Results - Women's Ice Hockey

February 7-9, 2008

In their season finale this weekend, the Notre Dame women's hockey club traveled to Chicago to take on the Frozen Snappers. The Irish blew the Snappers out of the water from start to finish. Less than a minute into the game sophomore Emily Chappell started the scoring off a set play from junior Margaret Knoedler. This was followed moments later by a pass from first year Gillian Allsup to first year Tess Ryan for the second Irish goal. Ryan would score twice more, registering her first collegiate hat trick. The first period ended with a rebound goal by Knoedler off of a shot from defensive first year Cassie Kral.

The Snappers struggled and were unable to stop the Irish’ Chappell from taking the puck on the second period's opening face off and scoring an unassisted goal. Later that period senior Kara Brennan put it in the net thanks to fine passes from Knoedler and junior Amy Wilhelmy. Several Irish skaters spent the third period in the penalty box. Despite the shorthanded situation, Knoedler managed to score again with an assist by Chappell. The Irish won 8-0, as sophomore goalie Megan Aimola recorded her first shutout.

The team enjoyed succes this year in large part due to the dedication and commitment of seniors Kara Brennan, Laura Steinbrenner, Alicia Burtner, Casey Bouskill, and coach Ollie Short. "They each brought something so different to the team," says Wilhelmy, "and next season will be so different without them. We're really going to miss them."  

February 1-3. 2008

This weekend the Women's Hockey Club hosted Northwestern University in a hard fought and evenly played game. Before an appreciative and supportive crowd that included a pep band, the Irish tied the Wildcats, 2-2. Notre Dame scored first in the middle of the opening period with a heads-up play by first year player Tess Ryan. Northwestern answered in the closing seconds of the first period as Butler weaved her way through the ice and rifled home a point blank shot.

Irish senior Casey Bouskill deflected in a shot from senior Kara Brennan, assisted by Amber Rosenberg in the second period, but the Wildcats again answered on a power play goal.

The Irish were called for three defensive penalties in the final period and played most of the period four on five. Playing a strong penalty kill throughout the game, the Irish were still able to riddle the net with shots, including a frantic rush at the end of the game which saw the Irish twice hit the pipes. In an exceptional first game in goal, sophomore Megan Aimola registered 28 saves.

Team captain Kara Brennan summed up the emotions at the conclusion of the club’s home season. "It's been a great four years of hockey, and it's really hard to see it end," said Brennan. "We're all looking forward to going out with a win next weekend in Chicago." The club’s final game will be in Chicago on Saturday, February 9th against the Frozen Snappers.

January 18-20, 2008

This weekend the Women's Hockey Club resumed their season as they traveled to Chicago. It was a busy weekend with two games on Friday night and two more on Saturday evening. The weekend began with a hard fought match against the Chicago Tigers. Notre Dame scored first in the opening period with an unassisted goal from freshman Tess Ryan. But with only one practice under their belts since break, the Irish then went scoreless until the third period, when sophomore Emily Chappell took a pass from sophomore Ashley Bozel and junior Amy Wilhelmy and found the back of the net. After a three periods and a few more penalties, the final score was 5-2, Tigers. The Irish came out strong the following evening against the Tigers. New goalie first year Karen Riedl shut the Tigers out the first period, and her defensive play really carried the Irish through the weekend. Junior Margaret Knoedler scored first an unassisted goal, which was followed by a goal from Ryan assisted by first year Cassie Kral. A goal in the second period from Chappell was followed shortly by a goal from Ryan and assisted by sophomore Megan Aimola. The final score left the Irish victorious at 4-2, avenging the previous night’s loss.

The Irish also faced off twice against Chicago's Flash. Ryan opened the game with a goal that was assisted by senior Laura Steinbrenner. Knoedler scored a power play goal off a pass from Chappell. Aimola's second period goal was assisted by Knoelder, and Notre Dame's final goal of the game was assisted by Ryan to first year Amber Rosenberg. The Irish fought all the way until the end, but the buzzer left the final score at 5-4, Flash.

The next evening Notre Dame started the scoring again with a senior Kara Brennan's shot off of a pass from Rosenberg and Steinbrenner. The second and final Irish goal came from Knoedler and Chappell, but the Irish again came up short, 5-2. While the Irish lost two strong players to study abroad programs, Knoedler has just returned home from studying abroad and is excited about how the team is looking. "I'm really looking forward to the season. It looks like we have a strong group of girls who are willing to work hard," says Knoedler of practicing with the team and the new coach, first year Conor Brennan. "We should have a successful season."

December 1-2, 2007

This weekend the Women's Hockey Club traveled to Iowa to play the Quad City Blueliners for their season opening series. The weekend proved to be pretty succecssful overall. The Irish outshot Quad Cities 26-15 in their on Saturday night, desite the unending line of pentalies issued to both teams. Blueliners' goalie really kept them in the game, and she saw lots of great shots from senior Kara Brennan, first year Gillian Allsup, and their linemates. Notre Dame lost the game with one goal in the 3rd period scored by junior Amy Wilhelmy, assisted by first year Cassie Kral. The final score was 5-1,

Quad Cities. On Sunday morning the team's performance increased noticeably. The Irish outshot the Blueliners 27-13 and got away with fewer penalties than the night before. In the first period they were down 1-0, but made an outstanding comeback throughout the second period. Junior Lauren Beuke scored an unassisted power play goal to open the period, which was followed shortly by an unassisted goal from sophomore Emily Chappell. Chappell assisted another goal scored by Beuke, putting the Irish ahead 3-1. The second period ended with another power play goal from Chappell. The Blueliners scored one last time, leaving the final score at 4-2, Irish. First year goalie Julia Gragtmans steadily improved over her first weekend of hockey, and the Irish were lucky to have intensity as well as versatility on their side with first year Amber Rosenberg and junior Sarah Williams, who played both offense and defense this weekend.

With everything from a new coaching staff to a new goaltender, first year coach Conor Brennan was proud of the team's performance and progress. "We definitely showed that it was our first game together on Saturday, but after the first period it was all uphill for the rest of the weekend. By the looks of Sunday's game we should have a really strong season."  

February 11, 2007

This weekend the Women’s Hockey Club traveled to Northbrook, IL to compete in the WCHL playoffs. They played a total of 4 games in reaching the championship game on Sunday morning.

Saturday morning the team started the tournament with a game against Quad Cities. Sophomore Margaret Knoedler opened the game with a goal from freshmen Emily Chappell, which was followed closely by a heads up goal by senior Annie Tilton from a shot from fellow senior Julia LaPoint. In the second period Knoedler lifted the puck over Quad Cities’s goaltender’s shoulder on a rebound from sophomore Lauren Beuke. Tilton followed closely with her second goal off of a pass from junior Casey Bouskill. Beuke skated coast to coast and scored an insurance goal at the end of the second period, leaving the game at 5-0, Irish. The Irish were backed up throughout the game by solid goaltending by senior Mindy Stack, who left with another shutout.

Saturday night’s game was hard fought as Notre Dame faced-off against UW LaCrosse, a team them had never seen before. Chappell opened the game with a goal off of a pass from Knoedler, which really got the two teams rallying. With only two minutes left in the first period LaCrosse put in 2 goals, but the Irish did not just sit back and watch. Chappell scored again at the opening of the second period from Knoedler. After 2 more goals from LaCrosse in the third period, Notre Dame responded with a one-timer pass from Chappell to Beuke for the goal. LaCrosse scored once more, and after pulling the goalie the Irish could not pull out another goal, leaving the final score at 5-3, LaCrosse.

Sunday morning, bright and early, the girls were off to their third game, this time against Northwestern. Tilton started the game off for the Irish with a goal halfway through the first period off of a pass from LaPoint. In the second period Beuke passed to Knoedler in position in front of the net. At the end of the second period, Chappell scored off of Beuke’s shot on net, leaving the final score of the game at 3-0, Irish.

Notre Dame got a second shot against UW LaCrosse on Sunday for the championship game. They came out roaring and scored the first goal in the middle of the second period with a shot from Beuke and an assist from Knoedler. LaCrosse responded at the period’s end with a goal, and scored twice more in the third period. After getting two penalties within the last 2 minutes of the game, Notre Dame pulled their goalie and stacked the ice 6 against 3. They were unable to put one in, but the Irish skated away from the tournament in 2nd place, the highest position the club has ever achieved.

February 9-11, 2007

After splitting with Northwestern in January, the Notre Dame women’s ice hockey club was ready for another strong match-up in Lincolnshire, IL this weekend. On Saturday night Notre Dame came out strong, scoring three times in the first period. The first goal came from sophomore Lauren Beuke with an assist from sophomore Margaret Knoedler and freshmen Emily Chappell. Only three minutes later Knoedler scored with an assist from Chappell. With a minute left in the first period Chappell scored an unassisted goal, taking the Irish into the 2nd period.

Knoedler scored again to open the 3rd period with an assist from Beuke. Beuke scored again on a power play off of a pass from senior Julia LaPoint. The final goal was scored by Knoedler, giving her a hat trick for the game, and was assisted by junior Casey Bouskill. The final score of the game was 6-0, Irish, as senior Mindy Stack earned a well-deserved shut out.

Early Sunday morning the teams faced off again to what proved to be an equally successful game. The first Irish goal did not come until the 2nd period when Chappell, assisted by Knoedler, ripped home a shot It was followed shortly by a goal from Knoedler, with an assist from sophomore Amy Wilhelmy. Beuke got the next goal on a pass from LaPoint, which was followed shortly by a goal from senior Annie Tilton off of a pass from LaPoint. Beuke tipped in a shot from Wilhelmy, which was followed only 31 seconds later by a goal by Chappell from Knoedler.

Chappell scored again unassisted to start the third period. Northwestern scored their first goal of the weekend with only 3 minutes left in the game, but the Irish responded with an unassisted goal from sophomore Sarah Williams. The Irish won 8-1, as Notre Dame had a whopping 48 shots on net. The club record is currently 16-5-1.  

February 2-4, 2007

This weekend the Women’s Hockey Club traveled to Chicago to play three different teams. On Friday night they struggled the entire game against The Flash, yet prevailed 3-2. While the Flash scored first in the first period, Notre Dame’s senior Annie Tilton answered with a goal in the second period. In the third period the game picked up and the Irish scored twice more. First, freshmen Emily Chappell scored with an assist from sophomore Margaret Knoedler, and then Knoedler found the net, assisted by sophomore Lauren Beuke. The Flash scored once more but the Irish held on for the victory. Saturday night’s game against the Tigers was dominated by Notre Dame. The Irish had four goals in the first period alone. Beuke scored first off of a pass from senior Julia LaPoint, which was followed shortly by Knoedler skating coast to coast and scoring an unassisted goal. After another goal from LaPoint and a goal by freshmen Megan Aimola from Beuke, the first period ended with The Irish up 4-0. Chappell scored an unassisted goal in the second period. Senior goaltender Mindy Stack played an outstanding game as she backed up the Irish defensively. The Tigers broke their scoreless run with a goal within the last minute of playing time, but the Irish stayed on top with the final score at 5-1.

On Sunday morning Notre Dame faced off with the Penguins, their final opponent for the weekend. Chappell opened the first period with a goal assisted by Knoedler and sophomore Amy Wilhelmy. The Tigers answered with a goal, but remained scoreless for the rest of the game. The Irish scored twice more, both in the third period. Tilton set up Beuke for a clean shot into the net, and Chappell clinched the game with another goal, assisted by Knoedler. The final score was 3-1 Irish. The team’s success this weekend helped to boost their overall record to 14-5-1, which is crucial as they start looking at the upcoming playoff games.  

January 19-21, 2007

Notre Dame’s women’s ice hockey club closed its Joyce Center action for the season this weekend by earning a split with Northwestern Sunday morning. The Irish dropped the series opener Saturday evening, 3-2, as they ran into an outstanding Wildcat goalie. Down 2-0 after the first period, the Irish’s Lauren Beuke scored the only goal of the second period, despite the team playing shorthanded through five penalties. Ashley Bozell knotted the score at 2-2, with an assist from Margaret Knoedler in the third, but the Cats responded and closed the game with a strong defensive effort.

On Sunday the Irish peppered the Northwestern goal throughout the first period, but the score remained 0-0 heading into the second period. Beuke again put the Irish on the board, assisted by Katie Burns and Sarah Williams. The scored held up until the final 1:46, when Northwestern tied the game. However, with 27 seconds left in regulation, Burns found the back of the net on an assist from Annie Tilton.  

December 1-3, 2006

 On Saturday December 2nd the Women’s Ice Hockey team traveled to St. Louis for three non-league games. Saturday night the team faced off against the St. Louis Surge. Notre Dame started out slow falling behind 1-0 in the first period. Once they adjusted to the frigid temperature of the outdoor rink, the Irish stepped up their level of play and tied the score on a two on one pass from junior Kara Brennan to sophomore Margaret Knoedler. Senior Annie Tilton added another goal on a breakaway to give the Irish a 2-1 lead. The Surge tied the game on a power play with only minutes left in the third period, but Knoedler scored again on an assist from freshman Emily Chappell with 45 seconds left giving the Irish a 3-2 victory.

Just after beating the Surge the Irish were back on the ice to take on the St. Louis Herricanes. Notre Dame’s goalie Mindy Stack was strong in net but the Herricanes scored on a first period power play making it 1-0. The Irish peppered the net with shots but could not put one in. With a minute to play Notre Dame pulled their goalie and the advantage created several scoring opportunities, but the final score remained 1-0 Herricanes.

Sunday morning the Irish had a chance to avenge the previous night’s loss in a rematch with the Herricanes. The Herricanes had some scoring chances early in the game but were stopped by Stack. Notre Dame then capitalized on a golden opportunity when Tilton scored on a 5 on 3 power play. Knoedler added her fourth goal of the weekend on the same power play and senior Julia LaPointe capped off the first period scoring to give the Irish a 3-0 lead after one. Stack made some great saves and held the Herricanes scoreless while Tilton scored her second goal of the game. The 4-0 victory added to Notre Dame’s winning record.

November 17-19, 2006

After splitting a pair of season opening games at Ohio State last weekend, the Notre Dame women’s ice hockey club team skated to a 6-0 victory over Club Hot Wings of Rockford, IL at South Bend’s Ice Box. The Irish came out strong, scoring just two minutes into the action on a shot by sophomore Lauren Beuke, a strong defensemen who was pulled up to play forward for the day. With only 15 seconds left in the first period senior Julia LaPoint scored, assisted by junior winger Kara Brennan and sophomore defensemen Katie Burns.

In the second period, Beuke fired home her second goal of the game, off of a pass from sophomore Sarah Williams. LaPoint then scored unassisted on a breakaway. Later in the second period Lapoint scored once more, assisted by sophomore Liz Lefebvre, giving LaPoint her first hat trick of the season. The final Irish goal was scored by senior Annie Tilton, with assists to senior Brittany Hartford and sophomore Margaret Knoedler.

The club will next travel to Missouri to face the St. Louis Surge on December 2nd and 3rd.  

March 31-April 2, 2006

Notre Dame’s women’s ice hockey club concluded their season by taking two of three games in Chicago over the weekend. The Irish split a pair of games with Northwestern, winning Friday, 6-3 before dropping a 4-2 contest on Saturday, and then defeated a women’s club team, Chicago Frozen Snappers, 8-0, later that day.

In Friday’s contest, the Irish broke a scoreless tie 29 seconds into the second period. Senior co-captain Holly Law assisted fellow senior co-captain Jacky Kehler, who scored off a shot to the upper left corner of the net. Kehler capitalized on a rebound off a shot from Law later in the period for her second goal of the game, as Mindy Stack blanked the Wildcats in the second period as well. Northwestern scored twice in the first two minutes of the third period to tie the game before freshman Lauren Beuke scored unassisted for the Irish. Classmate Amy Wilhelmy added an insurance goal, and after Northwestern scored to close to within one goal, Law and Beuke registered goals to secure the win.

On Saturday, Notre Dame scored early in the first period with a goal from Freshman Margaret Knoedler, assisted by Junior Hannah Starner and Amy Wilhelmy, but Northwestern answered back quickly. After a scorless second period, Northwestern scored first in the third. Beuke scored to tie the game, but the Wildcats soon took the lead again. The Irish pulled their goalie in the last minute of the game for the opportunity to tie the score, but Northwestern gained control of the puck and had an open-net goal with 30 seconds remaining to win 4-2.

In their second game of the day, the Irish came out strong against the Frozen Snappers women's team. The already fatigued Irish squad was struggling against the physical play from the Snappers, but Freshman Lauren Beuke, with her fourth goal of the weekend, put the Irish up 1-0 during the first period. Notre Dame's Julia LaPoint took advantage of a power play, scoring the only goal of the second period to put the Irish ahead 2-0. Notre Dame's strong offense dominated the entire third period, putting 6 more goals on the scoreboard for the Irish. Knoedler had a hat trick in the thrid period, and Law, Beuke and Kehler each had a goal. Freshman defenseman Liz Lefebvre, yet another talented Irish rookie, facilitated the explosive offense with two assists and solid defensive play. Irish goalie Mindy Stack, with consistent play and several spectacular stops in the first and third perids, withheld the efforts of the Snappers to earn a shutout. The final score was 8-0.

February 10-12, 2006

In the best weekend showing since sweeping Michigan two years ago, Notre Dame earned a tie and a victory over Illinois at the Joyce Ice Rink this weekend. On Saturday, Saint Mary’s Megan Mattia redirected Liz Lefebvre’s shot on goal to give the Irish a 1-0 lead at the end of the first period. Aided by a pair of Irish penalties, the Illini controlled the second period, scoring early on a breakaway to tie the game. The visitors had several other point blank opportunities, but standout play by goalie Mindy Stack prevented any further damage. A back and forth third period saw each team come up empty on good scoring opportunities, and the game ended in a 1-1 draw.

Sunday’s game also featured great defense and team play from both squads, as the game remained scoreless until the third period. Freshman Lauren Beuke scored for the Irish on a great cross-ice pass from senior Kate Abowd. The Irish scored another goal right away on a great play by Julia LaPoint, assisted by freshman Margaret Knoedler. Although the Illini scored with six minutes remaining in the game, a determined Irish squad led by the stellar play of captains Jacky Kehler and Holly Law shut down Illinois to claim the win.

October 28-30, 2005

Due to a broken water line, the women’s ice hockey game at Bowling Green was cancelled. No date has been determined yet to reschedule the game. 

October 7-9, 2005

Senior Jacky Kehler scored all three goals for the Irish as the women’s ice hockey club tied Iowa State this Saturday on the Cyclones home ice. The season opening series concluded Sunday morning as Iowa State won the second game, 4-3. The Irish were projected to experience a rebuilding season with only five returning players. But if this season opening series is any indication, this club is much improved over a year ago.

Kehler, a defenseman on last year’s squad, was assisted by Julliana Fisher, Katie, Burns, and Amy Wilhelmy in the first game. The Irish took a lead with 3:32 remaining in the game, but the Cyclones scored the tying goal with 2:01 remaining, forcing a scoreless overtime. The Irish held a 34-13 shots on goal advantage, but were unable to convert several scoring opportunities.

The two squads exchanged goals in the Sunday game, with Kehler again scoring the Irish’ first two goals on assists from Lauren Beuke and Holly Law, to knot the contest each time. Beuke assisted Willhelmy with 8:24 remaining in the game, but the Irish could not get the equalizer. First time goalie Mindy Stack had twenty saves in the hard fought game.

February 18-20, 2005

In their last games of the season, the women's ice hockey club traveled to Ann Arbor to face the University of Michigan this weekend. Despite Friday's 9-0 loss to the Wolverines, the Irish women came out full of energy in their game Saturday night scoring 5 goals in the 9-5 loss to Michigan. In their last games for the team, seniors Annemarie Kennedy and Tori Blainey each scored in the first period, with Blainey rifling in a second goal during the second period. Sophomore Julia LaPointe added two goals to the effort. Senior Nell Ryan led the team with her defensive efforts, but in the end, Michigan was too deep and experienced for the Irish. Senior Captain Angelina Zehrbach commended the team for their performance and intensity in both games. 

February 11-13, 2005

Last Saturday the Women's Ice Hockey team lost a hard fought battle against Michigan State 7 to 5. The Irish dominated the Spartans everywhere but the scoreboard, outshooting the Spartans 39 to 10. Megan Mattia led the team with two goals followed by Tori Blainey, Jacky Kehler and Brittany Hartford. Despite the frustrating loss, the Irish came out strong on Sunday and scored the first goal on a heads up play in front of the net by Kara Brennan. However MSU struck back in the third period to tie it up at 1-1. But with less than two minutes left in the game, Tori Blainey rocketed in a goal to put the Irish ahead for good. The Irish coaches Dave Olson and Justin O'Neill were quoted as saying that the girls really came together as a team, worked hard and most importantly, didn't give up, even after the Spartains rallied back. The Irish will finish up their season against the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor next weekend.

December 3-5, 2004

A short-handed women’s ice hockey club dropped two games at Ohio State this weekend, 10-3 and 9-3. The Irish were without the services of several key defensive players in Columbus. In each game, the Irish had more shots on goal than the Lady Buckeyes. Julia LaPointet, Jacky Kehler, and Saint Mary’s Megan Mattia with an assist from Natalie Grasso each scored for the Irish in the first game. Mattia scored twice more in Sunday’s game, with an assist from Erin Walker on the first goal, and LaPointe scored unassisted for the final tally. Kara Brennan played in her debut at defense for the Irish.

November 19 - 21, 2004

The Irish Women's Hockey team suffered two tough losses this weekend at Lindenwood University in St. Louis, MO. The rookie filled Notre Dame team struggled against the veteran Lindenwood players, falling 15-0 on Friday night and 14-0 on Saturday night. The Irish women played with great effort until the end of each game, with the third period being the strongest for the Irish each night. Coach Dave Olson was satisfied with the hard work of the young team and expects better results as the season progresses.