0 loss on the road. The Blugolds have played the Pointers only once before in the NCHA Playoffs losing 3-1 in the semis of the 2002 playoffs.

Eau Claire comes into the game with a 4-5-1 record in the NCHA and a 14-8-1 record overall. The 14 wins eclipses the team record of 10 wins set last year.

Amanda Schultz (Jr.-Stevens Point/SPASH) leads Eau Claire and is fifth in the conference with 23 points. Schultz's 15 goals are tied for second in the NCHA. Laura Suppes (So.-Falcon Heights, MN/Roseville) is second with 16 points followed by Martina Korinek (So.-White Bear Lake, MN) with 15.

Goalie Jill Arendt (Fr.-Plymouth, MN/Wayzata) is second in the NCHA with 453 saves to go along with a .908 save percentage.

Stevens Point won its second consecutive NCHA regular season title going 9-0-1 in the NCHA and 20-2-1 overall. The Pointers' undefeated record in the conference action is the first such season in the five-year history of the conference.

The Pointers are led by the conference's second leading scorer Ann Ninnemann with 28 points. Jackie Schmitt and Liz Goergen are tied for third in the conference with 25 points each.

Goalie Amy Statz has the highest goals against average among goalies with at least four games played at 1.37. Statz leads the conference in shutouts with 12 while stopping over 92 percent of shots sent her way.

The winner of the game goes on to play the winner of the UW-River Falls-UW-Superior game.

The Eau Claire game is scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m.