“She’s not feeling good at all,” her mother said to the St. Paul Pioneer Press last week.
On Wednesday, the WCHA ruled that there would be no suspension for Farrell but mentioned that internal action had been taken. Minnesota coach Laura Halldorson declined to comment on the incident to the Minnesota Daily or the Star-Tribune.
While Farrell will not face any disciplinary action, Colgate’s Allison Paiano and Dartmouth’s Canadian Olympian Cherie Piper were not as lucky. Both received major penalties for fighting and game disqualifications, which carry with them one-game suspensions.
Dartmouth won the game 8-0.
Piper’s suspension comes at a particularly bad time. Dartmouth plays a two-game set at No. 9 Mercyhurst this weekend. The Big Green has experience playing without Piper—she had already missed games for the Four Nation’s Cup in November and a Canadian national team camp in January.
There was another incident of ugliness in the aftermath of a WCHA game between Wisconsin and St. Cloud St. on Friday. Fighting broke out in the corner just as the benches were emptying for players to shake hands. St. Cloud’s Erin McNamara received a game disqualification, but it was later rescinded.
Still The Best
In a departure from what has become the norm, there was little controversy in this weekend’s series between No. 2 Minnesota-Duluth and No. 3 Minnesota.
In their most recent meeting, in December, Duluth’s Maria Rooth—the 2001 Frozen Four MVP—separated her shoulder when she was hit by Kelly Stephens.
But this weekend went by without incident. Duluth pounded the Gophers 7-1 on Friday night, but Minnesota bounced back to defeat the Bulldogs 4-2 on Saturday. Because Minnesota-Duluth swept the first two meetings, it is still in control in the WCHA title race.
After Friday night’s games, when Harvard tied St. Lawrence and the Bulldogs won convincingly, the Crimson lost its top spot in the USCHO.com Pairwise Rankings, which are the best available indicator of the NCAA selection process. But Duluth’s defeat on Saturday combined with the Crimson’s victory put Harvard back on top.
In the USCHO.com poll released yesterday, the Crimson lost one of the 15 first-place votes to the Bulldogs but still convincingly maintained its No. 1 ranking. Harvard’s 19-game unbeaten streak is still far and away the longest in the nation.
—Staff writer David R. De Remer can be reached at remer@fas.harvard.edu.