Clarkson Comeback Falls Just Short
MINNEAPOLIS — Emily West proved to be the difference as the University of Minnesota defeated the Clarkson University women's hockey team 3-2 in overtime in an NCAA Tournament quarterfinal game Saturday at Ridder Arena.
The Golden Gopher forward played a role in all three goals, including scoring the game-winner at 3 minutes, 9 seconds of overtime.
She finished with two goals and one assist, had 11 shots on Clarkson goalie Lauren Dahm and tied up the stick of Clarkson's Danielle Boudreau, forcing her to attempt to kick a shot in, resulting in a waved-off Clarkson goal.
"Lauren Dahm played really well and played the shots really well," West said. "She had great rebounds. In the overtime goal, I picked up the puck, and I saw more space and I just tried to take advantage of it. I knew that I had been shooting all night low left and thought that maybe she would bite on that and I could sneak the puck in."
The only reason Saturday's game went to overtime was a dramatic comeback from Clarkson (23-12-5 overall), which was playing its first NCAA Tournament game in school history.
The Golden Gophers (26-8-5) led 2-0 with 10 minutes, 9 seconds left in regulation when Clarkson scored its first goal on a two-on-one breakaway. Britney Selina sent a quick pass to Melissa Waldie who tapped it in past Golden Gopher goalie Noora Raty.
"(Selina) made a good play," Waldie said. "The pass was right on the tape. It got us going, too. Everyone was excited after it. I think it gave us momentum."
Clarkson was still looking for a tying goal late in the game and tried to get the puck in Minnesota's zone so it could lift Dahm for an extra attacker.
Juana Baribeau fired a hard slap shot from just inside the red line in an attempt to get Dahm off the ice, only her shot wound up sailing under the crossbar to tie the game 2-2 with 1:44 remaining.
"I think they would take that shot a million times and it might go in once, and it happened to go in tonight," said Minnesota coach Brad Frost.
Said West of the momentum-changer: "Whenever a team scores like that it is never a boosting feeling. On the bench it was tough to see that goal with so little time left, but we had to make due. We had to try to get the win or hold on to OT."
Brittany Francis scored the first goal of the game at 14:19 of the first period during a Minnesota power play. It was a bit of a fluke goal as Francis was attempting to pass and hit Dahm in the waist. The puck deflected into Clarkson's net.
Clarkson thought it had tied the game with about five minutes to play in the second period during a power-play of its own. But a shot from Boudreau was ruled to be kicked in after it was reviewed on video tape.
West, whose defensive effort caused the kick, gave the Golden Gophers a 2-0 lead with a goal on a rebound of a shot from Sarah Erickson at 17:36 of the second period.
"We're still a fairly young program that's come a long way in a pretty short time," said Clarkson co-coach Matt Desrosiers, who called the game a huge step for the program. "Obviously, whenever you get the chance to play for the championship and come so close it's going to help build for future years, especially with our younger players who now have that experience."
Clarkson also gained some measure of self respect after being dominated by the Golden Gophers in 4-0 and 2-0 losses at Ridder Rink in late November.
"In November we basically just stood around and gave them too much respect," said Clarkson co-coach Shannon Desrosiers. "This time we talked about being aggressive, getting in their face and playing our style of game. I think that threw them off a little bit. They were probably more prepared for how we were last time.
