Erica McKenzie and Gigi Marvin each tallied one goal and two assists, figuring into all three of their team’s goals as No. 4 Minnesota scored twice in the third period to spoil Senior Night at No. 9 St. Cloud State, upending the upstart Huskies 3-2.
“Every point is hard to get these days in the WCHA,” said Minnesota coach Laura Halldorson. “I’m pleased that we were able to come away with a win over a very tough St. Cloud team.”
St. Cloud State (15-15-1, 12-12-1 WCHA) went into the locker room after the second period with a 2-1 lead on the back of a solid effort by netminder Lauri St. Jacques, but a determined Minnesota attack during the final frame gave the Golden Gophers their 19th consecutive victory over SCSU.
“We weren’t really too concerned about being down,” said McKenzie. “We were outplaying them, and the score really didn’t do that justice. [St. Jacques] was playing great and she played great tonight — we just kept our cool and knew we could get it done.”
The first period belonged to St. Jacques, SCSU’s junior assistant captain, who made 12 saves to keep Minnesota (21-9-1, 16-8-1) off the board in the first period, including two which were nothing short of spectacular. Halfway into the period, Gopher sophomore Bobbi Ross came into the attacking zone on a two-on-one with McKenzie. As Ross approached St. Jacques, she made a nifty spin move to try and fool the Husky netminder, dishing the puck to McKenzie, but St. Jacques followed the puck all the way and made the save.
With time running down in the opening period, McKenzie found herself directly in front while on the power play and made a quick snapshot while St. Jacques was still moving in the crease, but St. Jacques reached out with her glove hand and scooped the puck out of the air to rob McKenzie of a goal.
The Minnesota defense was equally up to the task during the first period, allowing only one shot to St. Cloud State.
The Golden Gophers solved St. Jacques with their first shot of the second, 2:25 into the period. Gigi Marvin took a pass from McKenzie and ripped a shot from just to the left of the crease that and beat St. Jacques glove side through traffic in front for a 1-0 lead.
“Mac and I have been clicking all week in practice,” Marvin said. “Luckily, it carried over into the game tonight.”
Minnesota continued to control play for most of the second period, but SCSU began to capitalize on its meager opportunities as the period began to wind down. With about five minutes left in the period, St. Cloud junior Hailey Clarkson entered the attacking zone and weaved her way through three Minnesota defenders before taking a gentle shot which beat Gopher freshman Kim Hanlon to her left, tying the score at one. Clarkson’s shot ended a Minnesota shutout streak of 199 minutes and 13 seconds against the Huskies.
While it may have taken 365 days for the Huskies to score one, it took only a little more than four minutes to nab a second. Junior Denelle Maguet took a feed from Kristy Oonincx and roofed the shot home on the backhand, putting St. Cloud State up 2-1 and giving the Huskies their first lead over the Gophers since March of 2004. They took the lead into the second intermission despite being outshot 20-6 over the first forty minutes.
“When we played Duluth, we were in the same situations,” said St. Cloud State captain Randie Jelinski, who played in her last regular-season home game along with four other SCSU seniors. “We were being well outshot but still going into the third in a position to win. Our mindset was really the same as it was in that series — get some shots, but play a strong defensive game, and hopefully come out with the win.”
If the Gophers were at all impressed by the St. Cloud surge, they certainly did not show it early in the third as they began making up ground almost immediately. Freshman Dagney Willey tied the game at two early in the third with her first career goal. Willey, a defenseman, brought the puck into the zone herself, cut to the center, and banked a shot in off the post to St. Jacques’ left.
Minnesota continued to maintain its pressure in the attacking zone and went ahead off the stick of Erica McKenzie. Taking a pass from Marvin, McKenzie blasted a one-timer from close range that was initially saved by St. Jacques, but McKenzie floated the rebound just over the SCSU goalie and just out of her reach to give Minnesota the 3-2 lead.
“We talk about situations like that,” said Halldorson of being down after two. “They test our character. When we were able to come back, that said something about the character of our team and our will to win.”
Despite a late penalty and some good looks at the net late, St. Cloud was unable to find a second equalizing goal of the night on three shots in the final frame. Minnesota dominated the final shot tally, 28-9. The victory ensured the Golden Gophers of finishing no worse in the league than their current position, third.
“We weren’t playing our best today,” said St. Cloud State coach Jason Lesteberg. “The shot totals really showed that. We had two opportunities that we capitalized on, and we were upbeat heading into the third, but it’s still difficult to find a way to win when you don’t play your best.”
The teams play the second half of the home-and-home Saturday afternoon at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis. With a victory at home, the Golden Gophers can move within one point of idle Minnesota-Duluth, who sits in second place in the WCHA. St. Cloud State, meanwhile, is still trying to clinch the fourth and final home-ice berth, which they can all but wrap up with a victory over Minnesota on Saturday.
