Joey Payeur
It took the whole first period, and then a goal against midway through the second, for the Rainy River Community College Voyageurs’ women’s hockey team to emerge from their slumber.
The Michigan State Spartans should have let them sleep.
Hailey Clendenning notched the game-winning goal short-handed, while fellow ex-Muskie Shilo Beck added two assists, as the second-ranked Voyageurs beat the third-ranked Spartans 3-1 in their opening game in Pool ‘A’ at the ACHA Division II national championship yesterday in York, Pa.
“We came out a little flat but as soon as that [Spartans’] goal cam, we woke up very quickly,” noted Voyageurs’ head coach Jeff Wickstrom.
“The legs got moving and we used our forecheck and pressured the puck better.
“We started out playing at their level but we finally realized we’re not going to win it just on our name,” he added.
After a scoreless opening frame, the Spartans’ Dana Ovsjannikovova beat RRCC goalie Shay Perry near the halfway point of the second.
The Voyageurs got on track two minutes later when Beck fed Clendenning, who then found Red Lake native Micah Cabral in the slot for the equalizer.
Late in the second, with the Voyageurs killing a penalty, Cabral iced the puck and had it bounce off the end boards.
With Michigan State goalie Hannah Johnson making no effort to play the puck, Clendenning raced down the ice to blast it in for a 2-1 lead.
“It was like the goalie was saying, ‘Here, take the goal,’” she chuckled.
The Voyageurs added an insurance marker midway through the third when Beck connected with Clendenning, who sent the puck in front to Cabral.
The offensive-minded defender then used some good hand-eye co-ordination to bat the puck out of mid-air and in.
Two other Muskie alumni—Shelby Tymkin and Katie Sinclair—were teamed on the Voyageurs’ other forward line.
“We wanted it a little more,” said Sinclair.
“We came down here to win and we knew losing the first game wouldn’t put us in a good spot to make the semi-finals.”
Perry made 20 saves for the win, while Johnson had 27 stops in defeat.
The Voyageurs virtually can lock up a spot in the top two in Pool ‘A,’ and secure their spot in Saturday’s cross-over playoffs, with a victory against the fourth-seeded University of Buffalo Bulls today at 2:30 p.m. (CST).
The Bulls posted a meager 4-10 regular-season record compared to RRCC’s mark of 15-4-3 but Sinclair said the Voyageurs know they can’t take the Bulls lightly.
“We’re not going in with the mindset that we’re just going to win easy without trying,” she stressed.
“We have to work hard and play our game.”
RRCC takes on the California University of Pennsylvania Vulcans, the top seed in Pool ‘A,’ tomorrow at 3 p.m. in its final preliminary-round game.
