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St. Cloud State University
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SCSU still in contention for Final Five
By Ben Birnell
Published:
Monday, January 20, 2003
As the holiday break neared, it appeared as though head coach Jason Lesteberg's SCSU women's hockey team was running on fumes. His young team had lost four straight coming out of the Thanksgiving Break, including two losses to WCHA rival Ohio State and dropping two more to national powerhouse University of Minnesota-Duluth.
But somehow as 2002 came to a close, the Huskies picked up two wins against non-conference opponent North Dakota, besting them 4-2 and 2-0. The new year began on the right foot for the Huskies as they beat the Quinnipiac Bobcats 4-3 in another non-conference match.
But the three-game win streak also had its down side, as the Huskies gained no ground in the WCHA standings to drop to the WCHA cellar behind Mankato State and Bemidji State. That's where SCSU's win streak would remain as the Huskies played host to another WCHA powerhouse, the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers. The Huskies would drop a close decision at the National Hockey Center 2-1, before being blown out the next day in Minneapolis 10-2.
Against North Dakota, the Lady Huskies found their way onto the board late in the first period as junior forward Roxy Stang pumped in her fourth goal of the year. At the 6:55 mark in the second, Holldorf pushed the puck past UND's Amber Hasbargen. The game looked out of reach from that point, but UND came back scoring two goals in the span of five minutes to cut the Huskies lead to one. Holldorf squashed any chances of a tie when she scored the games final goal with :33 left in regulation. The goal was Holldorf's fourth point of the night. SCSU's Brie Anderson stopped 35 shots to pick up the win.
The Huskies came back the next day and hung onto a one goal lead throughout the game. Holldorf scored a short-handed goal at the 13:47 mark to put the Huskies on the board. The third period would hold the only other goal of night as Stewart scored an empty-netter with :16 left. Laura Gieselman was stellar between the pipes stopping 21 shots to pick up the shutout win.
"North Dakota has a good solid team, we just stepped up our play and played some good defensive hockey against them," Lesteberg said.
Holldorf's five points during the weekend led to WCHA Offensive Player of the Week honors. The Huskies would go almost a month before they played their next game. In the win over Quinnipiac, senior Abby Cooper got things started when she lit the lamp with a power play goal at the 7:23 mark.
The second period would see goals traded between the two teams as Quinnipiac got on the board early in the second. Freshman Katie Hauge would answer back at the 8:46 mark to put the Huskies up 2-1. But Quinnipiac would answer right back with a five-on-three power play goal to tie the game at two apiece. SCSU answered back with a goal of their own at the 19:16 mark to go up 3-2. Melanie Pudsey was credited with the goal on the play. Quinnipiac would answer back in the third to tie the game at three. It would only take Pudsey until the 11:02 mark to put the eventual game-winner on the board.
"It took us a while to get the rust off," Lesteberg said. "At times we played well and got the puck on net and we played well as a team."
As the holiday break came to an end, the Huskies took on the Gophers. St. Cloud held their own in the first game only giving up one goal in the first period. Things would remain 1-0 in favor of the Gophers until the third period when the U of M's standout freshman Natalie Darwitz pumped in her second goal of the night.
Melanie Pudsey would put SCSU on the board in the middle of the third to come within one. Lesteberg would pull Gieselman to try and get the second goal but it worked to no avail as the Huskies dropped a close game, 2-1. Despite the loss, Gieselman was again stellar between the pipes stopping 34 of the 36 shots she faced.
The next day was a different story as the Gophers put up 10 goals to beat the Huskies in what looked like the two games the teams played earlier in the season.
"The difference between the games was our intensity and executing the little things," Lesteberg said. "We executed our game plan really well in the first game, but didn't even come close in the second."
This past weekend, the Huskies had a chance to redeem themselves against rival Ohio State. Saturday afternoon was anything but pretty for SCSU as OSU dominated them in every way. Ohio State had many chances, but only came away with the one goal as the Buckeyes won 1-0. The Huskies appeared to take an early 1-0 lead at te 7:43 mark in the first, but the goal was waved off by referee Brad Shepard, stating that Stang's deflection had been kicked in. The game remained scoreless until with :07 left on the clock, Jeanne Chapple squeezed one past Gieselman just below the left face off circle. The loss dropped SCSU to 6-15-0 overall and 3-12 in the WCHA. Gieselman was again fantastic between the pipes, making quality saves to keep the Huskies in the game.
"It got a bit crowded at times because they like to keep two people down in front of the net," Gieselman said. "It gets a little tough keeping them out at times but I got a lot of help from my defense."
With the Huskies in seventh place and just barely out of playoff position, the next few games are critical for the team.
"We need to get some points," Gieselman said. "Coming in, they were four points ahead of us and that was from when they swept us down there."
Sunday afternoon was an entirely different story for SCSU. St. Cloud started off slowly in the first, but as time ticked away, they began to become more competitive and play more intensely. The final result was a 2-1 win over OSU, with their chances of making the WCHA Final Five intact.
After the game, the elation on captain Kobi Kawamoto's face couldn't be hidden. With the win, the Huskies remain only three points out of fifth place and the final spot in WCHA Final Five. Kawamoto was pleased that her team still remains in contention.
"We realize that we're still in the hunt for the final spot and we want to keep our destiny in our control and this win definitely helps."
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