University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Win Over Providence; Head to NCAA Frozen Four
3/18/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Hockey
Providence College scored the first goal of the game at 4:42 of the first period. Katelynn Laffin put in a power-play goal with Emily Gryp and Hilary Greaves adding the assists.
The Gophers, however, retaliated and scored six unanswered goals for the win. Becky Wacker started things off, scoring her fifth goal of the season at 13:10 of the first period. Lyndsay Wall passed the puck off the back boards to Ashley Albrecht. She passed the puck fron the top of the right circle to a streaking Wacker at the Providence blue line. Wacker went one-on-one with Providence College's goalie Amy Thomas and fired a puck through the five-hole. The Maroon and Gold scored at power-play goal at 14:45 of the first to go into the first intermission with a 2-1 lead. Kelly Stephens scored a team-high 15th power-play goal, with Krissy Wendell and Natalie Darwitz adding the assists.
Erica McKenzie put the Gophers' lead to 3-1 when she scored an unassisted goal at 2:41 of the second period. McKenzie scored on her own rebound for her 12th goal of the season. Stephens netted her second goal of the game at 4:42 of the second period. Darwitz and Wendell again tallied the assists.
With her second assist Darwitz became the Gophers' career recordholder in points. She entered the Providence game with 234 career points. She accomplished the feat in just 97 games played for the Maroon and Gold. Former Gopher Nadine Muzerall scored 235 points in 129 games.
Bobbi Ross added the Gophers' final two goals, scoring at 2:00 of the third and again at 15:47. In Ross' first goal, she scored a power- play with Chelsey Brodt and Darwitz on the assists. Ross added her 15th goal of the season. Wendell and Noelle Sutton added the assists. In all, 10 players tallied a point in the win. Minnesota had scoring contributions from three of the four lines.
The Maroon and Gold were 2-for-6 on the power play, while holding the Friars to 1-for-6. Minnesota had 15 shots in the first, nine in the second and another 15 in the third for a three-period total of 39. The Friars had nine shots in the first, but were held to three shots in the second and another three shots in the third for a three-period total of 15. Jody Horak had a stellar night in goal for the Gophers, stopping 14 shots and earning her 22nd win of the season.
The Minnesota seniors, Stephens, Horak, Brenda Reinen, Sutton and Stacy Troumbly, have now made it to the Frozen Four every year since being a member of the Gopher women's hockey team.
Minnesota Quotes:
Minnesota coach Laura Halldorson:
“I’m very pleased with the effort the team gave tonight. We had a lot of contributions from a lot of different people. I was happy with every part of our game offensively and defensively. This was a big win for us, and we’re excited to be going to New Hampshire.”
“In the beginning they did a good job of keeping us out of the blue zone. We kept working hard and finally started scoring. I thought our passing was good, especially from Chelsey (Brodt) and Ashley (Albrecht). I thought overall our penalty kill was great for us tonight too.”
Minnesota Forward Krissy Wendell:
On being down 1-0:
“This was the fifth time in the NCAA tournament that has happened to me, so I wasn’t worried. We just needed to stay positive and not worry about how they were playing. We just needed to worry about ourselves and keep peppering the goalie and then goals would come. That’s what we did, kept our heads up and peppered the goalie and we scored.”
On their next opponent:
“There are no easy games in the NCAA tournament. No matter what, we have to be ready for that next game.”
Minnesota Forward Natalie Darwitz:
On being down 1-0:
“Wendell said in the locker room that we’ve always been down 1-0 in the NCAA tournament. We weren’t worried. We were dominating the game. It was just a power-play goal. We just needed to hit one of our shots to get the momentum going, and that was it.”
On becoming the highest scorer in U of M history:
“It’s an honor to be in the record books, but my focus is to win a national championship.”
Minnesota Forward Kelly Stephens:
On the contributions from all lines tonight:
“We need all lines going in big games. Tonight people stepped up. Everyone contributed and that’s what you need to win in the playoffs. It was nice to have everything going that way tonight.”
On a potential game in the next round verse Wisconsin after a 3-2 overtime win in the WCHA Championships: “We have to play a full 60 minutes. It’s not our fault that the two calls went our way at that point in the game. Either team we play (Wisconsin or Dartmouth), we are not worried about it. Either way, we’ll be fine.”
Minnesota Defender Ashley Albrecht:
“Every game we don’t want them to shoot the puck. We needed to play well defensively tonight. It was a priority for us.”
Providence Quotes
Providence Coach Bob Deraney:
“ We came in with a great group of defensive lines and a team playing well, with a great goalie. It was great to win the Hockey East Championship, but I think it was even greater qualifying for the NCAA’s because it was something we haven’t done and I am very proud of the team and our seniors for going out, playing their best and getting us where we are.”
“They (Gophers) are a real good hockey team. They are a very formidable opponent with all the great players they have in Darwitz, Wendell, Stephens, and Wall, they are a very difficult team to beat.”
“I’m glad we scored the first goal tonight but I think it took us out of our game because we got really excited and skated around with our heads cut off. On the other hand I think the goal helped us see that even after going down a few goals that we were still in this, and I think it really showed them what they could do.”
Providence Forward Rush Zimmerman:
On Minnesota Defense:
“When we had the puck deep in the zone, they were able to throw it out quickly and because they were able to do that, and move the puck so fast we couldn’t get into our fore checks and our style of game.”
On Preparation for Gophers:
“I’ve been able to play with some of those guys (Gophers) up in the development league and I’ve seen what they can do. How they skate and how they move the puck is something I knew going into the game. They are a very talented group of players that are very creative with the puck.”
Providence Forward Katelynn Laffin:
“The Gophers are a very good team, they move the puck really well and they are very fast moving around on the ice. I am glad we got the chance to play the No. 1 team in the nation. Going in we wanted to play the Gophers, we knew we were going to so we took it as if it were the Championship game.”
“When we got that first goal it was such a great feeling, already being pumped up for playing the No. 1 team the goal just gave us so much more motivation to be out there on the ice, playing our best against No. 1.
On Preparation for Gophers:
“Coach prepared us really well. We weren’t surprised at what they (Gophers) could do. They didn’t do anything different than what we already knew about them, they just outplayed us. I think the game and preparation for the No. 1 team could have gotten to the younger players a little bit because it was our first NCAA appearance and because it is the top team in the nation.
