WOMEN'S HOCKEY: Sioux move into first

UND goalie Stephanie Ney hails from a town in the province of British Columbia with an unusual and distinct name -- 100 Mile House.

Her 22 saves Saturday night helped her team accomplish something very special as well.

A 6-1 victory over St. Cloud State to complete a weekend sweep moved the Sioux (7-3-2 league, 8-4-2 overall) into sole possession of first place in the women's Western Collegiate Hockey Association, two points ahead of Wisconsin.

The Sioux have played four more league games than the Badgers, so the achievement is a bit misleading. Yet it's the first time in program history the Sioux have climbed into first place past the first night of the season.

Junior center Sara Dagenais scored twice on perfect setups from teammates and five other Sioux had a goal apiece in a strong performance overall.

"Right now, this is great," Dagenais. "This is a sweep, and it's huge for us. We're going to have fun tonight, but tomorrow it's already in the back of our mind that we're getting ready for Wisconsin."

The Sioux are idle next weekend, then host the Badgers in a major showdown in Grand Forks.

Ney was looking at a shutout until just over five minutes remaining and the Sioux leading 6-0. Brittany Toor banked a shot off Ney's right leg pad and into the net when left unchecked in front.

"I got a piece of it, so I was there, but it just trickled in," Ney said.

Ney said she tried not to think of a shutout possibility. "It was in the back of my head," she said. "I was a little disappointed when they scored."

Sioux coach Brian Idalski certainly wasn't disappointed in the overall performance by his team after expressing displeasure with the play in Friday's 6-3 victory.

"I thought we were a lot sharper in our own end," Idalski said.

Balanced play by a team unable to field a full squad because of injuries keyed this victory.

The Sioux built a 5-0 lead on two goals by Dagenais and one each by Alyssa Wiebe, Jordan Slavin and Kelsey Ketcher before one of the dynamic Lamoureux twins scored a goal for UND.

Joycelyne Lamoureux, who had a hat trick Friday, added UND's final goal in the last period, her team-leading 12th of the year.

"The other kids came out, played well," Idalski said. "I thought St. Cloud did a nice job using some of their bigger, stronger kids to try to slow down the twins. It was nice our kids stepped up, because that's what we need to be successful."

The shorthanded Sioux took a hit when defenseman Kayla Berg drew a major for crosschecking and game misconduct late in the first period.

The Sioux shut down the Huskies on the 5-minute power play, outshooting them 3-2 and not allowing a score.

Ney, unbeaten this season with a 4-0-2 record, was solid throughout.

"She plays a style where you feel pretty comfortable," Idalski said. "She squares up. You know she's going to stop the ones she's supposed to. I was disappointed we weren't able to finish that (the shutout) for her."

But the bigger picture is that the Sioux wake up this morning alone in first place in the WCHA, a landmark for this program.

"We're happy with that, we're excited," Ney said. "This is big. We had to get these points this weekend."