Jan. 24, 2008
Women’s Ice Hockey
[USCHO]

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - Bemidji State University women’s hockey goaltender Emily Brookshaw (Sr., Webster, Wisc.) allowed just two goals and had 63 saves in two games against the University of North Dakota on Jan. 11-12 at John Glas Fieldhouse. For her performance, U.S. College Hockey Online recently announced that she had been named its USCHO Division I Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this year.

Brookshaw had 30 saves and allowed just one goal in the first game of the series, which was a 4-1 victory for the Beavers. It was the first Western Collegiate Hockey Association win of the season for BSU. She had another outstanding performance in the second game, saving 33 shots in the 1-0 loss to the Fighting Sioux. She played all 120 minutes in net for the Beavers, had a .970 save percentage and had an unbelievable 1.00 goals-against average in the series.

The first goal allowed by the senior netminder was scored when UND was skating with a 6-on-3 advantage, and the second goal was scored with the Fighting Sioux on the power-play. She never allowed an even-strength goal to North Dakota, which is the case with most opponents she has faced this season.

She is currently 20th in the nation in goals-against average (2.55), ninth in save percentage (.925) and second in minutes played (1,386:41).

She is also currently ranked fourth all-time in WCHA history in saves (2,731), sixth in games played (101), seventh in minutes played (5,536:23) and tied for 14th in saves (6).

This marks the second time this year she has been named USCHO Defensive Player of the Week after receiving the award on Nov. 27 for her performance against then-No. 2 Wisconsin.

Brookshaw shut out the two-time defending national champions on Nov. 24 en route to a 0-0 tie with the Badgers. She was peppered with shot after seemingly endless shot, but fended off all of a career-high 50 attempts on goal during not only three periods but also an overtime stanza.

She led the way for BSU’s first-ever shutout against Wisconsin in the 36-game series, and was also the biggest reason why Bemidji State became just the fifth team in the past six years that can boast a shutout of the Badgers. They have yet to be shut out again since being blanked by the Beavers. The tie also snapped a 20-game losing streak to Wisconsin.

Brookshaw is the only player in the country to be named USCHO Defensive Player of the Week on more than one occasion this season. She is also the only WCHA player to be named USCHO Player of the Week (Offensive or Defensive) on more than one occasion and, along with Britney Selina from Clarkson University and Meghan Agosta from Mercyhurst College, is one of only three players in the entire nation to be named player of the week twice.

This is the third time Brookshaw has received the USCHO Division I Defensive Player of the Week award in her stellar four-year career wearing the green and white.

She first won the award during her sophomore year on Jan. 11, 2006. She turned aside 44-of-47 shots from the University of Minnesota in a weekend series. She saved 16-of-18 shots in a relief appearance in the first meeting with the then-No. 5 Gophers. She started the second game of the series and turned away 28-of-29 shots, leading Bemidji State to a 2-1 victory over Minnesota. Brookshaw’s performance helped give BSU its first win over the Golden Gophers in program history.

Her first award this year made her the first BSU player to receive national honors since Nikki Eckebrecht (2003-07) was named Offensive Player of the Week on Dec. 20, 2006.

Brookshaw is one of five Beavers to earn the award in its nine-year history, and the only one to earn it three times in a career. She is also just one of two BSU players, the other being Jill Luebke (2002-06), to earn the award more than once in a career.

Bemidji State (4-19-3, 1-17-2 WCHA) will be taking this weekend off before hosting a two-game stint with No. 4 Minnesota Feb. 1-2. The puck will drop at 2:07 p.m. for both contests.

USCHO DIVISION I WOMEN’S PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: January 15, 2008
Offensive Player of the Week: Sarah Vaillancourt, Harvard University
Defensive Player of the Week: Emily Brookshaw, Bemidji State University

--bsu--