With the 4-0 victory, UW-River Falls won the program’s third consecutive national championship, all coming on home ice. (Pat Deninger)
#3 Nazareth Golden Flyers (27-1-1) @ #1 Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons (29-1-0)
UW-River Falls 4, Nazareth 0
Once again, the Falcons are the top of the D-III women’s hockey world, bringing home their third consecutive national championship, all coming on home ice. The Falcons held off the upstart Nazareth program, fresh off a 3-goal comeback in Friday’s semifinal win over the #2 seed Norwich, the largest comeback in tournament history.
As we thought may have been the case, the clock struck midnight on the Golden Flyers’ season. Despite a valiant effort, Naz could not keep up with the speed and skill of the Falcons. I will give Nazareth some credit though, as they definitely fought hard, and hung in the game for a pretty long time. River Falls posted their second shutout of the NCAA Tournament, going down in history as one of the greatest runs we’ve seen in college hockey, as their dynasty status has now officially been cemented.
First Period
Early on, River Falls came out flying, generating some good looks due to their speed advantage, and drew an early penalty just over three minutes in, putting the nation’s top power play on the ice. Naz did a great job killing it off without too much damage.
RF put up some outstanding looks on Nazareth goaltender Mia Gonsalves, but she shut the door on them all, including a clear breakaway stop with about 8 minutes to go. Naz started to find their legs a bit midway through the period, as they clearly were trying to play a physical style with the Falcons, trying to get under their skin with some late hits after the whistle.
Eventually an open-ice hit gave the Falcons their second power play, which looked much more dangerous than the first man advantage. Still, Gonsalves and the Flyers kept the puck out of the net, and used that momentum to get a couple decent shots on Falcon goaltender Jordan O’Kane.
After the final whistle of Period 1, Nazareth got hit with a hooking call, and continued to attempt a bit of an intimidation tactic after the buzzer went. Each team was lucky to avoid further penalties after some roughhousing post-play. UWRF outshot Nazareth 13-7 in the period.
Nazareth had its best program in program history, going 27-2-1, but could not overcome UWRF, despite playing them extremely physical after the whistle. (Pat Deninger)
Second Period
The third time was the charm for the Falcons with the man advantage. Just 61 seconds into the frame, Brooklyn Riley tipped home a point shot from do-it-all defender MaKenna Aure in what ended up being the eventual game-winner. On the goal, Megan Goodreau was credited with the secondary assist, tying Laura Hurd’s single-season scoring record, with her 77th point of the year. Goodreau won the award named for Hurd, herself earlier in the week.
The Falcons clearly used that momentum to their advantage, dominating play from that point on, keeping the pressure on Naz for the next few minutes. Just two and half minutes after Riley’s goal, the Falcons started piling it on, as star freshman Sophia Hess got her stick on a loose puck at the side of the net to make it 2-0 Falcons, as they took a stranglehold of the game.
Naz called their timeout, and although they composed themselves mentally, couldn’t generate much of anything in the River Falls end. They got a power play chance just one minute after the 2nd Falcon goal, but River Falls had the best look in those 2 minutes, despite being shorthanded.
Nazareth really couldn’t get much else going, and despite drawing a late power play, it was negated by another hooking call going the other way, resulting in 4-on-4 play to end Period 2. River Falls dominated the middle frame, outshooting the Flyers 20-6, as Naz had a really tough time getting players off the ice with the long change and the puck held in their zone for minutes at a time.
River Falls outshot the Golden Flyers 44-22 in the championship game, showcasing their complete dominance of the sport. (Pat Deninger)
Third Period
The start of the third was much more end-to-end, as Nazareth started to take a few more chances. Once the 4-on-4 play ended, Nazareth got one more power play shortly after, and despite having a couple decent looks, couldn’t capitalize.
Midway through period 3, River Falls put this one to bed, as Madison Kadrlik neatly redirected a Sami Pool shot into the back of the net past Gonsalves. Given the nature of the three goals, Naz could definitely say they got a few bad bounces. But for the amount of pressure River Falls put on, they were bound to find the back of the net a few times regardless.
With the three-goal lead, River Falls played back a bit, and played it safe, but the Golden Flyers couldn’t put any pucks past the Falcons, led by O’Kane. With about three minutes left, coach Chris Baudo pulled his netminder, and after a couple offensive zone draws that proved futile, River Falls picked off a breakout pass in the opposing zone, and Hess buried her second of the night into the empty cage, making it 4-0 with just over two minutes left. The Falcons closed out the third, still outshooting Naz 11-9, despite having a multigoal lead heading into the frame.
Wrap-Up
With the win, the Falcons became just the third program in Division III women’s hockey history to win three straight titles, joining Plattsburgh and Middlebury. Joe Cranston’s bunch continues to dominate the sport, marking the fourth straight title to come from the west. Despite having teams that on paper, looked perhaps better in the past, Cranston continues to have his team focused like no other, as they rolled to a 30-1-0 record in this tremendous campaign, in which no one really came close to them skill-wise.
Nazareth gave a solid effort, led by the freshman netminder, Gonsalves, who posted a career-high 40 saves. Naz made program history, with their 27 wins, highlighted by two overtime thrilling victories in the NCAA tournament to get them to the program’s highest finish in their 5th straight NCAA appearance. This team is still quite young, and will be expected to get back to playing big-time games next year in western New York.
All Tournament Team
- F: Meredith Boettcher (Nazareth, Jr. – Duluth, MN)
- F: Megan Goodreau (UW-River Falls, Sr. – Lino Lakes, MN)
- F: Sophia Hess (UW-River Falls, Fr. – Cold Spring, MN)
- D: MaKenna Aure (UW-River Falls, Sr. – Alexandria, MN)
- D: Allie Zack (Nazareth, Jr. – Lake Zurich, IL)
- G: Jordan O’Kane (UW-River Falls, Sr. – Alexandria, MN)
Most Outstanding Player
- D: MaKenna Aure (UW-River Falls, Sr. – Alexandria, MN)
Megan Goodreau, with her assist, tied Laura Hurd’s single season scoring record with 77 points. (Pat Deninger)
