Gophers End Mavericks’ Determined Run
Four Third Period Goals Produce 7-2 Win
MINNEAPOLIS (March 7, 2009) — After surviving some ragged early shifts, including one nervous moment when Monique Lamoureux was shaken up after taking a goal post in the ribs, Minnesota needed something to get them settled down. Senior co-captain Gigi Marvin provided such a veteran boost when she combined with Emily West on a short-handed goal.
West got a piece of the puck in the Minnesota State-Mankato zone, Marvin played it with her glove to her stick and flung a backhand by goalie Paige Thunder and into the top of the net.
“I was just fortunate to get it on my stick and let a shot go,” Marvin said.
That goal a quarter of the way through the first period allowed the Gophers (31-3-3, 23-3-2 WCHA) to play with a lead throughout.
“It was huge; it was tremendous forecheck pressure by them keeping them hemmed in their zone when they were on the power play,” coach Brad Frost said. “Just a fantastic finish, but a great play by Westy to take some good angles.”
The Gophers upped their lead to 2-0 on a power play. Rachael Drazan took a pass from West and zipped it to the edge of the crease where Brittany Francis deflected it high into the cage.
The Mavericks (12-19-5, 7-16-5 WCHA) started a comeback with just over a minute to go in the first when Abby Williams pounced on a Minnesota turnover at her own blue line, broke in alone, and beat Alyssa Grogan with a low shot.
“I knew they were going to drop pass, I just picked up the player, and got lucky enough to pick it off,” said Williams. “Their ‘D’ was coming from the other side so I had a breakaway, and just saw the five-hole open.
“I think that goal kind of gave us a boost. We knew we could do it the whole time, but just getting that goal made everyone on the bench believe.”
Jocelyne Lamoureux picked the top corner on Thunder’s glove side to push the Gophers’ lead back to two goals. Jen Schoullis and Anne Schleper earned the assists on the power-play tally.
When Minnesota committed three penalties in just over a minute, Emmi Leinonen drew the Mavericks back within one via a five-on-three rebound goal with Holly Snyder and Moira O’Connor setting her up.
“We know we’re going to take some penalties, it’s just the undisciplined stuff that we need to be careful of,” Frost said.
The Gophers pulled away in the third on a string of Lamoureux goals combined with one from Terra Rasmussen.
Just after the expiration of a MSU penalty, Monique held the puck on a rush and scored from the low slot. Rasmussen made it 5-2 when she knocked in the rebound of a Kelli Blankenship partial break.
Each sister got her second goal of the game for the final 7-2 margin.
Monique’s two goals brought her season point total to 73, a new high for a Gophers’ rookie.
“Obviously it’s an honor,” Monique said. “It’s definitely about the points in the win column right now. We have hopefully four games left, and we want to play Gopher hockey.”
Jocelyne wound up with a pair of assists to go with her two goals to lead the scoring effort.
The loss brought an end to the season of a resurgent Mavericks’ team. MSU rallied from a 6-14-2 start and a mid-season coaching change to a climb through the WCHA standings and a road quarterfinal series win.
“[Interim co-head coach] Mandy [Krause-Rideout] and I couldn’t be prouder of our hockey team said,” co-head coach Paul Willet said. “We came out and gave an incredible battle against a very, very talented hockey team. In the end, we just came up a little short.”
“We came off some hard times, but our team just rallied together and our coaches helped us so much, and we just came together as a team,” Williams said. “Being here makes us just want to work that much harder to get back here next year.”
Minnesota will take on Wisconsin, a 3-1 victor over Minnesota-Duluth, on Sunday at 1 p.m.
“Very happy with the win today and advancing, giving ourselves an opportunity to play for a championship tomorrow,” Frost said.
Their chance of winning definitely looked brighter once Monique Lamoureux shook off her adventure with the pipe.
“I just went in sideways and hit the post and my body kind of crunched around it,” she said. “A little sore, but I’ll be ready to play tomorrow.”
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