WCHA 2015-16 Women’s Season Preview

North Dakota senior goaltender Shelby Amsley-Benzie (MHM Photo / Brent Cizek)

NORTH DAKOTA

Coach: Brian Idalski, 9^th season

Last season: 22-12-3, finished in third place (16-9-3-1, 61 pts.) and qualified for WCHA Final Face-Off

Key losses: Graduated Josefine Jakobsen (16g-11a=27pts) and Andrea Dalen (11g-15a=26pts), who both were double-digit goal scorers.

Key returnees: Shelby Amsley-Benzie shared all-league goalie honors with Mowat and was a second-team All-American last year after leading the country with a .952 save percentage. UND will have veterans Gracen Hirschy and Halli Krzyzaniak, a second-team All-WCHA defender and veteran of the Canadian National Team that competed at the 2015 Worlds, are back to anchor a stout blue line. Senior Meghan Dufault (11g-20a=31pts), and juniors Becca Kohler (11g-19a=30pts) and Amy Menke (15g-13a=28pts) are proven scorers.

Top newcomers:  Defenseman Anna Kilponen and forward Vilma Tanskanen played on the Finnish National Team. That pair and forward Rebekah Kolstad are expected to contribute right away, said Idalski.

Outlook: Ranked No. 6 in the country in the USCHO.com preseason poll and predicted to finish third in the WCHA preseason coaches’ poll. UND has been a fixture in the first division in the last five years and, with an enticing mix of veteran talent and exciting newcomers, should be a contender again.