Staff
One false move and it was over.
Katherine Johnson netted the decisive goal at 9:43 of double-overtime to lift the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs to a 2-1 win yesterday over the Rainy River Community College Voyageurs in the final of the ACHA Division 2 national women’s hockey championship in Kalamazoo, Mich.
Johnson carried the puck into the zone against RRCC forward Jordan Bright, who was covering for a Voyageurs’ blueliner caught up ice.
A quick fake inside got Bright turned the wrong way and Johnson went around the outside before beating RRCC goalie Shay Perry five-hole.
The Voyageurs—featuring five Fort Frances residents in Hailey Clendenning, Katie Sinclair, Shilo Beck, Bridget Jorgenson, and co-captain Shelby Tymkin—looked like they wouldn’t even make it to overtime.
Laura Meillier’s first-period goal appeared like it would stand up the rest of the way behind the rock-solid goaltending of Colleen Jacoby.
But Voyageurs’ blueliner Madeline Rog crashed the net and shoved home a rebound of Sinclair’s wraparound attempt with 46 seconds left in regulation time.
RRCC had plenty of chances in the two overtimes against what appeared to be a UMD team running on fumes after having to go to double-overtime the previous day to beat the host Northern Michigan University Wildcats 3-2 in the semi-finals.
The Voyageurs, who finished third at last year’s nationals, went undefeated through pool play with a 3-0 record.
They capped off the preliminary round off with a 4-1 victory over the second-ranked California University of Pennsylvania Vulcans on Friday.
Micah Cabral scored twice for RRCC while Tymkin added had a goal and an assist.
Beck also scored, with Sinclair notching an assist.
Then in Saturday’s semi-final, the Voyageurs downed the defending national champion North Dakota State University Bison 5-2.
Rog tallied twice in that one, with Tymkin collecting a goal and two assists.
Sinclair added a goal and an assist while Jorgenson also scored.
