Minnesota Duluth entered the third period of Sunday's decisive playoff game against Ohio State in the same situation the Bulldogs were in the night before: leading by a goal with a chance to clinch the Western Collegiate Hockey Association women's quarterfinal series.
But instead of letting the game slip away, as happened Saturday, the Bulldogs clamped down defensively and scored three times in the third to defeat the Buckeyes 5-1 before 536 fans at Amsoil Arena and earn a berth in this weekend's WCHA Final Faceoff.
Junior winger Zoe Hickel scored two goals, including the clincher on a power play at 9:35 of the third period to give her 13 this season, goaltender Kayla Black made 24 saves and the Bulldogs (15-14-6) added two empty-net goals to close the scoring and avenge a first-round loss to the Buckeyes (15-17-5) last season.
"Tonight there was no fear whatsoever. There was no fear last night and no fear tonight," UMD coach Shannon Miller said. "We felt like we should have won last night (in a 3-2 loss) and we didn't, so we were going to do it tonight. That was their attitude."
UMD's reward? A WCHA Final Faceoff semifinal vs. two-time defending NCAA Division I champion and top-ranked Minnesota at 7:07 p.m. Friday in Bemidji, Minn. The Gophers have lost only once in their past 85 games and outscored UMD 12-0 in last weekend's regular-season series finale.
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"We have to have a short memory, get rid of the past, learn from our experiences and take the confidence from this weekend and move it forward," Hickel said. "We're a whole new team this weekend than we were last weekend."
Hickel put UMD ahead 1-0 at 9:24 of the first period when she picked out the right top corner of the net with a wrist shot after Meghan Huertas had dropped a pass into the wide-open slot area. It was the Anchorage, Alaska, native's 12th goal of the season.
The Buckeyes tied the game at 16:31 when Kayla Sullivan ripped a shot from the right wing that caught the top-right netting.
Freshman defenseman Sidney Morin put UMD back on top when her wrist shot from just inside the blue line found its way through traffic and beat Ohio State goalie Lisa Steffes to her glove side at 7:06 of the second period.
That's the same situation the Bulldogs were in Saturday, when they allowed two goals in the third period and dropped to 1-5-2 in the previous eight home games against the Buckeyes.
"(Saturday) night we played really well and eventually those bounces are going to go our way," Hickel said. "We knew we had to stick to our game plan, play strong defensively and take every chance to the net."
Hickel came through on the power play at 9:35 off a nice pass from Ashleigh Brykaliuk, and junior Jenna McParland and senior Jamie Kenyon -- playing her final game at Amsoil -- each put the puck into an empty net late in the game.
"I told them to just stick to the game plan," Miller said of what she told the players between the second and third periods. "Everything is about discipline and you have to stick to the game plan and do what's asked of you. We just reminded them to do that."
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While defensemen Tea Villila and Lara Stalder were off playing in the Winter Olympics, it allowed role players to acquire more playing time. That's paying off now, Miller says, and will help the team against the virtually unbeatable Gophers.
"Last night and tonight we were a real team, you could just feel it," she said. "We have the confidence that we've arrived and are peaking at the right time. We need to take that into next week."
Ohio State 1-0-0--1
Minnesota Duluth 1-1-3--5
First period -- 1. UMD, Zoe Hickel 12 (Meghan Huertas), 9:24; 2. OSU, Kayla Sullivan 2 (Danielle Gagne, Sara Schmitt), 16:31.
Second period -- 3. UMD, Sidney Morin 5 (Katerina Mrazova, Huertas), 7:06 (pp).
Third period -- 4. UMD, Hickel 13 (Ashleigh Brykaliuk, Lara Stalder), 9:35 (pp); 5. UMD, Jenna McParland 11 (Jamie Kenyon, Tea Villila), 18:53 (en); 6. UMD, Kenyon 17 (Hickel, Villila), 19:17 (en).
Saves -- Lisa Steffes, OSU, 7-6-6--19; Kayla Black, UMD, 8-12-4--24.
