News Tribune UMD Wins WCHA Championship Story

Minnesota Duluth checked off the second of its three season objectives Sunday.

Freshman forward Haley Irwin scored the game-winning overtime goal to lift the top-seeded Bulldogs past Wisconsin 5-4 in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association women’s final face-off at the DECC.

UMD (31-4-1) won the WCHA regular-season title, now has the playoff crown and hopes to finish the season with a NCAA championship at the DECC on March 22.

The last time the Bulldogs won both WCHA titles was five years ago, when they finished the season with the 2003 national title. In another similarity to the 2002-03 season, Sunday’s victory was the team’s 31st — tying the program record.

The Bulldogs received the second seed in the NCAA tournament and will host Mercyhurst (26-7-3) in the quarterfinals at2 p.m. Saturday.

“To win the regular season and to win the playoffs, you got to be feeling good about yourself,” Irwin said of the team’s confidence.

On Sunday, UMD raced to a 3-0 first-period lead behind goals from Laura Fridfinnson, Myriam Trepanier and Elin Holmlov.

“It certainly didn’t look like it was going to be much of a game after 10 or 12 minutes, but we scored a goal late in the first period to give us a little bit of life,” Wisconsin coach Mark Johnson said. “And then we responded in the last eight to 10 minutes of the second period to give ourselves an opportunity at 4-3. I credit our players for never giving up.”

The Badgers (27-8-3) scored three unanswered goals, including the game-tying tally from Mallory Deluce at 17:11 in the third period, and started overtime with a great scoring chance that required UMD skaters to make saves.

“We were diving all over the place,” UMD coach Shannon Miller said. “Haley blocked a shot, then Heidi Pelttari, our defenseman, blocked another shot right in front of the net when there was a scramble, and then moments later, of course, we went down and scored that goal. That is what it is going to be when two good teams play, especially in overtime.”

UMD’s first two goals came on its first three shots and the Bulldogs outshot the Badgers in three of the four frames, but Miller didn’t rule Wisconsin out.

“Wisconsin was very resilient, of course, and I knew that was going to happen,” Miller said. “I wouldn’t have predicted a 4-4 tie [at the end of regulation], but … I knew it was far from over [after 3-0, 4-1 leads].”

The Bulldogs scored three power-play goals for the second straight game and rank third nationally in goals with a player advantage. UMD finished 3-for-6 on the power play, while Wisconsin was2-for-7.

UMD and Mercyhurst have had a competitive three-game history. In last year’s NCAA quarterfinals, the Bulldogs beat the Lakers of Erie, Pa., 3-2 in overtime. This season, the Lakers gave the Bulldogs their only tie Oct. 20, before a 3-1 UMD victory Oct. 21.

In the rest of the NCAA bracket, Harvard got the top seed and will host Dartmouth, while No. 3 New Hampshire hosts St. Lawrence and No. 4 Minnesota hosts Wisconsin.