Issued: February 26, 2004

WOMEN'S HOCKEY FACES NO. 7 SUPERIOR IN NCHA TOURNEY

EAU CLAIRE - The UW-Eau Claire women's hockey team ended its season on a two-game win streak and will look to carry that momentum into this weekend's Northern Collegiate Hockey Association tournament in Superior where the Blugolds will battle top-seeded and seventh-ranked UW-Superior.

The Blugolds will battle the Yellowjackets at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday with the winner moving on to the NCHA championship game Sunday at 4:00 p.m. while the loser will play in the third-place game Sunday at noon. Second-seeded Stevens Point will battle third-seeded River Falls Saturday at 3:00 p.m. in the other semifinal game.

Eau Claire finished the regular season with 3-0 and 2-1 wins over Lake Forest to post a regular season mark of 10-13-2, the most wins in school history. The Blugolds had very little luck this season against the Yellowjackets as they finished 0-4-0 against Superior and were outscored 17-2.

Laura Suppes (Fr.-Falcon Heights, MN) led the Blugolds with 16 points during the regular season on eight goals and eight assists. Amanda Schultz (So.-Stevens Point/SPASH) finished second on the team with 14 points on eight goals and six assists. Karen Hebert (Fr.-Lakeville, MN/Academy of the Holy Angels) was the only other Blugolds with more than 10 points, totaling 11 on six goals and five assists.

The Yellowjackets posted a regular season mark of 18-6-1 and had five players in double-digit points this season led by Erin Kegley who posted an NCHA-best 38 points on 22 goals and 16 assists. Lindsay Bennett posted a conference fourth-best 31 points while Amy Kachinske finished seventh in the NCHA with 23 points.

The goalie match-up will most likely pit the Blugolds' Sara Steinhoff (So.-West St. Paul, MN/Henry Sibley) against Superior's Kristy Faechner. Steinhoff posted a 7-5-0 record during the season with a conference fifth-best goal against average of 2.24. She finished second in the conference with three shut outs and was the NCHA Player-of-the-Week for her 2-0 shutout of sixth-ranked Stevens Point on February 7.

Faechner was dominant between the pipes this season, posting 10 shutouts and a 15-4-1 overall record. She was second in the NCHA with a 1.39 GAA and stopped 93.9 percent of shots she faced.

NCHA Web Site