The UND women’s hockey team will enjoy a break from the ice for the long weekend before it gears up to face Minnesota next weekend — most of the team at least.

While most of the team is on break, a few are participating in the Four Nations Tournament held in Lake Placid, N.Y., Tuesday through Saturday.

The players taking part for UND are team captain Michelle Karvinen and Susanna Tapani for Team Finland and Johanna Fallman for Team Sweden. Former UND players Jocelyne and Monique Lamoureux are playing for Team USA.

UND is coming off a sweep of Bemidji State where North Dakota posted 6-2 and 5-1 victories. Young players step up to help seal the victories while some key players missing due to the Four Nations tournament.

Many of the players will be heading home to enjoy the break and spend some time with friends and family, according to redshirt freshman Amanda Koep.

In her “Koep’s Corner” blog, published on UNDsports.com, she will be keeping everyone up to date on what is happening with the women’s hockey team throughout the season with a unique angle as a player.

“Even though we have this coming weekend off from games, it is giving us the opportunity to improve on fundamentals, systems and special teams,” Koep said in her blog, “We also like to have a little fun and take this time to relax and even visit Greg, our team psychologist.”

Koep also stated the team will be catching up on rest and homework as it will make sure to enjoy this break off before things start to get heated when they face Minnesota and Wisconsin before Thanksgiving break.

With the season well underway, the team has gotten to know one another and has started to get comfortable in its surroundings.

“I can already tell this is going to be a year to remember,” Koep wrote in her blog. “This is because the team’s chemistry is already incredible for a team with 10 incoming players. As a group, we are always working hard to improve each other’s skill and make each other better.”

After the weekend break, UND will take on Minnesota. The Gophers have been undefeated so far this season, as they are 10-0 overall and 8-0 in the WCHA.

“As we all get extremely restless about the Gopher game coming up it will come down to our upcoming two weeks of practice,” Koep said. “We can’t take a day off, and we won’t.”

Once the long weekend is over and the Four Nations Tournament has been completed, UND’s players will return to the ice to practice for playing the Gopher series. The games will take place in Minneapolis on Nov. 16-17 at 2:07 p.m.

Mariah Holland is a staff writer for The Dakota Student. She can be reached at [email protected].