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Final two series of the regular season
In her first season as coach of the Minnesota ice hockey team, Laura Halldorson led the Golden Gophers to a fourth-place finish at the 1998 national championship. And in 2000, Halldorson led Minnesota to a 30-6-1 record and the national championship title. Check out Halldorson's diary every other week on CNNSI.com.
March 7, 2001
Over the past two weekends our team faced the third and second place teams from our WCHA league -- Wisconsin and the University of Minnesota-Duluth. They were the final two series of the regular season, and they were both huge for us! Wisconsin came to Mariucci Arena on February 24 and 25 for our final home stand of the year. We only needed three points to clinch first place, which would give us the number one seed for our league tournament. Also, the Sunday game was televised so we wanted to win, clinch, and send off our ten seniors with a successful final home weekend! In the first game, there was no scoring in period one. Both teams were playing hard. During the second period we went up 2-1 with goals from Laura Slominski and Ronda Curtin, two former Minnesota Ms. Hockey winners. Then came the third period. The game opened up and we scored four goals to Wisconsin's one. Senior Nadine Muzerall contributed two, while freshmen Stef Snow and La Toya Clarke added the other two. It seemed like we were able to wear them down toward the end of the game. The final score was 6-2. In Minnesota, high school girls' hockey is very popular. We have over 120 high school teams! Well, the state tournament was going on this same weekend, so both of our coaching staffs spent time watching those games when we had time. The Ms. Hockey banquet took place at noon on Sunday, too. That award is given to the top senior in the state. Both the Wisconsin coach and I were invited to the event, but couldn't stay long (for obvious reasons -- our game was at 2 p.m.). We carpooled to the banquet, gave our short remarks, and hustled back to the rink. Once in Mariucci Arena we both were interviewed by MSC, the station that televised the game. After pre-game warm-ups I also took part in the Senior Day ceremony, which honored our ten great seniors. The parents came out on the ice with their daughters and received flowers and photos. There was a lot going on before the game! Game two was not as high scoring; however, we were able to get a goal early. I started six of our seniors, and Muzzy put one in at the 25-second mark. What was funny was that I had told them they had 20 seconds together. I wanted the shift to be short because it wasn't a normal line combination. So when they got to the bench after the goal, I jokingly said, "I said only 20 seconds!" It was fitting that they scored with the all-senior line-up on Senior Day. We went on to win the game 3-1. It was actually a very close checking game without too many shots on goal (22-19 in our favor). I gave Wisconsin a lot of credit. Their top goalie had gotten injured in Saturday's game, but the team played very well in front of her back up on Sunday. So the regular season title was ours! We were presented with a trophy at the end of the game, and it felt good to win our first WCHA championship. That was one of our team goals this year. One week later we were off to Duluth, MN, for our final games before the post-season tournament. We had beaten Duluth twice in November by the scores of 4-0 and 8-0; however, they were without some of their international players at that time. This series would be a little different. Plus, we were going to "their barn". Before the weekend, both teams were very close in the objective computerized rankings and subjective coaches' polls. In one poll we were tied for the second spot, nationally. The Friday game was fast-moving and very physical from the start. Surprisingly, there were three goals scored in the first period -- two by them and one by us (freshman La Toya Clarke scored on our first power play of the game). At that rate, I was expecting a shoot out! Duluth would not score again, though, and we tied it in the second period. Freshman Kelsey Bills knocked in a loose puck that was misplayed by the Duluth goaltender. That would be all the scoring, as it ended in a 2-2 tie. I just thought it was fitting that we tied -- having been so close in the polls and rankings all year. On Saturday night, however, there was a winner. It wasn't us. We played a great first period and led 1-0 on Courtney Kennedy's shot from the point. Courtney has had a tremendous senior year, and is a finalist for the Kazmaier Award, which is given to the top player in the country. It's too bad the game didn't end after one period! In the first five minutes of the second period, Duluth scored three times. Yikes! Two were even strength and the third was on a power play. That took a lot of wind out of our sails. Interestingly, we had another scoreless third period, so the final was 3-1. It's not that we didn't have chances. We outshot them 43-33 and played the final two minutes with our goalie pulled. We spent that time in our opponents' end and created a lot of opportunities. We just couldn't put it in the back of the net. Now the stage is set for our league tournament this weekend in Rochester, MN. Since we are the top seed, we have a bye on Thursday. In the first round Duluth will play Minnesota State, Mankato; Wisconsin will face Bemidji State; and Ohio State will go against St. Cloud State. On Friday we will play the winner of the Ohio State/St. Cloud State game. If we win, we will go to the championship game; if not, we'll play for third place. Winning this tournament is another of our team goals, but it sure won't be easy. Our league is much stronger this year and there are no automatic wins. If we have a good weekend, we will have a great chance of being selected for the NCAA Inaugural Women's Frozen Four, which will be held in Mariucci Arena on our campus March 23 and 25. Tickets for that can be purchased by calling 1-800-UGOPHER or 612-624-8080. It should be an awesome event. I just hope we'll be part of it. I'll keep you posted!
-- Coach Halldorson
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