Newell disrupts sweep, but Bulldogs gain semis
On paper, it appears that the WomenÂ’s WCHA playoffs followed form to create the most competitive league semifinals in the leagueÂ’s history. Top-seeded and No. 1 ranked Wisconsin faces the strongest Ohio State team in that programÂ’s history, followed by the second semi between storied rivals Minnesota-Duluth, the No. 2 seed, and Minnesota, No. 4, on Saturday afternoon at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis.
Form did follow, for Wisconsin, which dispatched North Dakota, for Minnesota, which eliminated Bemidji State, and for Ohio State, which narrowly edged past highly competitive Minnesota State-Mankato – all with two straight victories. Little on the form chart, however, could prepare Minnesota-Duluth for needing three games to escape after an upset loss at the hands of St. Cloud State’s “secret weapon†goaltender Kendall Newell, to squeeze past St. Cloud State in three games.
UMD coach Shannon Miller said sheÂ’s eager for the semifinal match against the Golden Gophers, the team UMD swept to clinch second place two weeks ago, and who remain the main hurdle between the Bulldogs and a potential NCAA tournament berth.
“I love playing the Gophers,†said Miller. “ThatÂ’s who weÂ’ve always wanted to play.Ââ€
There may have been some relief amid her enthusiasm, just to get to this weekendÂ’s semifinals. Seventh-place St. Cloud State was 0-10-2 against the top three finishers in the WCHA, but the Bulldogs knew all about Newell, after her sensational performance in a long scoreless game that wound up a 1-0 UMD victory in January. But Newell, a junior from Phoenix, Ariz., never touched the ice again after that 1-0 UMD loss, sitting out the last five weeks of the WCHA season for reasons known only to first-year Huskies coach Jeff Giesen.
Newell is part of a three-goaltender routine with senior Lauri St. Jacques and junior Carman Lizee, and unlocking the hunches of a hockey coach choosing which goalie to play would take a master safe-cracker who does psycho-analysis on the side. In the coachÂ’s defense, all three goalies have played well at times, and St. Jacques had the most victories, with six.
To say NewellÂ’s season looks irregular is an understatement. She started three of the first five games, then sat out 12 straight, started four in a row, sat two, played the 1-0 classic in Duluth, then sat the next 11, while St. Jacques started nine and Lizee two.
The most compelling statistic going into the playoffs was that in the 12 games against Wisconsin, UMD, and Minnesota, Newell had a remarkable 1.98 goals-against average, a .944 save percentage, with an 0-2-2 record in five games, having stung No. 1 Wisconsin with an overtime loss and two overtime ties. St. Jacques was 0-6 with a 5.59 goals-against and an .828 save percentage, and Lizee was 0-2, with 2.78 and .905 stats.
Giesen decided to go with St. Jacques, and she played well enough with 32 saves, after the Bulldogs jumped to an early lead. Freshman Emmanuelle Blais spotted a gap at the short-side post and drilled a narrow-angle shot from deep in the left corner at 4:36. The Bulldogs sailed off from a 1-1 deadlock to a 4-1 lead when Karine Demeule and Saara Tuominen scored in the second period, and Jessica Koizumi converted a slick pass from Michaela Lanzl midway through the third.
The gritty Huskies, who administered a solid physical thumping to the speedy Bulldogs, rallied up on a daring gamble by Giesen. He pulled St. Jacques with 4:50 remaining and the Huskies trailing 4-1, but on a two-skater power play. Laura Fast scored on the 6-on-3 with 4:50 remaining. He pulled St. Jacques again for the final minute, and St. Cloud’s offensive leader Holly Roberts – who had scored the first-period goal – set up Caitlin Hogan with 25 seconds left. But UMD senior goalie Riitta Schaublin held on for the 4-3 victory.
With the end of the season looming as certain as the 12-inch blizzard blowing in off Lake Superior, Giesen turned to Newell, who didnÂ’t know sheÂ’d play until “about 10 a.m. that day,†she said. “I was so anxious and excited and ready to goÂ…I just kept talking to myself, feeding myself positive thoughts, and focusing on making the first save. After about the first 8 minutes of the game I had finally calmed down and settled into my rhythm, and I felt good.Ââ€
UMD helped her find that rhythm, firing the first six shots of the game. “I really don’t remember many scoring chances, I just remember my nerves were going nuts and I was just so focused on calming myself and getting into a routine,†said Newell.
Laura Fast scored with a Roberts power-play pass at 5:38 when UMD freshman goalie Kim Martin got tangled up behind the net, and the Huskies had their first lead of the series at 1-0. With their confidence shooting to a peak, the Huskies traded rushes with the talented Bulldogs. Roberts scored herself with a big slapshot on another power play late in the period for a 2-0 lead, while Newell stopped all 11 UMD shots. The 2-0 lead lasted until Lanzl knocked in her own blocked pass midway through the second period.
“Lanzl went to pass across, and Brita Schroeder made a great play and blocked the pass,†said Newell. “I was playing the pass across and moving with it, and the failed pass went back to Lanzl, right on her tape, and she banked it off the outside of my knee as I was trying to get back.Ââ€
But that was it. Newell regained her touch to block everything else, ending up with 35 saves, and when Roberts found an empty net with 1:25 to go, the Huskies had a stunning 3-1 victory to square the series 1-1. That forced Game 3 on Sunday afternoon, again at Mars-Lakeview Arena because the UMD men and high school sectional semifinals filled the DECC.
Newell got the start again in Game 3, but things were markedly different from the opening faceoff. The Bulldogs, naturally, played much more intensely. “Our backs were against the wall for the first time,†said UMD coach Shannon Miller. “The key was, we didnÂ’t get lured into a football game, like in the first two games.Ââ€
While the Huskies were effectively physical through the first two games, referee Dan Lick called the penalties even, 12-12 in Game 1, and 8-8 in Game 2, which drew MillerÂ’s ire, particularly after freshman defenseman Sara Murray, called the most improved player on the team by Miller a week earlier, was tripped and hurtled into the boards, suffering a broken ankle that ended her season in Game 2. Lick tightened things up in Game 3, under the watchful eye of officiating supervisor Greg Shepherd, calling the first six penalties against St. Cloud State. By the time Lick switched, and issued four straight penalties to UMD, the Bulldogs had a 2-0 lead. For the game, the Huskies had nine penalties to UMDÂ’s six.
Marin, UMDÂ’s tireless offensive leader, scored her 22nd goal of the season at 1:13 of the first period. “The first goal was huge,†said Miller, “because everybody had a little bit of nervousness.Ââ€
The power-play parade helped, too, and Blais, a slender and lightning-quick freshman from Montreal, drilled a one-timer from wide to the left on a two-skater power play midway through the first session. After scoring seven goals through the first 29 games of her freshman season, Blais made it 2-0 by registering her sixth goal in five games. Blais scored her eighth goal in the second game at North Dakota, scored the first two goals in a 7-1 rout against Minnesota, then added another in the 5-1 second Gopher game, on the final regular-season weekend. She also scored the first goal in playoff Game 1, before her 13th of the season became the ultimate game-winner in Game 3.
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Newell survived several flurries in the second period, used her glove to rob Blais on a breakaway, and, two power plays later, came up with the save when Jessica Koizumi passed to the crease and Tuominen deftly redirected it between her own legs.
“If we would have gotten a goal at that point I feel like we would have been a little bit more confident to claw back into the game,†said Newell. “We weathered the second period fairly well and were getting out of it without a goal, and then the funny bounce came. ItÂ’s always hard allowing a goal with under a minute and a half left in a period.Ââ€
But Newell’s luck ran out when Blais was credited with another goal at 19:23 of the second period, after her hard power-play pass to the right circle hit a defenderÂ’s skate and the ricochet slithered just inside the right post, beating the diving Newell. The goal later was awarded to Saara Tuominen.
The Huskies, still alive with the 3-0 deficit in the third period, got a goal from Meaghan Pezoni, who rifled a great shot into the upper right corner past Kim Martin at 12:21. Newell remained the story of the weekend, but the Bulldogs were not to be denied, and secured the victory when Tawni Mattila scored at 13:58 of the third period, and Marin scored her 23rd on a breakaway that turned into a goal-crashing tally at 16:53.
“When it was 3-1, it was only because of Newell,†said Miller. “She was outstanding in Game 2, and she kept them in it again.Ââ€
Giesen seemed unable to take any solace in his teamÂ’s strong run at UMD. It was suggested to the coach that the Huskies had played hard enough to take the action to the Bulldogs through much of the series. “We always play hard,†he said. “WeÂ’ve proven we can play with anybody.Ââ€
It was further suggested to Giesen that after surviving several flurries, and making some spectacular saves, Newell had given the Huskies a chance to win again in Game 3. “I would like to see a few more saves,†said Giesen. “I looked up one time, and they had two goals, and only 12 shots.Ââ€
Since the Huskies wound up with one goal on 22 shots, only a shutout could have prevented their season from ending 12-18-7. UMD, meanwhile, heads for Ridder Arena and a semifinal date with the Gophers, complete with a 6-1 finishing run, a 22-9-4 overall record, a No. 7 national rank – and a large sigh of relief.
Grand Rapids-Greenway rivals join in girls state effort
Northern Minnesota dominated the boys state hockey tournament for several decades, up until Edina and Bloomington Jefferson wrested control from the Iron Range. But in girls hockey, the North has been slow to develop, with only a few Hibbing, Cloquet, Bemidji and Warroad teams rising above a thin crop.
Section 7AA proved very competitive this season, however, capped when the combined Grand Rapids-Greenway team tripped Cloquet-Esko-Carlton 2-1 in overtime in the final to emerge as the latest challenger to the Twin Cities powerhouses.
Grand Rapids and Greenway of Coleraine merged into one team. Interesting.
The two have been the fiercest of state rivals in boys hockey – right up there with the more storied Roseau-Warroad rivalry. But Roseau and Warroad are 20 miles apart across the borderland. On the West end of the Iron Range, Grand Rapids is the paper-mill town that has jokingly been called “the Edina of the Range,†while Coleraine is only seven miles east and is the start of the hard-core Iron Range. Greenway High School is located in Coleraine, but it draws its students from nearby Bovey, Calumet, Nashwauk, Keewatin, Marble, and various other tiny but once-thriving mining towns.
When Grand Rapids faced Cloquet-Esko-Carlton at the Mars-Lakeview Arena in Duluth, it was interesting to see the Grand Rapids kids sitting in the end section, and the green-and-white jacketed Greenway students in the second section. Emily EricksonÂ’s second-period goal had put Grand Rapids-Greenway ahead 1-0, but midway through the third period, Leanne Gittings of Cloquet smacked in a goal against sophomore Grand Rapids-Greenway goaltender Jessica Havel, tying the game 1-1.
As overtime loomed, the Grand Rapids fans started the usual and traditional, if trite, chant, “We’ve got spirit, yes we do; we’ve got spirit, how about you…†After about the third time that the Lightning fans tried it and the Cloquet fans predictably responded, the Greenway fans stood and cheered with their new partners. If Grand Rapids and Greenway fans can stand together and cheer, no wonder their combined girls hockey team proved strong enough to make it to state with a 21-7 record.
Molly Arola, a sophomore, scored after just 21 seconds of sudden-death overtime to send the Lightning to state. It wonÂ’t hurt the season-long unification of the team that Arola and Erickson are two of the six players from the Greenway school district playing on the team, along with Marina Guyer and Haley Guyer, as well as Emily Erickson and Hana Johnson. The remaining 14 team members are Grand Rapids girls. The amalgamation is interesting, because of some of the traditional names involved. The Guyer name is legendary from Greenway, while Markie DeGrio, Maggie Rothstein, Natalie Newton, and Kayla Clafton are some of the familiar last names from Grand Rapids boys hockey teams of a generation ago.
Grand Rapids teams had to change their name from Indians to the more politically correct Thunderhawks a decade ago, and Greenway, which is the Raiders, came together under the name Lightning.
“ThereÂ’s been no problem putting this team together,†said coach Pat Rendle. “This is the first time weÂ’ve ever gone to state, but thereÂ’s a lot we hadnÂ’t done before that this team accomplished – like beating Hibbing, and beating Cloquet.Ââ€
At the time, Rendle was familiar with Wayzata, which had upset defending champion and undefeated Eden Prairie, snapping the Eagles 57-game winning streak 3-2 in the Section 6 semifinals. He also was familiar with Edina, from the same section, and was ready to face either. “Edina thumped us, and we lost to Wayzata by a goal,†said Rendle. “But weÂ’re a much better team now.Ââ€
However, both Wayzata and Edina met the same fate as Eden Prairie, and Benilde-St. Margaret’s emerged as the Section 6 champion, and will ascend to the favorite’s role with a 24-3-1 record when it faces Grand Rapids-Greenway at 1 p.m. Thursday in the first round of the Class AA tournament. In fact, assessing the tournament might require looking back to the Schwann Cup, which doesn’t have any connection with the Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournament – either girls or boys – and is really a strong cross-reference of top teams that hopes to capitalize on the state tournament to make a little money over the Christmas break.
But this year, it could be a likely harbinger of what will happen, particularly in the girls tournaments. Benilde-St. MargaretÂ’s whipped Blake 6-2 in the Schwann championship game of the girls Blue Division for top-rated teams, and anyone witnessing that one will not be surprised that both teams are in the state tournament. In fact, Benilde is the favorite in Class AA, while Blake is the choice in Class A.
There, thatÂ’s settled.
Actually, Benilde-St. Margaret’s 24-3-1 record represents Section 6 in Class AA for larger schools, and that stands as the best record – particularly after a string of upsets sidelined highly regarded No. 1 ranked Eden Prairie, and No. 2 rated Edina on the same night. So when the Red Knights take the ice Thursday at 1 p.m. against Grand Rapids-Greenway, they will do so as prohibitive favorites in AA.
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The first AA game has Burnsville against North Metro, at 11 a.m. Thursday, while the opening night session will have Bemidji facing Stillwater at 6, and Roseville against Rochester Mayo at 8. Roseville looks like the team hitting a peak at the right time, and with the best chance of getting to the final out of the lower bracket.
Benilde is led by the scoring prowess of seniors Amanda Trunzo, who recorded 42-43—85 for statistics, and Shannon Reilly, a hard-shooting defenseman, plus goaltender Amanda Nagel.
The girls tournament kicks off Wednesday, with the Class A opening round, where Blake puts a 23-4 record out against Breck – also 23-4 – in the 11 a.m. opening game. The battle between long-standing private-school rivals should be interesting, but Blake has not lost since its Christmas break 6-2 setback against Benilde at the Schwann final.
If Benilde and Blake go on to win their championships, everyone will wish for a meeting between the two. Even though they met in that Schwann final. That night, Blake goaltender Rachel Bowens-Rubin had an uncharacteristic bad night, and it was 6-2 after two periods, when she was pulled for ninth-grader Chloe Billadeau, who played brilliantly in shutting out the Red Knights the rest of the way.
Beyond that, Benilde goaltender Nagel proved her value by repeatedly stopping Blake’s aggressive attackers. The Chute Sister act for Blake is, alone, worth the price of admission. Senior Katharine Chute has 38-34—72, and was picked as the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Metro Player of the Year. She is tall, lanky, and elusive. If there is a more dynamic player on the rink, it is sophomore Margaret Chute, who seems to be wherever the puck is at the right time.
They stand to make Blake the favorite in Class A, but Breck, and others, have the credentials to win it all.
After the Blake-Breck game at 11, Alexandria, with the best record in the field at 25-2, will find out at 1 p.m. how much that record is worth against perennial Northern power Hibbing, which has the shakiest record in the field at 14-11-2. The opening night bracket in A finds Crookston (23-3-1) facing Marshall (21-7) at 6 p.m., followed by the 8 p.m. finale between Farmington (21-5-1) and Austin (24-3).
There is only slim hope that the Northern Minnesota teams can swipe a championship, although Hibbing and Alexandria are present in Class A, and Bemidji knows its way around Class AA – along with Grand Rapids-Greenway, the new kids on the block, from an old traditional pair of Iron Range rivals.
UMD women a-Blais, leave Gophers becalmed
Nobody personifies the University of Minnesota-DuluthÂ’s fantastic hockey weekend, and the whole Bulldog women’s season for that matter, better than Emmanuelle Blais. The slim and quick freshman winger from Montreal became the calm before the storm for the Bulldogs. Or maybe the calm DURING the storm.
Blais scored three goals and set up two more, all of them at pivotal points, as she set the tempo for a goal-scoring festival that trampled arch-rival Minnesota 7-1 and 5-1 in their season-ending series to decide second place in the WCHA.
The season-long struggle with injuries is over, and just about everybody got back in time to celebrate. “WeÂ’re the little engine that could,†said UMD coach Shannon Miller. “We wanted to beat Â’em, and we did; we wanted to sweep Â’em, and we did.Ââ€
Finishing second means a 19-6-3 league record (20-8-4 overall) and the playoff chance to play host to seventh-place St. Cloud State this weekend, a team UMD has beaten four times, and outscored 13-2. “Now that we have our depth back, our focus is going to be on ourselves,†said Miller.
Blais wonÂ’t be taking anything for granted, but sheÂ’s a different player now. She had worked hard all season, and looked good in speedy flashes while scoring eight goals this season and filling a support role as a freshman. When the injuries got up to eight or nine missing players, she had to play more and acquired more responsibility. She was pressing a little, or a lot, right up until the season-ending series against the Gophers. Then everything changed.
“I got to play more when we had players injured,†Blais said. “But really, the difference was that I had a talk with coach Ouellette.Ââ€
That would be Caroline Ouellette, former UMD and Canadian Olympic star who this year joined Joakim Flygh as an assistant coach. Ouellette is also French-Canadian, so, on UMDÂ’s multi-national roster, she speaks the language for Blais, in more ways than one.
“I had the chance to play with her before,†said Blais. “So I know her. She didnÂ’t really tell me what to do, we just talked, but it really helped me. When we came into this weekend, I didnÂ’t have anything in my mind. My problem is that I had thought too much before. She told me to just not think about anything, to be more calm.Ââ€
If Blais was calm, she seriously jangled the Gophers nerves.
Miller kept Blais with Saara Tuominen, a center from Finland and another of the seven freshmen in the lineup, and left wing Jessica Koizumi, just back from a knee injury but still braced heavily. The setting for the games was changed to Mars-Lakeview Arena, because the usual DECC was being used for a boat show. A bright and shiny facility that seats only 1,500, Mars-Lakeview is the newest arena in Duluth, located at Marshall High School, just above Skyline Drive.
Game one, introductions over, tension high, first minute of play. Tuominen won a left corner faceoff and took the puck behind the Minnesota goal, passing out front. Blais smacked it past goaltender Kim Hanlon, and UMD led 1-0 at 1:00. The standing-room crowd went properly wild, waving banners and all.
A minute later, Minnesota takes a penalty. Miller sends Blais right back out and – bang – she scores again, knocking in a loose puck after Noemie Marin’s shot from the right side. It was 2-0, and Blais had her ninth and 10th goals of the season when the game was only 2:38 old.
If she was still calm, she was the only calm one in the building. Minnesota, bristling with skilled players, was pinned into its own end by the supercharged Bulldogs, although the game stayed 2-0 until 8:37 of the second period. Then Marin scored, making a great move to her backhand to beat a defenseman coming out of the left corner. Barely a minute later, Michaela Lanzl got the puck deep on the left boards, carried to the net and jammed a shot off Hanlon and in to make it 4-0. With 31 seconds to go in the rousing second period, it was Blais again, this time sending a perfect pass to Tuominen, whose one-timer from the slot hit Hanlon and trickled through, making it 5-0 at the second intermission.
Minnesota got one, when Erica McKenzie raced up the left side and beat UMD freshman and former Swedish Olympic star Kim Martin with a low shot at 6:52 of the third period. Obviously, 5-1 was still substantial, but Elin Holmlov, another freshman from Sweden, scored midway through the final period, and added another goal five minutes later after Marin’s slick drop pass – her third assist of the night.
UMD coasted home 7-1 to a victory that meant Minnesota could not catch the Bulldogs for second place. So aroused were the Bulldogs that even though their edge in shots was only 34-25, they had a whopping 72-48 edge in total attempts. Somebody, believe it or not, asked Minnesota coach Laura Halldorson afterward what she thought about UMDÂ’s DEFENSE!
After a pause, Halldorson said: “I was more impressed with their offense. We never got anything going. We got outplayed, and it was a disappointing loss, but usually they get pretty fired up to play us.Ââ€
Miller said she loved the arena atmosphere. “The fans were great, with all the signs and the cowbells,†she said. “Our entire team is finally back together, and we came out and we jumped. Any time you play a great opponent, you want to put them on their heels. We did that.Ââ€
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Everybody in the building knew that the Gophers would come out more forcefully on Sunday, and that Game 2 would be different. They did, but it wasnÂ’t.
Kim Martin stopped all 10 first-period shots by the Gophers, and started “Blaising†at 6:37, when Blais fed Tuominen for a goal and a 1-0 head start. It was a much tougher and much closer game, and it stayed 1-0 until 17:25, when Lanzl, a speedy sophomore who was GermanyÂ’s best player in the 2006 Olympics, raced up the right side, cut in hard and did a neat little hop-step over a defensemanÂ’s stick, shooting as she landed. “Five hole,†said Lanzl. “She went down, and there was nobody else with me, so I shot. This atmosphere is so great.Ââ€
Just like Saturday, Sunday afternoonÂ’s rematch started 2-0 in the first period. And, just like Saturday, the Bulldogs volleyed in three more in the second, including one in the last minute, to make it 5-0. The decisive third goal came at 1:34 of the middle period, when Jill Sales fed Tuominen, who hit Blais, who was blazing up the left side. She ducked by a checker to turn a 2-on-2 into a 2-on-1, and when she cut for the goal, she looked to pass, then snapped a shot that beat Hanlon cleanly to the short side, making it 3-0.
Midway through the second period, Lanzl swiped the puck and passed to Marin, who walked in on the right and scored for a 4-0 count. At 19:10, Sara O’Toole – another returnee from rehab – came off the bench on a late change and somehow hid at the Gopher blue line. Ashly Waggoner passed her the puck and O’Toole cruised in to score on the solo dash to make it 5-0.
The Gophers kept battling, outshooting UMD 11-5 in the third period, and getting a goal when Dagney Willey scored with each team a skater short. When it was over, Minnesota had outshot UMD 33-23, but Martin had stopped 32 of them. “We played a lot better, a lot harder,†said Halldorson. “It was closer than a 5-1 game.Ââ€
But it seemed like 5-1 to Hanlon, who missed 14 games early in the season, and has had to play every game since fellow sophomore Brittony Chartier left school to return to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, at midseason. She recalled watching from the sidelines when Minnesota beat UMD 5-1 and 1-0 on the first weekend in November.
“I remember watching,†she said. “But now, all of us need to show up at the same time. TheyÂ’re fast, and they use their speed to their advantage. I didnÂ’t play as well as I could have, but they made a lot of great plays.Ââ€
Those great plays were rare when the injuries led to some UMD inconsistency during a 1-7-1 stretch before Christmas. But the Bulldogs seemed to regain more than just good health, as they moved the puck freely, passing with more sharp precision than at any time this season. With playoffs coming up, the resurgence couldn’t have come at a better time. Same for the experience. It may still say “freshman†after names like Emmanuelle Blais, Saara Tuominen, Elin Holmlov, and defensemen Sarah Murray, Jaime Rasmussen, and Heidi Pelttari, and goaltender Kim Martin – but all of them are remaining calm, and playing like hard-core veterans.
Nichols aims for perfect 4-for-4 finish to Gopher career
Andrea Nichols picked a good time to have a three-point game – her final regular-season home game for the University of Minnesota – and the Golden Gophers needed her goal and two assists to hold off Bemidji State 5-3 and gain a split of their weekend series. The victory, and the split, set up high drama for the final weekend of league play, when Minnesota travels up Interstate 35 to take on arch-rival Minnesota-Duluth.
With the Gophers trailing UMD by two points, second place in the WCHA is hanging on the series outcome. If Minnesota should win SaturdayÂ’s first game, the two would be exactly tied in points and second place would come down to Sunday afternoon in the WomenÂ’s WCHA final regular-season game.
There are other WCHA questions yet to be answered. For example, Ohio State (11-11-4) and Minnesota State-Mankato (12-12-2) are dead even for fourth and fifth places, and they collide in a final series at Columbus this weekend. Their battle will determine the fourth and final home-ice spot for the playoffs, which, of course, start with team five at team four in a best-of-three, so this weekendÂ’s outcome will decide where theyÂ’ll collide again.
Of course, the Minnesota-UMD outcome this weekend also carries an “I-got-you-last†psychological edge for the upcoming playoffs. The rivalry was just as big as it was five years ago, when Nichols was a pint-sized but irrepressible scoring machine at Hibbing High School, and both Minnesota and UMD sought her services in exchange for a signed tender. She chose Minnesota, and the next four years have proven that you can take the girl out of the North Country, but you can’t take the North Country out of the young woman. She knows Duluth is closer to home, and she is well aware of how UMD won the first three NCAA national championships, then, when Nichols showed up at Minnesota, the Gophers accounted for the next two, before they lost to Wisconsin in last year’s title game.
“Four years have gone by fast, but in my three years here, weÂ’re 3-for-3 making the Frozen Four,†Nichols said. “We have two firsts and one second. ThatÂ’s not bad. But it would be great to make it all four years.Ââ€
To say Nichols has been a solid and steady contributor takes on extra significance because Nichols has played more college hockey games than any other current player in the WCHA. Her 144 games in a Gopher uniform are one more than Wisconsin’s Sara Bauer – so when Nichols talks about the UMD-Minnesota rivalry’s place in women’s hockey history, she has personal ownership in a lot of the details.
“Not only are we playing for second place, but for national rankings,†said Nichols, after her goal and two assists helped subdue Bemidji State last Saturday. “Going into the weekend, we were ranked ninth and they were eighth, so wherever we are ranked, these games will affect it.Ââ€
For her career, Nichols has 41-37—78 over 144 games, including 13-8—21 this season, as an always-hustling left winger on the third line. Bigger scorers on the top two lines see a lot more duty on power plays, but her 13 goals rank Nichols third on the team behind only Gigi Marvin, a sophomore on the first line who has 17 goals, and Bobbi Ross, a junior who centers the second line and has 15 goals. At that, Nichols shares the team lead in even-strength goals with Ross at 11, because 9 of Marvin’s 17 goals have come on the power play.
Nichols grew up in Mountain Iron, and enrolled at Hibbing while in junior high because she was ready to play high school hockey before anyone other than Hibbing had established itself in girls hockey. Her team concept made her captain last year as a junior, and this year she and Ross are co-captains. That only intensifies her curiosity about the inconsistency that has afflicted the Gophers in the last six weeks.
Bristling with talent, and capable of displaying great firepower from three lines, Minnesota was flying high after a 10-game winning streak through the end of December, including eight straight victories in a WCHA run – which started, incidentally, with a 5-3, 1-0 sweep against UMD at Ridder Arena. But when the second semester started in January, that streak was snapped by five losses in the next six games, starting with a home ice sweep at the hands of league champion Wisconsin, by 4-1, 3-0 scores. More startling, Minnesota next went to Ohio State and got drubbed 7-1. The Gophers bounced back for a 3-1 victory in the rematch, but the following weekend, the Gophers went to Mankato and were swept 3-2 and 4-3 by Minnesota State-Mankato, allowing UMD to catch and pass the Gophers for second place.
All seemed back in place when Minnesota swept North Dakota and St. Cloud State – scoring 19 goals and allowing just 5 in the four games. That four-game mini-streak left the Gophers tied with UMD for second, so both the Gophers and Badgers had reason to look ahead to their season-ending clashes. Sure enough, Bemidji State threw a wrench into the picture by coming into Ridder Arena and stinging Minnesota 2-0. It was only the second time in 33 games, over seven years, that Bemidji had managed to beat Minnesota. But the 28-1-3 Gopher edge meant little against the shutout goaltending of Emily Brookshaw.
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“ItÂ’s hard to pinpoint exactly where the problem has been,†said Nichols. “The competition all around the league is much better, for one thing. Along with Bemidji, Ohio State is tough, and Mankato is good too; theyÂ’ve got some flashy forwards. For a lot of that stretch when we werenÂ’t winning we played well, we just couldnÂ’t find a way to put the puck in the net. It seemed like the harder we tried, the worse things were getting. But in the first game against Bemidj, they outplayed and outworked us.Ââ€
In the second game, Nichols set up Whitney GraftÂ’s first of two goals after just 1:11 of the first period, but Both of GraftÂ’s first-period goals were offset by goals from Tara Hiscock of Bemidji. Nichols scored unassisted midway through the second period, and MarvinÂ’s goal made it 4-2 after two. While outshooting Bemidji 43-25 for the game, the 4-2 lead looked imposing, but BemidjiÂ’s Kelly Hart intercepted the puck and scored on a short-handed breakaway sprint with 1:48 remaining in the game. The solid-looking lead suddenly was 4-3, and suddenly the imposing shot margin was meaningless. It took one more shot, a power-play goal 34 seconds later by Jenelle Philipczyk, to clinch the 5-3 outcome, as Brookshaw made 38 saves.
“I felt confident in my play and how things were going,†said Nichols, after being named No. 1 star for her goal and two assists.
The split dropped Minnesota two points back of the Bulldogs for second, although it hardly relieves the drama. As usual, the Gophers and Bulldogs will start out with an extra twist. The DECC has a rental commitment, so the series will be Saturday and Sunday afternoons at Mars-Lakeview Arena, atop Skyline Drive at Marshall High School. It is the newest arena in Duluth, and while limited in seating, the cozy setting should be perfect because it will only take 1,000 fans to create an exciting atmosphere.
Because of its earlier sweep, Minnesota holds the tie-breaker edge over UMD should they tie, but the bigger drama would come if Minnesota happens to win the first game Saturday, because that would leave Minnesota at 18-8-1 for 37 points, and UMD 17-6-3 for an identical 37 points – a deadlock that would be decided Sunday afternoon in the second game. Needless to say, all the winner of second place really gains is home-ice attributes should they meet in the WCHA playoffs. If the top seeds all advance through the first round of playoffs, the semifinals at Ridder would see the Gophers face – guess who? – UMD for a one-game shot that gives the winner a chance at the WCHA playoff title and, presumably, a higher see for the upcoming NCAA tournament.
Nichols and the Gophers – as well as the Bulldogs – are aware that all of the inconsistencies and flat spots of the season can be overcome with a strong finish. And having the renewal of their rivalry simply means that both teams will get a chance to shift into playoff mode a week early.
Badgers work overtime at UMD to win women’s WCHA
There may be more dramatic games in the upcoming Women’s WCHA and NCAA tournaments, but if not, Wisconsin’s pivotal pair of overtime games at Minnesota-Duluth on the first weekend in February will suffice. It took two nights of near-perfect hockey for the Badgers to fight off the Bulldogs for a 1-1 deadlock, followed by a 2-1 sudden-death Wisconsin victory that earned the Badgers their second straight WCHA title.
The Badgers knew they would be in for a severe test at the DECC, because UMD is the only team to have inflicted a loss on the newest edition of the Big Red Machine this season. That came in a 2-0 victory back about Thanksgiving time, and Wisconsin came back to win 1-0 the next night, and start a run that has now reached 12-0-3. That runs the Badgers up to a 19-1-4 season, and an amazing 25-1-4 overall ledger.
The showdown series of the season was exactly that, as Wisconsin needed at least three points in the two games to capture its second straight league title, and UMD was the only team that could still overtake the Badgers – who last year followed the WCHA title by also winning the league playoff and the NCAA women’s hockey championship.
Wisconsin coach Mark Johnson enjoyed watching the game, and games, and while his team’s second straight WCHA crown seemed only an exponent of the spectacle of the games themselves, Johnson also knows there are more challenges to come. He also said he rather enjoys Wisconsin’s No. 2 rank in national polls, behind Mercyhurst – Mercyhurst? – because it leaves an extra carrot of incentive dangling out ahead, and the WCHA’s fierce competition gives its top teams an edge.
“I told my team that both teams will benefit from this,†said Johnson. “This was typical of a playoff or NCAA game. Look at the games weÂ’ve had with Duluth. WeÂ’ve had to battle at both ends of the ice, and our games have been 2-0, 1-0, 1-1, and 2-1. Duluth has the capacity of beating anyone.Ââ€
Asked about Mercyhurst, Johnson was typically diplomatic. “TheyÂ’re No. 1, and thatÂ’s fine,†he said. “But whoever gets there from our league will benefit from this.Ââ€
The weekend was a showcase of tense, playoff hockey. In the first game, UMD scored a last-minute goal to tie the Badgers 1-1, as UMD freshman goaltender Kim Martin dueled Jessie Vetter through 65 minutes. Martin had by far the tougher duty, making 32 saves, while the Badgers smothered the Bulldogs to make VetterÂ’s night easier, with only 13 stops.
UMD, still playing without four injured regulars, including dynamic senior and offensive catalyst Jessica Koizumi, played a much stronger game in the Saturday rematch. Thanks to goaltender Riitta Schaublin, who more than upheld her end of senior night with 39 saves, the Bulldogs traded rushes with the smooth-running Badger machine for almost the entire game, following the same script with a late goal to forge a 1-1 tie for the second night in a row.
The games were so fast and clean that they could have been penalty-free, but both teams seemed frustrated with referee Jay MendelÂ’s selection of penalties, not the least of which was a tripping call to UMD defenseman Ashly Waggoner at 1:14 of the five-minute overtime. Still, UMD freshman Emmanuelle Blais was the recipient of a rare Wisconsin turnover 15 feet in front of the Badger goal, and she had a startling shorthanded open break, but Wisconsin senior Christine Dufour came up with a huge save, her 28th of the game.
“I almost had a heart attack,†said Johnson. “But our goalie makes the big save.Ââ€
Moments later, Meaghan Mikkelson fed an outlet pass ahead to Meghan Duggan, who relayed a perfect feed to Jinelle Zaugg, a 6-foot-1 junior winger with a reach that seems to be the only thing longer than her great skating stride. Zaugg was crossing the neutral zone, left to right, at full speed when she caught the pass, and UMD coach Shannon Miller said later: “I knew we were in trouble as soon as she caught that pass, because she has such great reach.Ââ€
Zaugg cut into the UMD zone, outflanked the retreating defense, and cut across the goal-mouth, right to left. Schaublin, a 6-footer with great reach herself, stayed with her almost all the way to the far, left pipe – almost. Zaugg sent her forehand shot just between Schaublin’s skate and the left pipe for a power-play goal at 2:02 of the overtime, and Wisconsin had secured a 2-1 victory.
Oh, and by the way, the WCHA season championship along with it.
Not that youÂ’d know it by talking to coach Johnson after the game, because the game itself was all-consuming. “It was a good play all around, with 27 (Mikkelson) moving the puck up to 7 (Duggan), and she got it over to Jinelle. She had speed and momentum, and sheÂ’s got that long reach, and she needed every bit of it.Ââ€
Maybe using numbers is the easiest way to keep his Meaghan/Meghan combination straight, but they are typical of the consistently outstanding style of play Johnson has installed with the Badgers in every zone. They can defuse an equal opponent, and smother a lesser one. They defend their net with poise and precision, with a blue line crew led by co-captain Bobby-Jo Slusar and Mikkelson, both seniors. The two have been vital to the offense – Mikkelson with 8-29—36, and Slusar with 10-17—27 – while the other four defensemen haven’t scored a single goal, but they defend goaltenders Vetter and Dufour mightily.
Up front, Sara Bauer – one of six seniors on the team and last year’s Patty Kazmaier Award winner – has been both an inspirational and productive leader with 18-34—52, while her junior left winger, Zaugg, a junior, is one of five homestate Wisconsin players, is the team’s goal-scoring leader with 21-15—36. Freshman right winger Duggan stands at 20-19—39 after her goal and assist in the 2-1 victory. The other three lines contribute great balance and also show the benefit of Johnson’s smooth-fitting machine, whether breaking out of their end, sweeping across the neutral zone, or pinning foes into the offensive end with a stifling and supportive forecheck.
Bauer is only 5-foot-3, almost a foot shorter than Zaugg, but Bauer doesn’t look short, not with Erika Lawler coming out at center on the following shift. Lawler, a sophomore, is only 5-foot-0, but adds a quick, smart impact. She has 7-23—30, with her 23rd assist on the first goal in the Saturday game, when she recovered the puck on a rush and fed Duggan, who carried in on the left side and drilled a perfect shot, high to the far side, to beat Schaublin with 59 seconds remaining in the first period.
That goal, giving Wisconsin a 1-0 lead, climaxed a stirring period. The Badgers had a 12-11 edge in shots, and, as Johnson said, “They could put a video of that away as a showcase for womenÂ’s hockey.Ââ€
The 1-0 lead stood through the second and third periods, although Schaublin had to be brilliant to stop repeated attacks in the scoreless second period, when Wisconsin had a 16-5 edge in shots. It was 12-12 in the third. “For the first four or five minutes of the game, we had a good pace, but then in the next seven or eight minutes, they had four real good scoring chances,†said Johnson, recalling the flow of the game as if he had it on video inside his head.
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From UMDÂ’s standpoint, the Senior Night performance was highly emotional, although sophomore Michaela Lanzl, a 5-foot-2 speedster from German, had an outstanding weekend and accounted for many of UMD’s best threats. “We have no superstars on this team, just a super team,†said coach Miller. “We still have four players out, and with the depleted roster we had, this was a great weekend for us. We had to go and go, push and push. We gave it everything we had, and IÂ’ll take it – going into overtime both nights against Wisconsin.Ââ€
The two games were similar, but different. In the first game, Emily Kranz beat Martin with a high backhander from the right side after one of dozens of scrambles at the UMD crease, and the goal came with 2:03 left in the first period. Martin then held the fort, as Wisconsin buttoned the Bulldogs into their own end, outshooting them 9-1 in the period. UMD didnÂ’t get its first shot of the third period until midway through, meaning the Â’Dawgs got only one shot for a full 30-minute span in the middle of the game.
“They outplayed us, and outshot us,†Miller said. “But sometimes you could have 100 shots and not score, but as long as it stayed 1-0, we didnÂ’t need a lot of shots – we just needed one goal.Ââ€
The break came when Wisconsin iced the puck, a rare flaw, in the final minute. Miller got Martin out of the game for a sixth attacker. “First, you obviously have to win the draw, then get the shot through,†said Miller.
Saara Tuominen, a freshman from Finland, won the right corner faceoff, and got the puck to Elin Holmlov, a freshman forward from Sweden who was at center point. After countless UMD shots had been blocked by WisconsinÂ’s bunching defense, Holmlov found an opening and sent a hard wrist shot through traffic. Vetter spotted the puck late, but blocked the shot. But Noemie Marin, another of UMDÂ’s seniors, backhanded the rebound in with 47 seconds remaining for the 1-1 tie.
The second game similarities were that Duggan also gave Wisconsin a 1-0 lead late in the first period, and UMD again scored late in the third, this time when Tawni Mattila won a right-corner faceoff, and the puck got bunted back to Finnish freshman Heidi Pelttari, who fired a shot. The puck came out to Karine Demeule, whose 11th goal of the season was the 1-1 equalizer.
This time, however, Zaugg brought victory to the Badgers.
“Again we ended up with a faceoff in our end, and now itÂ’s tied,†said the relieved Johnson. “The game had everything – two senior goaltenders, one from Quebec (Dufour) and the other (Schaublin) from Switzerland, battling each other toe-to-toe. And after two games, it took a power-play goal in overtime for one team to win.Ââ€
That one team was Wisconsin, and the victory, slim as it was, was all that separated two teams that had battled 1-1-1 for the season until that overtime. And while the two teams might renew their rich and intense rivalry at playoff time, or in the NCAA tournament, or both, that slim victory on the first weekend of February was good enough for the WCHA championship.
About the Author
John Gilbert is a lifetime Minnesotan and career journalist, specializing in cars and sports during and since spending 30 years at the Minneapolis Tribune, now the Star Tribune. More recently, he has continued translating the high-tech world of autos and sharing his passionate insights as a freelance writer/photographer/broadcaster. A member of the prestigious North American Car and Truck of the Year jury since 1993. John can be heard Monday-Friday from 9-11am on 610 KDAL(www.kdal610.com) on the "John Gilbert Show," and writes a column in the Duluth Reader.
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