Extra Time Needed in Durham, Recap and Preview.
Durham, NH – The Whittemore Center, on the campus of the University of New Hampshire was host to NCAA history on Friday night in the Women’s Frozen Four. The Hockey East Association champion and #1 ranked Boston College Eagles put their undefeated record on the line against the #4 ranked Clarkson Knights, who were an at large bid from the Eastern College Athletic Conference. In the second semi-final, the sixth rematch of the top two teams from the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. The WCHA champion and #2 ranked Wisconsin Badgers took on the #3 ranked Minnesota Gophers.
This Frozen Four consisted of arguably the top 4 teams in the nation. Heading into the games, it was clear that there would be no blowouts and that each game would ultimately be a great contest. What the fans didn’t know heading into the Frozen Four was that 60 minutes would not be enough time, for either game. For the first time in the 16-year history of the Frozen Four, both games went into overtime.
Clarkson had one mission, beat the team who hadn’t lost all year. The Knights were no strangers to the Eagles; Clarkson defeated BC in the Frozen Four en route to their national championship in 2014. The Knights put the right game plan together for the first 30 minutes of the game, pressuring BC’s goalie Katie Burt, playing great defense to slow down Alex Carpenter and Haley Skarupa. However, the Knights couldn’t put the Eagles away.
Clarkson Freshman Rhyen McGill scored just 2 minutes, 27 seconds into the game putting BC quickly in the mode of playing from behind. Throughout the first period, defensemen Corie Jacobson and Erin Ambrose kept the Eagles away from the goal. Penalties did give BC opportunities, however goaltender Shea Tiley and the Clarkson Penalty Kill was solid all night long.
Early in the second period Clarkson extended their lead with a blast from Cayley Mercer who beat Burt on her glove side. It seemed at the 11:41 mark in the second period that the Knights could have found the magic to take down the Eagles, which forced BC coach Katie Crowley called timeout.
This was the first time all year the Eagles trailed by a deficit greater than one. After the timeout, the Eagles “kicked it into gear” as Coach Crowley put it in the postgame press conference. When asked what she said to her team during the timeout, she said, “to stick to their fundamentals and continue to play Boston College hockey.” She also complimented her team for fighting the mental game and believing they were going to come back.
Skarupa got BC on the board with 5:28 to go in the 2nd with a cleanup goal through a pile of players in front of Tiley. Clarkson then took three straight penalties and played most of the last 5 minutes of the second period shorthanded, but again the Knights penalty kill was great, keeping the lead after two periods.
Clarkson continued to play great defense in the third period. Play went back and forth for most of the period, with the Knights putting a lot of pressure on Burt, peppering her for 16 shots in the period. With just 3:53 left in the Eagles season, Kaliya Johnson received a pass from behind the net and beat Tiley to tie the game. BC’s Carpenter would take a penalty with 2:06 remaining, giving Clarkson another opportunity to end the game. Katie Burt was a wall when the Eagles needed it the most. After the game she was asked what she was thinking during that final two minutes, she said, “uh, they can’t score” to laughter.
Overtime would take just 58 seconds. Carpenter gave Skarupa a great cross-ice pass and before Tiley could cover the other side of the net, Skarupa had buried the puck into the net, sending the Eagles to their first National Championship in program history. After the game, Clarkson Head Coach Matt Desrosiers on his team’s effort said, “I couldn’t be more proud of the team… disappointed, but extremely proud of the players and the way they played this year and especially the last few games.” Clarkson finished 30-5-5, the second best record in school history.
The second game of the night featured two teams who had previously played five times already on the season. Wisconsin won a back-to-back series at home, then Minnesota won a back to back series at home, and most recently Wisconsin won the WCHA title on Minnesota’s home ice.
Like the first game, this did not stay scoreless for very long. Just 2 minutes, 15 seconds into the game Taylor Williamson of Minnesota beat Wisconsin Goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens to give the Gophers the early lead. Unlike the first game, there would be no two-goal lead in this matchup. A sloppy D to D pass for the Gophers was broken up by Sophia Shaver who sailed the puck over Gophers Goaltender Amanda Leveille’s shoulder.
The second period was an even period, with one penalty a piece and both teams putting 11 shots on goal. The Badgers scored with just 18 seconds left when Emily Clark got a pass on the backside of Leveille and punched it in. The goal was a great boost of confidence for Wisconsin to finish the second period. After the game Head Coach Mark Johnson said “between the second and third I thought we were in a good position, but that only lasted 27 seconds.”
That 27 seconds was all it took for Minnesota to quickly tilt the momentum back in their favor. Amanda Kessel tossed the puck over Desbiens shoulder, knotting the game back up. Although both teams would get multiple chances, the game would stay tied for the rest of the third.
In overtime, Wisconsin had 2 separate power play opportunities on penalties by Gopher Sophomore Kelly Pannek, who took just 7 penalties all year. However, the Gopher penalty kill did a great job clearing the zone and keeping the game alive. 15 minutes into overtime, Wisconsin had the puck in the defensive zone, it appeared the defender was just going to take it behind the net to regroup the attack, however, National Rookie of the Year Sarah Potomak came up the side board, lifted the stick of the defender and snuck the puck past Desbiens for the game winner, sending the Gophers to the National Championship. When asked about the game winner, Head Coach Brad Frost said “We were pretty happy… we had to catch Ann-Renee off balance a little bit and as (Potomak) said, we surprised her a little bit.”
After the game Coach Frost said “We are thrilled to be going to the National Championship game for the 5th year in a row.” For the Badgers, it was clear in Head Coach Mark Johnson’s voice that he was very upset with his season ending Friday night, “In the NHL, we’d be going to Game 7, 3 a piece (in the season series), 3 overtimes.” Wisconsin lost in the Semi Finals for the third straight year, this time with a 35-4-1 record. Johnson did tell his team to remember the accomplishments of a WCHA regular season title and a WCHA tournament title when thinking about the great season.
National Championship Preview
If the Frozen Four Semi Finals were any indication of what to expect Sunday, then I would not make plans for this game to end on time. Boston College is 40-0-0, the Eagles defense and Burt have only allowed 3 or more goals 4 times this year. Boston College is heading to the school’s first national title game and hoping to win the first national title for the Hockey East Association. BC would be the second team in history to win the national title undefeated, the other? The 2013 Minnesota Gophers.
Brad Frost coached and Amanda Kessel led that Gopher team in 2013 to a 3-2 Overtime win over the Eagles, then a 6-3 win over the Boston University Terriers for the National Championship. This year, Minnesota is 34-4-1 and they just beat the team that 3 of those 4 losses came against. Minnesota has won 3 of the last 4 national titles and hope to win their sixth on Sunday, which would pass Minnesota-Duluth for the most championships.
Offense
BC’s offense is led by 2 of the top 3 points scoring leaders this year in Alex Carpenter and Haley Skarupa with 88 and 79 points respectively. Minnesota has 3 of the top 8 with Dami Cameranesi, Hannah Brandt and Sarah Potomak. Although neither team’s power play produced goals on Friday, Cameranesi leads the nation with 13 Power Play goals, followed by Skarupa and Carpenter with 12 and 9. However, what doesn’t show up in the season stats is Amanda Kessel’s addition to the offense since she returned. Kessel has scored 10 goals and added 6 assists in her 12 games.
Defense
Minnesota’s defense cost them 2 goals on Friday night on sloppy passes in their own defensive zone, however, during the last 35 minutes of play, they held the Badgers scoreless and became the great defense they have been all year. Boston College’s defense also showed signs of weakness early on Friday, not being able to clear the zone and stop the Clarkson attack. Like the Gophers, the Eagles defense was big when it counted, keeping Clarkson from getting in tight on the net late in the game on the Power Play.
Goalies
Both teams have outstanding goaltenders. Minnesota’s Amanda Leveille posted a 1.29 Goals Against Average, a .941 Save Percentage and stopped 656 shots. BC’s Katie Burt was better statistically, although barely, with a 1.17 GAA, a .945 SV% and 687 saves on the year. As we saw Friday night, both teams can count on their goalie to stay calm under pressure when the game is on the line or when they are facing a penalty kill situation. Leveille had 10 shutouts and Burt 13 this season, but these offenses are too good, there will not be a shut out Sunday.
Sunday around 4:15 pm in Durham New Hampshire, we will either be watching an undefeated Boston College hoisting the trophy in celebration or we will be watching the great comeback story of Amanda Kessel and Minnesota raising their 6th national championship trophy.
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