THIS WEEK: The Fighting Sioux open the 2011-12 season with an exhibition series against the Manitoba Bisons.
TUNE IN: This weekend's games can be heard through a webcast of FightingSioux.com along with live stats.
ABOUT MANITOBA: The Bisons enter this weekend's games with a 2-2 record. UM opened the season splitting a pair of series against Belmoral Hall and Regina.
Addie Miles enters her fourth season having tallied a career 33 goals and 46 assist for 79 points, while Tara Lacquette has a career .915 save percentage and a 1.73 goals against average in two seasons of play.
Jon Rempel enters his eighth season as head coach of the Bisons.
SIOUX NAME 2011-12 CAPTAINS: Jocelyne Lamoureux will captain this year's team while Monique Lamoureux-Kolls, Mary Loken and Kayla Berg will serve as alternate captains.
FUTURE, CURRENT AND FORMER SIOUX SHINE AT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: UND was represented well at the 2011 International Ice Hockey Federations World Championships collecting three gold medals, two silver medal and two bronze medals, along with three individual awards. Competing in the event were current Sioux Jorid Dagfinrud, Andrea Dalen, Josefine Jakobsen, Jocelyne Lamoureux, Monique Lamoureux-Kolls and Michelle Karvinen. Lamoureux-Kolls (Top Division) and (Division II) received the Directorate Award for the 'Best Forward' in the tournament, while Karvinen was named to the media all-star team.
POLL POSITION: The Sioux enter the season ranked seventh, the first time it has been ranked to start a season. UND was ranked No. 9 in both of the final USCHO.com/CBS College Sports poll and the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll.
ATTENDANCE: Along with the success of the team and individual merits of the season, the Sioux fans contributed to programs records as well. The Sioux ended the season averaging 1,280 per game at home games, which was second in the nation. The also had 6,043 in attendance for the Minnesota series. Both were program records.
NO LONGER IN OUR TEENS: The Sioux set a new program record with 20 wins. The previous record was 16, set in 200-04, prior to the team joining the WCHA.
FIGHTING SIOUX FALL JUST SHORT OF NCAA TOURNAMENT: UND enjoyed the best season in its nine-year history, but fell just short of the eight-team NCAA Tournament field. The Sioux finished ninth in the Pairwise rankings with the top eight teams earning a bid to the 2011 NCAA Women's Hockey Championship. The Sioux posted a record of 6-9 against the eight teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament with five of those nine losses coming to Wisconsin. UND captured its first home WCHA first-round playoff series and advanced to its first WCHA Final Faceoff, falling to No.1 seed Wisconsin.
A RUBBER MATCH TO REMEMBER: UND advanced to the WCHA Final Face-Off for the first time in program history after defeating Bemidji State in the opening round. It took the longest game in UND's history, in the rubber match of the series, when the Sioux were able to score exactly 16 minutes into the extra frame to win their first playoff series.
In the nail-bitter, Monique Lamoureux-Kolls took the puck from her own end, skated through neutral ice, faked a shot to get around a defenseman and buried a backhand in front of the crease for the series-clinching goal.
A game-time decision, Jocelyne Lamoureux also scored in the game and was offensively UND's most consistent player even though not playing at 100-percent. Sophomore Mary Loken also scored for the Sioux sending a second-chance shot into the back of the net.
UND had 14 individual points in the series, but no player had more than three and seven picked up at least one.
BATTLE TESTED: UND played 16 games against top-10 opponents on that date and went 7-8-1 in those games. The Sioux have gone 6-8-0 against opponents ranked at the end of the season.
PATTY KAZMAIER MEMORIAL AWARD: Both Jocelyne Lamoureux and Monique Lamoureux-Kolls were included in the list of 26 skaters that were nominated for the highest individual honor in collegiate women's hockey, the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award. Lamoureux and Lamoureux-Kolls were both nominated in 2008-09 with Lamoureux-Kolls advancing to the top-10.
LAMOUREUX TWINS NAMED TO WCHA SECOND TEAM, BERG ALL-ROOKIE TEAM: Jocelyne Lamoureux was named to the WCHA second team as a forward, Monique Lamoureux-Kolls also made the second team as a defenseman and Kayla Berg was named to the all-rookie team.
A GOAL STILL BEING (RE)VIEWED: Jocelyne Lamoureux scored a remarkable goal against Minnesota (Feb. 18) that has had more than 18,000 views on Youtube.com. On a breakaway, she entered the zone to the left and cut to the right near the faceoff circle. Nearing the crease Lamoureux did a 270-degree spin-o-rama to get UM netminder Noora Raty sliding to her left while backhanding the puck into the wide-open net behind her.
A STREAK COMES TO AN END: Jocelyne Lamoureux saw her career-high and UND program record 11-game point streak come to an end. She had 10 goals and 16 assists for 26 points from Dec. 11, 2010 at Minnesota Duluth to Feb. 11, 2011 at Wisconsin.
HOME SWEET HOME: Alyssa Wiebe scored 10 of her 13 goals in home games last season. She has also scored 23 of her total 34 points in home games.
NOTHING BUT W's: The Sioux extended their unbeaten streak to a program-record eight games before dropping its first loss of 2011 against Minnesota State. From Dec. 11 until Jan. 28, the Sioux outscored their opponents 38-12, going 7-0-1.
A BRIGHT FUTURE: The Fighting Sioux underclassmen have scored the most points in the nation. Including points scored from only sophomores and freshmen, the Sioux led the way with 202.
THE BEST OF THE BEST: Through the first half of the season, the Sioux had the hardest strength of schedule with 12 of their 18 games against top-10 ranked teams, going 6-5-1 in those games. According to USCHO.com, UND's strength of schedule was a 251.7 with Minnesota Duluth second at 204.6.
TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN: Alyssa Wiebe surpassed Melissa Jaques' previous all-time scoring record of 78 as a member of the Sioux. She now has 35 goals and 57 assists for 92 points. She is now eight points away from reaching the century mark.
THE CENTURY CLUB: Both Jocelyne Lamoureux and Monique Lamoureux-Kolls collected their 100th career point during the season, joining Stasia Bakhit as the three players in program history to do so.
NO 'L' IN NEY: Stephanie Ney went 4-0-2 to start her season, a program record unbeaten streak, not taking a loss until dropping a 4-3 decision at eventual national champion Wisconsin on Dec. 4.
GOING OUT IN STYLE, SENIOR ROY SCORES GAME-WINNER: The lone senior for the Sioux, and head coach Brian Idalski's first recruit, couldn't have dreamed a better way to end her playing career in the Ralph Engelstad Arena. Roy scored the game-winning goal, lifting the Sioux past rival Minnesota 5-3, on senior day. A good portion of the 2,885 Sioux fans in attendance stuck around for the seniors sendoff.
PROGRAM RECORD SIX EARN WCHA SCHOLAR_ATHLETE AWARD: Jocelyne Lamoureux, Monique Lamoureux-Kolls, Mary Loken, Allison Parizek, Margot Miller and Jordan Slavin were named WCHA Scholar-Athletes.
FORMER TWO-SPORT STAR RECEIVES PRESTIGIOUS NCAA AWARD: Former UND hockey and softball standout Casie Hanson was named a 2011 recipient of the prestigious NCAA Top VIII Award, presented annually to eight outstanding student-athletes who have completed their eligibility. The award recognizes outstanding athletic, academic, community service, and leadership accomplishments. Recipients are selected by the NCAA Honors Committee, made up of eight athletics administrators at member institutions, in addition to nationally distinguished citizens who are former student-athletes.
MAKING FRIENDS WITH AN OLD ENEMY: In a building that brought mostly negative memories to the Sioux coaches, players and fans alike over the years in the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center, the Sioux put together a tremendous comeback to win the last collegiate game in the arena. The Bulldogs scored three goals within a 21-second span during the first period to open a 3-1 lead, but the Sioux eventually evened the game and Mary Loken scored the game-winner late in the third period.
SIOUX SWEEP GOPHERS: In its first road series of the season, UND not only picked up its first win over the Minnesota Gophers in program history - it swept them. The Sioux outscored the Gophers 7-4 in the series with Sara Dagenais and Monique Lamoureux-Kolls leading the way with two goals each. Both Stephanie Ney and Jorid Dagfinrud won one game in net.
