With three shocking goals in the first period, Dartmouth jumped out to an early lead it would not relinquish on route to a 4-2 win. With the loss, Minnesota remains winless at the Frozen Four, despite four bites at the NCAA apple.
The goals were scored just a minute and 29 seconds apart, the fastest three goals in the short life of the tournament. All three were difficult plays for Brenda Reinen, making a start in net for Minnesota for the first time in five games.
The first was a redirection by Sarah Clark of a Louise Pietrangelo shot from the point, the second a two-on-one break between Hagge and Haggard with Hagge getting the goal, and the third a failed clearing attempt by a Gopher that resulted in Haggard crashing the net.
“We were just trying to shoot the puck and the bounces were going our way,” said Clark.
Dartmouth coach Judy Oberting said the team was motivated by its performance in the semifinals against Duluth.
“We weren’t really happy with the way we played on Friday,” she said. “We wanted to come out and show what Dartmouth hockey is all about.”
“It’s a good thing to come out early and get those goals,” said Amy Catlin. “It puts the other team on their heels. That was a good way to start the game, yeah.”
Good, perhaps, from the Dartmouth point of view. Minnesota coach Laura Halldorson disagreed.
“It’s not a good thing when that happens,” Halldorson said. “There’s an emotional effect, and you have to be able to bounce back when someone scores against you. That’s a mental skill that we weren’t at our best on this weekend.”
The three goals prompted Halldorson to replace Reinen with Judy Horak, Friday’s starter against Harvard, who gave up five goals in that outing. But she said it wasn’t about the goaltending.
“We don’t think there’s much difference between our two goalies. Brenda Reinan has played very well for us in net, and she deserved to play today,” Halldorson said. “I don’t blame her for the goals that were scored, I thought there were other breakdowns in front of her. But we just needed to make a change at that point.”
The game looked to be a snoozer of a consolation, with Dartmouth getting the three goals early and doing an excellent job bottling Minnesota up in the Gopher zone, and quickly clearing the puck its own zone. After a fourth Big Green goal by Sarah Clark that bounced over the goalie and into the net, combined with barely double-digit shots by Minnesota, the game looked all but over.
Dartmouth goaltender Amy Ferguson wasn’t called upon to do much, but when she was, she answered, with a flashing glove save on LaToya Clarke or a kick-save on a Kelly Stephins bid. Minnesota’s best chance of the night — a pass from behind the net found a wide-open Winny Brodt speeding toward the goal — was scooped up harmlessly.
“I didn’t want them to score, ever. It’s a personal vendetta between me and Minnesota,” explained Furguson, who was named to the All-Tournament team for her efforts. “I said, ‘We are going to win this one, no matter what.'”
Halldorson said the Gophers weren’t able to find much of a rhythm.
“I don’t think we [got into a groove],” she said. “I can’t explain why that was.
“We had to throw together a couple of lines that hadn’t played together. The bottom line is, we didn’t play our best hockey this weekend. It’s too bad it happened at the time it did.”
The line juggling came about because of the return of Olympian Krissy Wendell, who missed eight games with a fractured clavicle. The Frozen Four was her first action since early February. Even with the missed games, she is second on the team in scoring.
It may have taken a game and a couple of periods for her to get back to form, but late in the third period she had a breakaway that she converted for a goal, and that seemed to fire up the rest of the team.
“Once you put the puck in the net,” said Halldorson, “all of a sudden that frustration goes away and you have a little more jump in your legs.”
Minnesota began to pepper Ferguson with shots, and less than a minute later, while on the power play, Natalie Darwitz converted a Wendell shot from right on the doorstep.
What had seemed like a sure win for the Big Green now looked like it might be in jeopardy. But despite increased pressure from Minnesota, including a minute and a half with the goalie pulled, Dartmouth held on for the win. Minnesota had more shots in the third period than in the rest of the game combined.
After the contest, the focus was on the advisability of having a consolation game at all.
“Two years ago we came out here and lost this game,” said Oberting. “It stung, and I never wanted to see another consolation game again.
“But that was a pretty good hockey game. There were a lot of people here, and we were happy to play. It helps to show off women’s hockey a bit. It put a much better flavor in Dartmouth’s mouth to end the season on a win.”
Minnesota’s Brodt also had mixed feelings about playing for third place.
“It’s not the game we wanted to play in, but it’s a game we focused on,” she said. “We could have been one of the only teams in the country to end with a win. But it just wasn’t our day, I guess.”
Dartmouth’s Clark had the final say in the matter, however. “We were playing for pride. We didn’t want to feel the way we did two years ago when we lost.”
Dartmouth ends its season with a win, improving to 27-8-0. Minnesota, losing three straight games for the first time in the season, fell to a nearly identical 27-8-1.
