Umdbulldogs.com game story

BULLDOGS SNEAK PAST MERCYHURST 3-2 IN OVERTIME TO ADVANCE TO THE NCAA FROZEN FOUR

Last Updated: Friday, March 9, 2007 9:25 PM


Thanks to an overtime goal by senior forward Jessica Koizumi, the University of Minnesota Duluth will be making its fourth trip to the NCAA Frozen Four as the Bulldogs dispatched No. 2 Mercyhurst College 3-2 in overtime in Erie, PA, on Friday night in an NCAA Quarterfinal tilt.

Minnesota Duluth (23-10-4) put an end to its NCAA Quarterfinal woes with the win over Mercyhurst as UMD has failed to advance from NCAA Quarterfinal action the previous two seasons.

With the victory, UMD snapped Mercyhurst’s 24-game unbeaten streak and sent the Lakers to their third-straight NCAA Quarterfinal overtime loss.

Late in the first period, Stephanie Jones put the Lakers on top with her 16th goal of the season on a power-play at the 18:32 mark with Melissa Dianoski and Angelica Lorsell assisting on the play.

Mercyhurst would strike again early in the second when freshman Meghan Agosta scored her team leading 38th goal of the season unassisted at the 2:21 mark.

Down by 2-0 goals and sensing an urgency to score if they had any hope of making a comeback, sophomore forward Michaela Lanzl rocketed the puck past the Lakers’ netminder at 15:53 in the second to bring UMD within one.

Senior forward Jessica Koizumi has always dreamed of an NCAA Frozen Four appearance and she was not about to let her career come to an end just yet as she notched her 19th goal of the season at 18:16 in the second to even things up at 2-2.

As the overtime session began, the Bulldogs faced their own demons of previous NCAA Quarterfinal let downs but this time the outcome was going to be much different as Koizumi fired a power-play shot into Mercyhurst’s net to cap of an amazing comeback for the No. 7-seeded Bulldogs to send her squad to the NCAA Frozen Four.

Despite giving up two goals, senior goaltender Riitta Schaublin had what was without a doubt one of the best performances of her career, as she came up with 44 saves to backstop the Bulldogs to victory. Schaublin even turned away the relentless pressure the Lakers’ put upon her in the overtime session, making nine saves. She is now 12-4-2 on the season.

Laura Hoiser, who entered the game with a 27-1-2 record, made 29 saves in the contest for the Lakers. Mercyhurst ends the season with a 32-2-3 record, with its only other loss coming back in November against St. Lawrence.

After all the celebrating is over, Minnesota Duluth will regroup and focus its attention on the 2007 NCAA Frozen Four which will take place from March 16-18 at the Olympic Center in Lake Placid, NY. The Bulldogs won three-straight NCAA Championships from 2001-2003.