UMD women's hockey: Giguere dangles Bulldogs to OT win, WCHA Final Faceoff berth

DULUTH — In a do-or-die, winner-take-all, Game 3 of a best-of-three WCHA quarterfinal series Sunday at Amsoil Arena, fifth-seeded Minnesota State rallied from a 2-0 deficit to tie fourth-seeded Minnesota Duluth to force overtime.

It was the Bulldogs, however, who got the last laughs — or more like a dangle — as fifth-year senior transfer Elizabeth Giguere did what Elizabeth Giguere does best, scoring 2:30 into the extra period to send the Bulldogs to the WCHA Final Faceoff via a 3-2 win over the Mavericks and 2-1 series win.

UMD will take on WCHA regular season champion Minnesota at 1 p.m. Saturday in the first of two conference semifinal games at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis. No. 2 Ohio State takes on No. 3 Wisconsin at 4 p.m. in the second semifinal.

The WCHA Championship is scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday at Ridder, with the NCAA tournament field being announced later that night at 8 p.m.

“Good things happen when the puck is on Giguere’s stick in OT like that,” Bulldogs coach Maura Crowell said. “Credit to her for making that play and credit to everybody for just sticking with it and getting through a tough weekend. Now we move onto Minneapolis next weekend.”

Giguere — the national champion and Patty Kazmaier Award winner out of Clarkson — kept the Bulldogs alive in the WCHA postseason and in contention for an NCAA tournament berth via her 20th goal and 36th point of the season — 119th goal of her career and 287th career point.

Giguere took a pass from senior defenseman Lizi Norton into the Maverick zone, evaded the sprawling block attempt of MSU freshman defenseman Jayden Seifert and then dangled Mavs senior transfer goalie Chantal Burke for the game-winner, tucking the puck inside the near post with Burke on her belly.

“There was a great pass from Lizi up the wall and I saw that they were changing so we had a chance to go,” Giguere said of the sequence leading up to her game-winning shot. “They were kind of diving all around all game long, so I knew that as soon as I had the chance, that if they did that on me, I was pulling it. Then I just … ”

Then the modest Giguere just admitted she kind of blacked out.

“I don't know what happened. Then the puck was in the net. Whatever. It was just a great play overall, starting from the D and then to me and then I'm just glad we got the win, to be honest.”

The Bulldogs jumped out to a 2-0 lead via a power play goal by fifth-year senior wing Anna Klein 4:48 into the game. Senior wing Taylor Anderson made it 2-0 for the Bulldogs by taking a rebound off her skate and backhanding it in just 2:08 into the second period.

The Mavericks battled back with a goal from senior center Brittyn Fleming on a 2-on-1 attack 7:45 into the second and game-tying goal by senior defenseman Jessica Kondas after she found some open twine just 2:45 into the third.

UMD and Minnesota State opened the season together back on Oct. 1 with the Bulldogs blowing out the Mavericks 7-0 in Mankato. In the five games that followed, UMD went 3-2 against the Mavs and only outscored them 17-16.

Crowell said it wasn’t a surprise that the Mavericks — whose season ended Sunday — battled the Bulldogs to the bitter end at Amsoil Arena.

“It was a great series. I thought Mankato gave us everything they had,” Crowell said. “They pushed us to the brink and we stuck with it. We got through some tough moments.

“They came back like they always do and teams that are trying to extend their seasons are really tough to beat. They have a lot of talent over there, and got good goaltending this weekend, too. We had to be on our game.”

Anderson — who is among a group of 13 Bulldogs who have now played in five overtime playoff hockey games the past three seasons, including two in the NCAA tournament last year — said this weekend’s three-game series with Minnesota State and OT battle on Sunday was a good reminder of what it takes to win in the postseason.

“When they say that playoffs are a whole new season, it's very true,” Anderson said. “Every team is coming to play. They're coming to continue their season on, so we can't take any moments for granted. It really helps that we had a series like this, to push through, fight as a team and find a way to win — as coach would say.”

Minnesota State 0-1-1-0—2

Minnesota Duluth 1-1-0-1—3

First period

1. UMD, Anna Klein (Elizabeth Giguere, Gabbie Hughes), 4:48

Second period

2. UMD, Taylor Anderson (Kailee Skinner, Kylie Hanley), 2:08

3. MSU, Brittyn Fleming (Shelbi Guttormson), 7:45

Third period

4. MSU, Jessica Kondas (Kelsey King, Kennedy Bobyck), 2:45

Overtime

5. UMD, Giguere (Lizi Norton), 2:30

Saves — Chantal Burke, MSU, 26; Jojo Chobak, UMD, 21.

Power plays — MSU 0-2; UMD 1-3. Penalties — MSU 3-6; UMD 2-4.