UMD wins 3OT thriller for 5th NCAA women’s title
MINNEAPOLIS, MN. — While Jessica Wong may be only a freshman at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, she already has established a tendency to score huge goals. But she may never score a bigger one than she scored Sunday afternoon, when she deflected a Tara Gray shot into the Cornell goal at 19:26 of the third 20-minute overtime period to lift UMD to a 3-2 victory in the NCAA Women’s Frozen Four championship game.
It was the longest game in NCAA Frozen Four history, surpassing the 2003 title game that UMD won by beating Harvard 4-3 at 4:19 of the second sudden-death overtime, at the DECC in Duluth. But this one, before 1,473 fans at Ridder Arena, may be a difficult record to surpass — it was only 26.4 seconds short of being two complete games.
Wong, who registered 15 goals for her freshman season, scored the first one when UMD beat Minnesota 3-2 for the WCHA Final Faceoff title, and she has since refined her art, scoring the game-winner in the 2-1 quarterfinal victory over New Hampshire, and now notching the goal that ended women’s Frozen Four’s longest game.
UMD finishes 31-8-2, having won its last nine games, and recorded a stunning 18-1 record since December 4. The Bulldogs managed to outshoot Cornell (21-9-6) by a 36-21 margin in the three overtimes, and 64-51 for the extremely close, up-and-down game, to claim a record fifth national championship — exactly half of the 10 NCAA sanctioned women’s national tournaments held. The Bulldogs won the first, second and third NCAA titles, in their first four years as a Division I program and came back to win again in 2008.
Three championships by Wisconsin and two by Minnesota mean that all 10 NCAA trophies belong to those three WCHA schools. Coach Shannon Miller said this one stands above all the others, which were won by exceptional teams that often overran foes with great talent, because this team was a youthful underdog from the start, rising to championship glory as eight freshman regulars improved dramatically.
“I told the players this was the most special team I’ve ever coached,” said Miller, who also predicted to a staff member between overtimes that she figured Wong would score the winner. “I thought getting into the top eight in the country, and staying there, would be a great goal. And if we could make the NCAA field, we’re really good in one game. We’ve upset good teams all season.
“I know Cornell had never been to ‘the dance’ before, but we’re the Cinderella story this year. With five Olympians gone from our team, we’re playing with 13 scholarship players against teams that have 18.”
Cornell had three freshmen playing compared to UMD’s eight, but the Bulldog freshmen gave UMD enough depth to skate a third line when it got to overtime, and wear down the Big Red, which relied almost completely on two forward lines. Cornell, which upset No., 1 Mercyhurst 3-2 on Friday, while UMD was beating Minnesota by the same 3-2 score, played an outstanding game in turning its first attempt at the Frozen Four into a quest to knock off the two top-rated teams in the country back-to-back.
“It was a great game, and I want to congratulate Shannon and Minnesota-Duluth,” said Cornell coach Doug Derraugh. “I’m also very plesed with my team. We’ve had a blast here, and I played 14 yearrs of pro hockey, but I’ve never been prouder of a team or seen a team with more heart.”
In fact, the Big Red struck first, when Melanie Jue got her first of two goals, tipping Lauriane Rougeau’s shot from the right point past Jennifer Harss, UMD’s freshman goaltender. That goal didn’t come until 13:44 of the second period, during an extended Cornell power play, and the 1-0 lead stood until the third period began.
With UMD on a carryover power play, Emmanuelle Blais rushed form the left for a shot that was blocked, but she followed up with another shot to beat Amanda Mazzotta in the Cornell goal at 0:18. The goal was the 32nd of an astounding season for Blais, one of only four UMD seniors. She ended with 32-33—64 for the season, with a finishing flourish of six goals and six assists in her last five games — good enough to earn her the most valuable player award at the NCAA Frozen Four, duplicating the award she also won it at the WCHA Final Faceoff tournament, and first-team All-America status.
“When we won the WCHA playoffs and I got the MVP, I obviously was happy, and now this,” said Blais. “But I am focused so much on my team. This has been the best year of my life.”
With six minutes remaining, two of the other UMD seniors connected, when Saara Tuominen had the puck in deep on the right side and spotted defenseman Jaime Rasmussen breaking for the net from the left point. “I know Jaime is offensive, and would be going to the net,” said Tuominen. “I had time to see her.” She also delivered a perfect pass, and Rasmussen, a right-handed shooter, drilled her shot from the left circle at 14:42.
The 2-1 lead may have swept over the Bulldogs, knowing there was only 5:18 remaining between them and their record fifth championship, but it didn’t fool Miller. “When it’s for the national championship, and you’re leading by one goal, you anticipate a tie,” said Miller. “It takes mental toughness, and it’s nothing new for us, but Cornell was absolutely amazing, and they also had a great will to win.”
Sure enough, with 3:30 remaining, the Big Red tied the game 2-2 when a shot that bounced off the right pipe and the carom went directly to Jue, who put away a backhander from the right circle.
“Jue has come up with a lot of big goals,” said Cornell coach Doug Darraugh. “…Probably none bigger than tonight.”
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Cornell, led by senior center Catherine White, traded rushes with the speedy Bulldogs throughout the game, and had a 30-28 edge in shots when the third period ended. UMD had a slight edge, at 12-11, through the first overtime, then outshot the Big Red 10-4 in the second overtime, and 14-6 in the third. A pivotal difference was when Miller went from matching two lines against Cornell’s two lines to inserting the third line of Gina Dodge between fellow-freshman Vanessa Thibault and hustling sophomore Kacy Ambroz.
“I gave them a clear job, to be good defensively on a very short shift, get the puck over the red line and get it in deep,” said Miller. “Then I told them, ‘OK, that was perfect,’ and I gave them longer shifts.”
Her players appreciated it. “I always want more ice time, but I was ready to be done,” said Blais, who scored two goals and set up Laura Fridfinnson for the third in Friday’s 3-2 semifinal victory over Minnesota. “Thibault, Dodge and Ambroz gave us a tremendous lift, and I think that was a key in the game.”
Still, nothing was decided as the game went through the first, then the second, and deep into the third overtime. Lauriane Rougeau prevented a goal when she took down Fridfinnson to halt a breakaway, but she was penalized at 17:20. She came out of the penalty box and skated across the ice to the bench when UMD’s Mariia Posa worked the puck to Gray at the right point — 10 feet from the Cornell bench. “I saw her coming across the ice trying to get a change, and she got her stick under [Gray’s] stick as she shot,” said Derraugh.
As Rougeau fell, she nearly smothered the puck, but Gray got most of her force on the shot and sent it on net. Blais and Wong were in front, and said, “We had a double screen, and I was saying to myself, ‘Tara, shoot the puck!’ ” said Wong, who earlier in overtime had shot one off the crossbar. This time, she didn’t miss. “I saw it coming all the way, and I got a piece of it with my stick blade.”
The deflection went down and between the leg pads of Mazzotta. The clock showed “0:33.6” remaining, and UMD skated into NCAA hockey history.
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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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