Wisconsin-River Falls defeats Amherst College 3-1 to advance to the National Championship game, seeking their third title in a row. (Photo by Carly Lynch – carlys_captures)
#3 Nazareth University Golden Flyers (26-1-1) vs #2 Norwich University Cadets (26-3-0)
Nazareth 5-4 (OT) Norwich
This game was quite something as early on it didn’t look like Nazareth would be the team advancing to play on Sunday considering how the game began.
Norwich got off to a how start in the opening period, Natalie Heutmaker scored a quick 5:35 into the game, making it 1-0, but her teammate Libby Lane doubled the lead a mere 16 seconds later off the faceoff, making it 2-0 Cadets in the blink of an eye.
The play heavily leaned toward Norwich in the 1st as Nazareth really couldn’t get much going, which wouldn’t get any better later in the opening frame as Geena Cookinham tripled the lead on the powerplay, making it 3-0 Cadets entering the 2nd period.
Following the 1st period, it became more evident that Nazareth wasn’t going away despite the brutal opening period of play. The Golden Flyers got on the board on the powerplay just about six minutes in (Ella Konrad) making it 3-1 Cadets.
Nazareth defeats Norwich to advance to their first-ever National Championship. (Photo by samsilvermedia)
The comeback continued later on just after the halfway mark of the period when Nazareth’s Ella Cedrone cut the lead to one, making it 3-2, but would be essentially cancelled out as Norwich scored a rapid 15 seconds later (Olivia Boyer), getting the lead back to two (4-2).
In the 3rd, it was all Nazareth on the scoreboard, their point-leader Amy Laskowski scored a quick two minutes and change into the period, making it 4-3 Cadets and shifting the momentum once again.
As we got later in the period, Nazareth was making up for their lack of offense early on in the game, generating better chances, which eventually led to the tying goal from Maggie Jacoby at 13:56 of the period, making it a whole new ballgame which eventually put us in overtime.
In the overtime period, here’s the winner from Meredith Boettcher a mere 29 seconds into the extra frame:
Meredith Boettcher’s game winning goal vs Norwich in overtime of the NCAA semifinals. (Video via @ncaadiii & @nazathletics)
For goaltending, Mia Gonsalves made 26 saves on 30 shots for Nazareth, while Madison Brunet made 26 saves on 31 shots.
Nazareth defeats Norwich to advance to their first-ever National Championship. (Photo by samsilvermedia)
Nazareth, in their first-ever Frozen Four, will face Wisconsin-River Falls in the National Championship on Sunday afternoon at 3pm CST.
#4 Amherst College Mammoths (21-3-6) @ #1 Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons (28-1-0)
Wisconsin-River Falls 3-1 Amherst
The home-ice three peat remained alive as Wisconsin-River Falls defeated Amherst 3-1 on Friday. These two teams faced last season in the National Championship, UWRF winning by the same score of 3-1.
In this one, Megan Goodreau continued her historic season, she scored a goal and assisted on another, making it 76 points on the season (one shy of the all-time record by Laura Hurd of 77). Goodreau also set the all-time single-season powerplay goals record, scoring her 18th of the season, making her the all-time career powerplay goals record for D-III with an incredible 35.
Wisconsin-River Falls defeats Amherst College 3-1 to advance to their third straight National Championship (Photo by Pat Deninger)
Powerplays were the story in this game, as three of the four goals came on the extra-attacker. This potentially is due to the reality that of course the extra attacker matters, but when the goaltending and defense is so good on both sides, the extra space on the ice becomes more of a factor in terms of goal scoring. It also helps when your powerplay is an insane 46% (UWRF).
The Falcons got things started at the midway mark of the opening period on the powerplay, Alexa Niccum scored on Goodreau’s pass to make it 1-0 Falcons, which held up for the remainder of the period.
As mentioned earlier, Goodreau would double the Falcon lead early in the 2nd period on the PP, making it 2-0 River Falls. Later on, the Falcons like the earlier game, made it 3-0 after Madison Kadrlik score the lone even-strength goal of the day with just under eight minutes left in the 2nd.
In the 3rd, the lone Mammoth goal was scored on the powerplay by Maeve Reynolds, making it 3-1 Falcons with just under four minutes remaining, unfortunately coming too late for them. Natalie Stott’s record setting career in net comes to an end in Amherst, capping off one of the best four year stretches of goaltending that’s ever been played.
For goaltending, Jordan O’Kane made 30 saves on 31 shots, while Natalie Stott made 30 saves on 33 shots.
Wisconsin-River Falls will host Nazareth Sunday afternoon at 3pm CST in the National Championship game, seeking the three-peat.
