UNH, Minnesota Duel in Final Four Undercard

Before anyone grants No. 1 Harvard the American Women's College Hockey Alliance National Championship, three teams would like to raise an objection.

In fact, there is another game tonight to award a spot in tomorrow's final. One of those teams, UNH, just happens to be the defending champions.

The No. 2 Wildcats (22-6-5, 19-5-3, ECAC) will battle No. 3 Minnesota (28-3-3) in the AWCHA semifinal tonight for the right to potentially deny Harvard the title. Minnesota will look to avenge last year's loss to UNH in the tournament's semifinal round. "I think we have shown this year that we can play with anyone," UNH Coach Karen Kay said. "I hope we get another shot at Harvard in the finals."

These two teams match up very well with each other and have developed something of a rivalry.

After losing in the playoffs last year, the Golden Gophers have been unable to exact any revenge in this year's regular season. Their two meetings with the Wildcats have not produced a winner.

Goaltending and defense have dominated those earlier contests with the teams skating to a 1-1 tie during the first week of the season. And on Jan. 30, both goaltenders pitched shutouts--extremely rare for a sport in which double-digit goal totals are not uncommon.

This time will be different in at least that respect. Obviously, this game must produce a winner and the teams will play sudden death until either Wildcat junior goaltender Alicia Roberts, who stopped 22 shots in January, or Gopher sophomore Erica Killewald, who turned aside 32, lets one too many get by her.

Roberts, with a career 2.05 GAA, is the Wildcats' all time winningest goaltender and among the best in the nation. Killewald has been even more dominant this season, posting a miniscule 1.15 GAA.

During crunch time, the Wildcats will turn to co-captain Nicki Luongo and junior forward Carisa Zaban to provide the crucial goals. Both players were among the 10 candidates for the Patty Kazmaier Award, and Luongo named one of the three finalists.

Luongo not only anchors the defensive corps, but she is the offensive sparkplug. She leads the Wildcat transition game, frequently rushing the puck up the ice, clearing out space for her talented teammates up front.

"[Luongo] is our Ray Bourque," Kay said. "When she isn't out there we really miss her."

None of Luongo's teammates has a better nose for the net than Zaban. With 64 points, she is the only non-Harvard player in the top five in ECAC scoring, at fourth overall.

Had Harvard been unable to find a late-game equalizer during its 5-4 overtime win over the Wildcats last Sunday, Zaban would have probably grabbed the Tournament MVP.

At 15:38 of the third period, she deftly stickhandled out of the corner through three Crimson defenders to position UNH for an upset with a 4-3 lead.

Flanking Zaban, senior forward Melisa Heitzman and sophomore forward Michelle Thornton also crank out the goals for the Wildcats. Both players have 44 points and combine blazing speed with an ability to break players down one-on-one.

Thornton also doubles as a defensive specialist, often drawing the assignment to shut down the opposition's top player.

Today, that will almost assuredly be the multi-talented Gopher freshman forward Jenny Schmidgall, a member of the 1998 gold medal US Olympic team. She leads the offense with 66 points in her rookie season.

After Schmidgall, a trio of sophomores forms the heart of the Minnesota attack. Forward Erica Shulz and defensemen Nadine Muzerall and Winny Brodt all have over 40 points this year.

In its games against teams in the Final Four this season, this quartet has accounted for all of the Minnesota goals.

Brodt, a transfer this year from UNH, has special motivation to light up her former team.

Minnesota has an extra advantage this weekend, playing on its home ice for the tournament. It has only lost two games at Mariucci Arena this year--to Harvard and its semifinal opponent No. 4 Brown.

The Golden Gophers enter the weekend riding a modest three-game winning streak, while the Wildcats had a five-game streak snapped in their heartbreaking ECAC final loss to the Crimson.

In particular, UNH is a team that has a long playoff tradition. Though the AWCHA tournament is only in its second year, the Wildcats have not missed an appearance in the finals of the ECAC tournament since 1987-88.

"I think we have proven that you don't need Olympic talent to play at that level," Kay said.

And despite its independent status, Minnesota has always been in the upper echelons of college hockey.

This should prove to be a closely fought, even match-up for that precious slot in the championship game. Contrary to popular belief, both of these teams have enough talent to move on to tomorrow night's finale and claim the championship.