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Women’s hockey are the top ‘Dogs’
BY KJESTINE STEINBRING
STATESMAN STAFF WRITER
iISSUE: 78/24
TYLER SWEENY / STATESMAN
UMD sophomore forward Elin Holmlov tries to slip the puck around the Badger goalie.
With the regular season Western Conference Hockey Association (WCHA) title under the women’s hockey team’s belt, they set off last weekend to win the WCHA Final Face-off in hopes to clinch an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. Their first game was scheduled for Saturday afternoon against the St. Cloud Huskies, and on paper this looked to be a tough tournament for the Dogs to get through. However, with sophomore Emmanuel Blais tipping a blast from the point by freshman Jocelyne Larocque past the Huskies’ goalie just two minutes and 40 seconds into the first period, it was clear that UMD was not intimidated. “They come at you pretty quick,” said St. Cloud coach Jeff Giesen. He also added that UMD is a good team that scores a lot of goals.
In the second period, the Bulldogs showed off their firepower as three goals were scored within 90 seconds of each other. The bounces continued to go with UMD, as a shot bounced off the back boards only to land in front of the net for junior Sara O’Toole to put in, making the score a gaping 4-0. “We are very pleased with the game today, and the way we attacked,” said Head coach Shannon Miller after Saturday’s game. The game was securely in hand by the end of the second period; however, the Dogs were not done scoring yet, and by the end of the game it seemed everyone had gotten in on the action.
Junior Erin Olson scored her first goal of the season to make it 6-0 in the third, followed by three more goals; two from freshman Haley Irwin and one from sophomore Saara Tuominen, to make the final score 9-0 in favor of the Bulldogs. With one game down, the next stage was set for Sunday afternoon to play the University
of Wisconsin-Madison for the championship.
TYLER SWEENY / STATESMAN
UMD sophomore Emmanuelle Blais (47) and
freshman Laura Fridfinnson (19) celebrate
after scoring a goal.
The game got off to a quick start for the Bulldogs, who scored three goals in the first period. Freshman Laura Fridfinnson scored at 5:24 to make it 1-0, and a penalty less than a minute later led to a power-play goal by junior Myriam Trepanier to give UMD a quick 2-0 lead. Another power-play goal, this time added by sophomore Elin Holmlov, put UMD at what seemed to be a safe 3-0 lead. “We knew that there was a lot on the line for Wisconsin, so we weren’t surprised when they came back and played with an intense hunger,” said Miller.
Wisconsin did get on the board in the first, with nine seconds
left in the period to give them momentum going into the second, only down 3-1. At 7:08 in the second period, Blais scored to increase the Bulldogs’ lead to 4-1. However, the Badgers countered in that period with two of their own, making the score a tight 4-3 game going into the third period. “It was a great game, with two very tough teams,” said Miller. A late goal in the third by Wisconsin sent the game into overtime, and just six minutes and thirty two seconds into the extra period, Irwin scored again to seal the win and the fourth playoff championship for the team.
Named to the all-tournament team from UMD were Martin,
Larocque, Trepanier and Irwin. The tournament MVP went to Holmlov. Next up for the Bulldogs will be Mercyhurst College on Saturday, March 15, at 2 p.m. This will be the beginning of the NCAA tournament that will be hosted at the Duluth Entertainment and Conference Center (DECC). The winner of that game will get a berth to the Frozen Four to be held at the DECC, March 20 and 22.
