1- The semifinals of the Frozen Four were played yesterday, with both games going to overtime. #1 Clarkson beat #4 Ohio State in a 1-0 overtime. #3 Colgate beat #2 Wisconsin 4-3 in double overtime. Both were fantastic games. I'm a little sad for Ohio State because I think they played well enough to win and I live in Ohio. Jincy Dunne, redshirt sophomore #33 on OSU is an absolute treat to watch with one end to end rush after another.
The final shots in the OSU Clarkson game were 41-34 in favor of OSU. The final shots in the Wisconsin Colgate double OT game were 48-24 Wisconsin. That's a tough one for Wisconsin. Wisconsin has been criticized in the past for having their offense dry up at the wrong time. This year they got the offense, but their goalie had a tough night after an impressive season. What can you say other than that this speaks to how hard it is to win championships, all the pieces a coach must put together and get performing at their best come tournament time.
2- The stage is set for an all ECAC championship game. This hasn't happened since prior to 2001 when the NCAA started awarded annual championships in women's hockey, per @gopherstate Nate Wells, via Twitter. A WCHA team has always been in the Championship game, specifically one of UMD, Minnesota, or Wisconsin.
3- Let's talk about Clarkson. They beat OSU in a back and forth affair. The win in OT was their fourth OT win of the year, bringing their OT record to 4-1-1 this year. They have overtime wins against Ohio State and Mercyhurst in the NCAA tournament, and regular season OT wins against Cornell and RPI. Think about that for a second, think about celebrating four OT wins in ONE season. How many OT wins have you had your entire hockey career? I think I've had two, maybe three. I have to think they are not that common. Clarkson in OT is scary, is the bottom line.
What's crazier, Loren Gabel, First Team All American and star junior forward for Clarkson now has three OT goals this year. The fourth was scored by her line mate 2nd Team All American Elizabeth Giguere. Not to be forgotton, Michaela Pezjlova has 3 OT assists. Watching Clarkson, you think they are beatable. It's back and forth games and opponents get sustained time in the offensive done. Only problem is Clarkson has two more first team All Americans in goaltender Shea Tiley, and defender Savannah Harmon. So while they look beatable, they've proven it's easier said than done. They play in their 3rd championship game on Sunday. If they can win a third championship, I'd say they are a dynasty.
4- I said Clarkson's OT record is 4-1-1. Who has beat them in overtime this year? None other than league rival, and co regular season ECAC champion, Colgate University, who they will play in the national championship game. Colgate and Clarkson have played each other three times this year, with Clarkson having a 2-1 lead in the series, including a 3-0 win over Colgate in the ECAC tournament championship. The Colgate OT win over Clarkson goes all the way back to October 27th, the losses of 5-3 and 3-0 were in January and two weeks ago respectively. This is not a great trend for Colgate but I bet they could not care less right now; they are only looking for revenge against Clarkson on a national stage, seeking their first National Championship in their first ever title game.
5- Every now and again I think it's nice to insert some context into my women's hockey knowledge, just step back and try to understand what happened. Yesterday, two small private school universities knocked off two Big Ten schools (although they are WCHA for women's hockey). Allegiances aside, that's pretty cool. Granted, Clarkson has been respected in women's hockey for over a decade and a powerhouse since 2014, but still I can only imagine the pride those small schools must feel in beating OSU and Wisconsin.
Anyone who knows women's hockey knows Clarkson and Colgate, but for the broader audience to whom women's hockey is always trying to appeal, this accomplishment puts their programs under a national spotlight, if only for a brief amount of time. Why it was just five minutes ago I saw the Buccigross tweet, "Wow, for Colgate" with the game winning goal embedded for all his 400,000 followers to see. The first response was "Colgate proud." Way to go Colgate. That's pretty cool.
6- You may be wondering so how big is Colgate and Clarkson and where are they anyway? Clarkson is a private school of 4,300 students, located in Potsdam, NY, a town of 15,000 residents. Potsdam is located about 90 miles south of Ottawa, not for from the Canadian and American border.
Colgate University is located in the Village of Hamilton, NY. It is also a small private school, with an enrollment of 2,800 students. Hamilton NY has a population of 4,070, and is located about 150 miles south of Potsdam, not far from Syracuse.
It's fun for me to look this up; in college I just got on a bus and it took us to rinks, I obviously knew the state I was going to but didn't pay much attention to cities and locations on maps. It's kind of amazing to see the success these small schools have had and it fuels my belief that fellow small school Mercyhurst will get back to the Frozen Four.
7- Lastly, I just wanted to comment on how fun it is with social media, to see the pride and joy in these young athletes as they experience their dreams coming true of making the frozen four, then chasing that championship at the tournament. For me, this is why my interest holds even after my team is out, even if I don't really care who wins at this point. A tweet that really captured this school pride, happiness and excitement was this one, of Colgate getting their jerseys ready, ironing on that Frozen Four patch they worked so hard to earn. Just fantastic.
— Colgate W Hockey (@ColgateWIH) March 15, 2018That's all I got guys. Have a great weekend.
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