University of Minnesota Athletics
Frozen Four Moments: OT Game-Winner
4/20/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Hockey
April 20, 2016
MINNEAPOLIS - The Gophers are looking back at some of the most memorable moments of the 2016 NCAA Women's Frozen Four. This week, relive Sarah Potomak's overtime game-winning goal against Wisconsin in the Frozen Four semifinal to give Minnesota a 3-2 win and secure the program's fifth-straight appearance in the NCAA championship game.
Minnesota and Wisconsin were tied 2-2 at the end of regulation, forcing overtime between the rivals for the third time during the 2015-16 season. Potomak's game-winner came at the 15:00 mark of overtime when she picked off a Badger defenseman in the UW zone and fired it past Badger netminder Ann-Renee Desbiens on her backhand to seal the 3-2 win.
Gopher Sports: What do you remember about Sarah Potomak scoring the game-winner against Wisconsin?
Sophie Skarzynski: I was on the bench standing next to Taylor Williamson. Taylor and I saw her going hard on the fore-check, and we just kind of looked at each other like, "Oh man, oh man." Frosty was saying all game to go five-hole or just get in over her left shoulder. That's exactly what Sarah did. We could see her setting up on the backhand. It was just a hardworking fore-check, and I kind of saw her shoot it and it rolled in. I think I was one of the first people to jump on her. It was pretty nuts.
Milica McMillen: All I saw was the bench. I had been out on the ice for about four minutes and hadn't been able to get off. I had just iced the puck down and was skating straight to the bench, and then all of a sudden I see everyone going over the bench. I thought, "I guess we scored!" Then I fell crawling to the pile.
Nicole Schammel: Well, during overtime, I was like basically crying because I was so nervous. Not playing is so much harder than playing in those games. I did not want our season to be over, even though I kind of thought I would be ready for it to be over after red-shirting. When Sarah scored, I was in shock because I didn't think that it actually went in. I had a good view of the play in the stands. It was a quick turnover and kind of looked like it went in on its own. Seeing it on the replay, Sarah made a really good play on it. It makes me a lot more excited for next year to hopefully part of something like that for the next three years.
Kelsey Cline: At the time, I was on the bench toward the end where she scored. I was actually kind of crammed in with a couple people. We were all watching and cheering for Sarah to fore-check so we could get a change. From the angle I was at, I could see her coming down the far side. I saw her put her stick out and hit the puck. The goalie really had no reaction, and the puck just slid right through. I looked to my left and saw Brook Garzone, and we both had wide eyes like, "Oh my Gosh!" We froze for a second and realized what happened. Then we started jumping up and down and pushing people, trying to find the pile and celebrate.
Lee Stecklein: I was on the ice following her up. I was just really hoping she'd just get the puck in deep because we had a few girls who had just been out for a really long shift, so they needed to change. I remember Sarah all of a sudden picking [Wisconsin defenseman Mellissa] Channell's pocket, and then it just snuck in. I didn't even know it went in until Sarah turned up the ice and started celebrating. I missed the jersey flag and everything, and I was too tired to skate hard at her. I was just so relieved.
Sarah Potomak: At that moment, it didn't even feel real. I think one of Wisconsin's players was trying to set a pick for her own player, and I don't think the one who had the puck knew I was coming up behind her. I was able to pick her pocket and catch [Wisconsin goaltender Ann-Renee] Desbiens off guard. I shot it as quick as I could. One of the big things for me was the celebration, I was really proud. Celebrating with my teammates, it still didn't even feel real. I remember asking everyone if it was actually happening. It was pretty surreal.
Kelly Pannek: During overtime, I watched four minutes from the penalty box on back-to-back shifts, so I was really glad that Sarah scored. I thought it was really cool because it was a goal that was just pure effort. She just took the puck right from their team, and they weren't expecting it. She just made a great, gritty play. Especially in that kind of game, it was just a hard-working goal and you want to see a goal that's well-earned and not just kind of fluky, so that was unbelievable. I think I fell over the boards trying to get to the pile. I just remember thanking her very much for scoring. It was just so exciting -- and probably the best celly of the year.
Check back to GopherSports.com as the Gophers relive other memorable moments from the Frozen Four.
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