St. Cloud State appeared in a WCHA semifinal for only the second time in the program\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s history. The first produced a disappointing 9-0 loss to Wisconsin.<\/p>\n
Their second attempt at the league\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s final weekend again ended with the same one-sided score, but the Huskies (18-15-5, 11-13-4 WCHA) made a game of it for much of the contest.<\/p>\n
Jocelyne Larocque fired a shot from the left point that was deflected into the SCSU net by Emmanuelle Blais to open the scoring for Minnesota-Duluth (30-4-1, 24-4-0) at 17:20 of the first period.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We were a couple of inches away from making it a 1-1 game and turning the complexion of the game,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Husky coach Jeff Giesen said.<\/p>\n
The deficit remained one nearly halfway through the second period, then the Bulldogs exploded for four goals before the second intermission.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m very pleased with our offensive attack in the second period \u00e2\u20ac”- everyone contributing, sharing the puck, and lots of different people scored,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d UMD coach Shannon Miller said.<\/p>\n
Although Minnesota-Duluth is no stranger to the WCHA\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s penultimate round, having advanced at least that far every season, no player on the current roster had ever won a conference semifinal, something the Bulldogs had not achieved since 2004.<\/p>\n
This time, UMD advances to the championship game as the top seed. Number one seeds are 7-0 in the championship game over the history of the WCHA.<\/p>\n
Elin Holmlov keyed the second period outburst with goals 24 seconds apart. <\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I had a great pass on the first goal from [Blais],\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Holmlov said.<\/p>\n
Left alone in the slot, she one-timed it past Kendall Newell with Haley Irwin also earning an assist.<\/p>\n
She got her second seconds later on the power play, on a shot that looked much the same.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153That one obviously got away from us a little bit,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Giesen said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Duluth\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a pretty darn good team when they get it going. We started out well and just kind of faded fast.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
When Laura Fridfinnson deflected in a shot after another minute, a close game quickly became another nightmare for SCSU.<\/p>\n
Haley Irwin netted a pair of goals, and Sara O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Toole, Erin Olson, and Saara Touminen also found the net for the final margin.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re obviously very pleased with the performance today, starting with the goaltender Kim Martin, early in the game when St. Cloud generated some good offense,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Miller said.<\/p>\n
Kim Martin made a couple of big saves in the first period to keep the game scoreless, stoning Sammy Nixon on a partial break, then denying a Husky attempt on the power play when they had numbers down low.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I feel confident in the net; I feel relaxed having the team in front of me,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Martin said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It feels easy to play right now. Everything is going our way.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Kim made some great saves which helped with our momentum to go back the other way,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Irwin said.<\/p>\n
Perhaps the scariest moment in the game for the home team came when Martin made a save and remained on the ice after the whistle.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I had some trouble with my knee, but it is good now and won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be bad tomorrow,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said.<\/p>\n
For St. Cloud, it was just one of those days when nothing went right. The one time they did get the puck into UMD\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s net, the referee waved the goal off, ruling that the puck had been deliberately kicked in.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think nine-nothing is any indication of how our team played,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d SCSU captain Laura Fast said.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, that is how the final chapter of the Huskies\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 season will read.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We take pride in what we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve done here in the four years,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d senior Newell said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I think we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve done a lot of great things for the program, been a part of some huge teams.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
The Bulldogs can now turn their attention to the championship game.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We got to play the entire bench, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s always good this time of the season when you can play everybody,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Miller said.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It difficult when you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re playing the second game, because we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been in that game a few times, and it is a tough turnaround time. Obviously, we have an advantage. We have a three-hour time difference from the time when we complete playing to when they will, and it is an advantage when you have to turn around and play the next day.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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