Räty and company set NCAA wins record as women stay undefeated

By now we have all heard the quote “records are meant to be broken”. The follow up questions is, where will the new record stop.

The University of Minnesota women’s hockey team set an NCAA record for posting 22 consecutive wins, following the series sweep of Minnesota State University – Mankato this past weekend.

The record dates back to last season, when the Gophers defeated the University of North Dakota 5-2 at Ridder Arena on Feb. 18, 2012.

Minnesota defeated the Mavericks 3-0 on Friday and followed it up with an impressive 9-1 win on Saturday. The twelve combined goals for the Maroon and Gold on the weekend don’t completely tell the story.

On paper, it appears to be a dominant couple victories. Friday’s three goal output was actually the team’s lowest of the season to date. Senior goaltender Noora Räty made 24 saves in the tough home victory. MSU actually held Minnesota scoreless for the first 34 minutes of the contest. That is rarefied air against one of the most potent teams in Division I women’s hockey history.

Räty may actually be the team’s MVP this season. The shutout Friday was her sixth of the season in thirteen games. She also is posting a .967 save percentage to go with a 0.67 goals against average. Those are numbers that will keep her in high regard when the voting comes around for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award at the end of the season.

The Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award is given out annually to the best player in Division I women’s hockey.

Friday’s victory tied the Gophers with the 2008 Harvard University women’s hockey team that won 21 consecutive games.

The 9-1 win that set the record on Saturday was also pretty tough for Minnesota in the beginning. The team was actually tied with the Mavericks after the 1st Period 1-1. Minnesota would go on to rally off back to back four goal periods to close out the record setting weekend.

These two victories now have them 14-0-0 overall and 10-0-0 in the WCHA on the season. Minnesota will travel to the Whittemore Center in Durham, N.H. near the campus of the University of New Hampshire this Saturday and Sunday.

It will be hard to pick against Minnesota until they lose this season. The answer to when this consecutive wins streak stops, may not be answered for quite some time.