University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
32-6-1
Brown
25-4-3
Gopher Women's Hockey Wins 2000 AWCHA National Title
3/25/2000 6:00:00 PM | Women's Hockey
Minnesota earned a 4-2 win over Brown in the 2000 AWCHA national championship game led by a 34-save effort from tournament MVP Erica Killewald.
BOSTON -- The Golden Gopher women's hockey team made history as the first ever University of Minnesota women's team to win a national championship as the Maroon & Gold won 4-2 over Brown to capture the 2000 AWCHA national title in Boston on Saturday.
Minnesota (32-6-1) was led by two points each from Courtney Kennedy (1g-1a), Nadine Muzerall (1g-1a), and Winny Brodt (1g-1a) and received 34 saves from Erica Killewald. Laura Slominski also scored for the Gophers.
"This team never let go," head coach Laura Halldorsen said. "They always believed. They never gave up, and I think the fact that they're such a close-knit team and they really believe in each other was what got us through the season and won the tournament for us."
Brown (25-4-3) got on the board first with a goal from Kim Insalaco late in the first period, taking a 1-0 lead into the first intermission. However, Minnesota scored twice in the second period with tallies from C. Kennedy and Slominski to hold a 2-1 advantage after 40 minutes of play.
The Gophers extended their lead to 4-1 in the opening five minutes of the third, scoring on each of their first two shots on goal of the period. Muzerall scored her 49th goal of the season at the 3:43 mark and Brodt found the back of the net less than a minute later. Brown made it a two-goal game with a short-handed goal from Kristy Zamora at the 13:05 mark of the third, but the Gophers prevailed. Killewald made four saves over the final 1:08 when Brown pulled goaltender Ali Brewer, who finished with 26 saves, for an extra skater.
The Gophers were outshot 36-30 for the game, and Killewald was named the Most Valuable Player of the AWCHA national tournament.
1999-2000 Season in Review
The 1999-2000 Gopher women's hockey season accomplished the ultimate in collegiate athletics, winning the first women's national team title in Minnesota history. The Gophers simply improved as the season progressed. After a respective 11-4 start to the season, but losing twice to Minnesota-Duluth in December, Minnesota lost only one game after January 1. Those two losses to UMD cost the Gophers the team title in the newly formed WCHA-Women's League.
The Gophers and Bulldogs met once again in the WCHA Tournament championship game, with Duluth coming out with a 2-0 victory. Both teams were selected to participate in the AWCHA National Tournament in Boston and were to face each other one more time, with a national championship game berth in the balance. The Gophers lived through a scary moment during their final practice before the national semifinal game as Nadine Muzerall crashed into the boards in practice and was taken from ice on a backboard. As it would turn out, Muzerall was not seriously injured and played a huge part in the Gophers' 3-2 win over Duluth. With the Gophers down 2-0 early in the second period, Muzerall scored two consecutive goals to tie the score and set up Tracy Engstrom's game-winner in the third period.
The Gophers went on to defeat Brown, 4-2, to capture the national title. Gopher goalie Erica Killewald was voted the most valuable player of the tournament Surprisingly, the Gophers were shut out in the All-America balloting. Defender Winny Brodt was selected as the WCHA Defensive Player of the Year and joined Muzerall on the all-conference first team.
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