Golden Gophers Destroy Big Green in W. Hockey NCAA Semifinals

DURHAM, N.H.—In the late semifinal at the Frozen Four March 25, No. 1 Minnesota (35-2-2) wasted little time in serving notice to the Crimson that its road to an NCAA title would have to run through the wire-to-wire front-runners of collegiate women’s hockey.

Junior Natalie Darwitz scored a mere 13 seconds into the contest and joined with Patty Kazmaier Award winner Krissy Wendell in dissecting Dartmouth (27-7-0) for a 7-2 win and the chance to repeat as national champs on Sunday.

“Obviously the start was key,” Minnesota coach Laura Halldorson said. “Coming out of the blocks like we did and getting on top. Our team was ready to go and it showed early in the first period.”

Darwitz, who finished with two goals and three assists, added another tally at 2:12 and fed longtime linemate Wendell for the game-winner at 4:50. Less than five minutes had passed and the Big Green already faced an insurmountable three-goal deficit.

“The momentum just kept on building,” Halldorson said. “We were the second game so we had built-up energy and we came out flying.”

Dartmouth began to crawl back when Gillian Apps notched an unassisted score on a shot that was mishandled and bobbled into the net by Golden Gophers netminder Jody Horak.

But the Minnesota top line connected yet again at 8:42, this time on the power play, on a screaming Lyndsay Wall slapshot courtesy of Darwitz. Not to be outdone, senior Kelly Stephens, who plays on Darwitz and Wendell’s left wing, picked up her 33rd goal of the season at 13:12 on Wendell’s second assist of the night.

Junior Cherie Piper retaliated on the Big Green’s behalf with just over two minutes left in the frame to bring the score to 5-2 and cap off a wild flurry of goal scoring. Piper’s slapper through traffic beat Horak inside the left post for the seventh goal in a shade under 18 minutes. The first period concluded with only 17 shots on goal, seven of which found their way past the goalies.

With the possible exception of a stagnant middle period, which saw no goals and a grand total of six shots, the Golden Gophers dominated the match-up and summarily sent a sluggish Dartmouth squad to the consolation game.

“We came out on fire and I think both teams settled in after that,” Stephens said. “Dartmouth got a handle and we learned our lesson and they’re a great team and we needed to keep going and not get ahead of ourselves and stay in the moment.”

Although the speed and electricity of the high-flying Wendell-Darwitz line carried the day, the most impressive performance was perhaps turned in by the Minnesota defense.

The Gophers back line stonewalled the Big Green attack, which entered the game as the second-most prolific scoring offense in the nation, holding it to two goals on 10 shots. In a stunning display of discipline and containment, not a single one of those shots came in the final period, and Dartmouth was forced to watch as the gulf grew wider on goals by Wendell and freshman Jenelle Philipczyk.

“I’m amazed at that myself because of the firepower that they have,” Halldorson said. “I think they played well today­—moved well with the puck and without the puck—and we were able to shut them down.”

In contrast with the earlier semifinal, only 10 penalties were handed out by the refs: Minnesota went 3-for-5 on the power play while Dartmouth was 1-for-5.

The big rink at the Whittemore Center played into the hands of the Gophers, who spread the ice with its superior team speed and held the puck for the majority of the night.

“We pride ourselves on being a quick team and a fast team and I think people know that,” Darwitz said.

Horak picked up the win with only 8 saves, and junior Kate Lane suffered the punishing loss, stopping 17-of-24.

PATTY KAZMAIER AWARD

Minnesota’s Krissy Wendell was honored with the 2005 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award—given to the top player in women’s college hockey—presented in Portsmouth, N.H. on March 26. Wendell became the eighth recipient of the award and the first player from a western school to bring home the trophy. Wendell is second in the nation in points (102), goals (42), and assists (60).

In a banquet hall filled with many of women’s hockey’s biggest names, including Harvard’s Nicole Corriero—one of the 10 finalists but not among the final three nominees—Wendell congratulated her fellow stars, especially teammate Natalie Darwitz.

Wendell led the Golden Gophers against Harvard, home to four of the first seven winners of the award, in the NCAA championship game March 27.

—Staff writer Jonathan Lehman can be reached at jlehman@fas.harvard.edu.