Women's Hockey Drops Heartbreaker To Gophers
December 01, 2001 | Women's Hockey
A crazy night of hockey ended when No. 4 Minnesota scored with 45 seconds left in overtime to claim a 4-3 victory over ninth-ranked Wisconsin women's hockey at Capitol Ice Arena on Saturday.
The craziness started early when the Badgers took the lead for the second straight night. Meghan Hunter (Oil Springs, Ontario) deflected Sis Paulsen 's (Eau Claire, Wis.) point shot at 5:48 for her sixth of the season. The goal judge turned the red light on, but referee Krista Knight waived off the goal and play continued. At the next faceoff, the goal was counted after Knight checked with the goal judge and the clock went back to 5:48. Kendra Antony (Yorkton, Saskatchewan) earned the second assist on the power-play goal.
Laura Slominski scored her first of three at 4:49 of the second period to even the game. Melissa Coulombe flipped the puck ahead in the neutral zone to Slominski. Kerry Weiland (Palmer, Alaska) caught an edge and fell back, leaving Slominski on a breakaway. The senior went to the backhand for her sixth of the season.
At 8:29, Slominski struck again, this time by deflecting Ronda Curtin 's point shot on the power-play, giving Minnesota a 2-1 lead.
The Badgers tied the score at two when Hunter took advantage of a five-on-three at 10:07 of the second. Weiland picked the puck up from Jackie MacMillan (Buffalo, Minn.) in her own zone, went coast-to-coast along the left side, and hit Hunter in the slot for a one-timer.
Minnesota scored what appeared to be the go-ahead goal at 11:34 of the second period when Kristy Oonincx put the puck past MacMillan on a breakaway. The goal was waived off when another Gopher was called for being in the crease.
The score remained knotted at two when Slominski completed a hat trick at 6:10 of the third. MacMillan stopped Tracey Engstrom's original shot, but a scramble ensued. Stephens got a piece of the puck, but Slominski got more and poked it home for a Gopher 3-2 lead.
Wisconsin tied the game a second time at 14:33 of the third. Antony centering pass was just out of the reach of Hunter, but carried to Weiland at the point. Weiland shot from the point and found Reinen's five hole. The puck slithered through the goalie's legs and Antony finished it off. The junior's fifth of the season sent the game into overtime.
Minnesota and Oonincx celebrated late in the third period what would have been the game-winning goal, but the red light never lit as the net went flying off its moorings and MacMillan froze the puck.
At 2:29 of the overtime, Carla MacLeod (Calgary, Alberta) and Kelly Stephens went off for coincidental cross-checking penalties. With the teams skating four-on-four, Jerilyn Glenn won the puck deep in her own corner, passed the puck up to Kristy Oonincx, who returned it to a streaking Glenn. The forward went in alone on MacMillan, scored her fourth of the season and won the game for Minnesota.
'It's a heartbreaking loss in overtime,' Head Coach Trina Bourget said. 'Looking back over the course of the game, our team seemed to be getting back on track - putting the puck in the net, playing aggressive, playing like I know this team is capable of playing. Jackie made some great saves during the game, but it is tough to lose like that in overtime.'
MacMillan made 20 saves, but absorbed the loss to fall to 6-7-1. Reinen made 14 saves, earning the win and improving to 4-1-2.
'Our goal was to come back after last night's loss, play well as a team and finish to end our scoring drought,' Bourget added. 'We did a nice job with that, and our power-play got back on track.'
Wisconsin (6-7-2 overall, 5-4-1 WCHA) completes first semester action next Saturday and Sunday with home contests in Eau Claire, Wis. The Badgers play host to Bemidji State for a pair of 1:05 p.m. games.
