University of Minnesota Athletics
GOPHER WOMEN'S HOCKEY TEAM ENDS STELLAR SEASON
3/28/2000 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
GOPHER REWIND-Minnesota claimed its first national title with wins over the regular season and playoff champions from the nation's two conferences, the Western Collegiate Hockey Association-Women's League and the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference.
The Gophers defeated WCHA rival Minnesota-Duluth in the semifinals of the American Women's College Hockey Alliance National Championship, 3-2, scoring three unanswered goals after falling behind 2-0.
The Bulldogs jumped on top on Maria Rooth's goal, 13 minutes, 17 seconds into the opening period. Michelle McAteer then gave the Bulldogs a two-goal lead just 15 seconds into the second period.
Minnesota finally got on the board when junior Nadine Muzerall (Mississauga, Ontario/Kimball Union Academy) scored at 10:50 of the second period. Her second goal of the game, at 10:59 of the third period on the power play, evened the score and sophomore Tracy Engstrom (Willmar, Minn./Willmar) notched the game- winner on the power play with 6:45 to play. Junior goalie Erica Killewald (Troy, Mich./Troy) withstood a third-period barrage by UMD, stopping 16 shots in the final period and 40 for the game.
In Sunday's championship game, the Gophers found themselves trailing again as Brown took a one-goal lead when Kim Insalaco scored at 17:18 of the opening period.
Minnesota got even early in the second period when junior Courtney Kennedy (Woburn, Mass./Buckingham Brown & Nichols) scored at 4:47 of the second period. Sophomore Laura Slominski (Burnsville, Minn./Burnsville) put the Gophers ahead for good when she snuck a shot through traffic with just 1:11 to play in the second period.
The lead quickly went to three goals as Muzerall scored her 49th of the season just 3:43 into the final period with junior Winny Brodt (Roseville, Minn./ Roseville Area) scoring less than a minute later.
Once again, the Bears pressed the attack, cutting the lead to 4-2 on a short-handed goal by Kristy Zamora. However, Killewald was the key factor for Minnesota, stopping 17 shots in the final period and finishing with 34 for the game.
LIGHTING THE "V"-The Ms logo that sits atop the entrance to the Sports Pavilion has a "v" in the middle that is lit after University of Minnesota "V"ictories. The "v" traditionally is lit for one week following conference championships won by the Gophers. Following Minnesota's national championship, the "v" will remain lit for one month.
BRINGING HOME THE HARDWARE-Four Gopher players received awards following the AWCHA National Championship, including three all-tournament team members.
Forward Nadine Muzerall and defense Winny Brodt and Courtney Kennedy were named to the all-tournament team. Goalie Erica Killewald, who stopped 74 of 78 shots on the weekend, was named the tournament's most valuable player.
SKIPPING A STEP-In their first season, the Gophers earned a spot in the inaugural AWCHA National Championship but lost twice and finished fourth.
Last year, in its home arena, Minnesota lost in overtime, 3-2 to New Hampshire, before downing Brown by the same score to claim third place.
This season, the Gophers skipped over second place and evened their all-time record in the national championships at 3-3.
TWO-TIME WINNER-For Winny Brodt, the AWCHA title was her second, having been a member of the inaugural AWCHA champion New Hampshire Wildcats. Brodt led her team to the title in 1998 and was named the tournament's MVP before transferring to Minnesota.
THE BUZZ ON MUZ-With her performance in the AWCHA National Championship, Nadine Muzerall established herself as one of women's college hockey top clutch scorers.
After trailing 2-0 to Minnesota-Duluth on Friday, she scored twice to even the score. Saturday, her 49th goal of the season proved to be the championship-winning goal.
The nation's leading goal-scorer this season, Muzerall scored in 28 of the Gophers' 39 games and led the team to a 26-1-1 record in those games. She has scored goals in 68 of 99 career games with Minnesota posting a 61-4-3 record for a .919 winning percentage.
A first-team All-WCHA pick this season, Muzerall led the nation in goals (49), power-play goals (16), power-play points (27) and game-winning goals (9).
GOING OUT IN STYLE-Senior co-captain Shannon Kennedy (Woburn, Mass./Buckingham Browne & Nichols) had to travel all the way to Minnesota to finish her career at home, but she did so in style, returning to her native Massachusetts to lead the Gophers to the AWCHA title in Boston.
Kennedy's 1,100-mile trip began in 1998 when she and her younger sister, Courtney, transferred from Colby College (Maine) to the Land of 10,000 Lakes.
In fitting fashion, the sisters hooked up to produce Minnesota's first goal in the championship game as Shannon assisted on Courtney's goal at 4:47 of the second period against Brown.
PLAYOFF PERFORMER-Center Tracy Engstrom is garnering a reputation for her performance during her first two post-seasons as a Golden Gophers.
Last year, her third-period goal against Brown in the AWCHA third-place game snapped a 1-1 tie and led to Minnesota's 3-2 victory, its first national-tournament victory.
This year, she scored four goals during the WCHA playoffs and was named to the all-tournament team before she scored the biggest goal of her career on Friday.
With the Gophers and UMD tied at 2-2, Engstrom got the puck in the left faceoff circle and ripped a shot off the far post that ricochetted into the net to give Minnesota a 3-2 victory.
NIFTY FIFTY-In their first two seasons, the Gophers had just four players surpass the 50-point barrier, two in each season. During its championship run, Minnesota had six players reach the 50-point plateau, with Nadine Muzerall leading the charge with a school-record 77 points, good for the second-highest total in the nation.
Ambria Thomas, who topped the mark as a rookie, had a career-best 62 points while Laura Slominski nearly doubled her point total from a year ago, jumping from 32 to 59 points.
Tracy Engstrom and frosh Ronda Curtin (Roseville, Minn./Roseville Area) finished with 53 points each while Winny Brodt became the team's first blueliner to score 50 points.
GOALIES SHOWCASE ON, OFF-ICE SKILLS-Gopher goalies Erica Killewald and Crystal Nicholas earned awards for both their on-ice and off-ice accomplishments this season, both rank among the top 10 nationally in goals against average and also earned spots on the Academic All-WCHA Team.
Killewald, who was spectacular during the team's stretch run, has proven to be one of the best big-game goalies in college after winning MVP honors at the AWCHA tournament. In six AWCHA games, she has a 2.74 goals against average and a .928 save percentage.
Nicholas posted a 15-0-0 record on the season, 13 of which came in league games. A second-team All-WCHA selection, she has a perfect 25-0-0 career record.
POWER WHEN IT COUNTS-Even though it had the nation's second-best power-play (26.7%), Minnesota scored on just three of its last 29 chances.
However, when needed most, the Gophers turned it on, scoring the game-tying and game-winning goals against Minnesota-Duluth on the power play.
NATURAL BORN KILLERS-After killing all eight penalties during the AWCHA Championship, Minnesota has killed 138 of 148 (93.2%) since Nov. 7. While allowing just 10 power-play goals in its last 31 games, the Gophers scored 12 short-handed goals.
In five playoff games, Minnesota allowed just one power-play goal, killing 21 of 22 power plays.
FIRST GOAL WINS...USUALLY-Minnesota finished the season 22-0-1 on the season when scoring the game's first goal. In three seasons, the Gophers have scored first in 76 of 104 games and is 69-3-4 in those games.
Proving its mental toughness, Minnesota gave up the first two goals in both games over the weekend, coming from behind to win both. The Gophers finished the season 10-6-0 when allowing the first goal and have now been scored upon first just 29 times in three seasons, and are 13-14-2 in those games.
A LOOK AHEAD-With a national title under their belts, the Gophers will enter next season as the defending champion in a new tournament as the National Collegiate Athletic Association takes on women's ice hockey as a championship sport. Minnesota will lose just one player to graduation from this year's championship squad, co-captain Shannon Kennedy. The Gophers will enter the 2000-01 season with a veteran lineup, largely made up of 13 seniors.
