PERFECT: UWRF women’s hockey wins NCAA championship

By Joe Peine

The UWRF women’s hockey team won the NCAA Championship on home ice this weekend after defeating the Adrian Bulldogs 2-1 on Friday and the Elmira Soaring Eagles 4-1 on Sunday.

The third period was the name of the game for the Falcons as they won the championship on the back of consecutive rounds of the playoffs with strong performances late in the game.

Game 1 – The Comeback

The Falcons’ program has experienced seemingly nothing but success in its 25 years of existence, and they added another achievement to their resume on Friday night when they hosted their first NCAA semifinal game in program history.

They entered the night on a record-setting run of 29 straight wins while looking for both perfection and that ever illusive NCAA Tournament Championship.

Things got off to a fast start with the Falcons dominating shots on goal throughout the opening half of the first period. The tally was 9-4 in favor of the home team when the Bulldogs moved routinely into UWRF’s D-zone and flipped one into the left side of the net and past River Falls’ goalie, Jordan O’Connor, to take a 1-0 lead.

Within 30 seconds the score was tied as Madison Lavergne put one in for the second straight game in the NCAA Tournament to even the score at 1-1. That tally would hold until the end of the period, but not for lack of effort by the Falcons who finished out the first 20:00 by putting the Bulldogs effectively on their heels, outshooting them by a 14-6 total going into the first intermission.

The UWRF skaters came out in period two and put two quick shots on the Bulldog goaltender, setting the tone for how they wanted things to go.

In the opening minutes of the frame, the puck barely crossed the blue line as the Falcons dominated time of possession. After 6:00 of play, they had surged out to a 23-9 lead in SOG, and only once had things gotten hairy for River Falls when O’Connor hit the ice to block a shot and an all-out scramble for the puck in front of the net was eventually won by UWRF as the number one scorer in all of D3 hockey, Maddie McCollins, got the puck and raced down the ice putting the shot on the Bulldogs goalie who got the block in time.

Approaching mid period, Adrian slipped up, catching a penalty for tripping and earning 2:00 in the box, and the UWRF power play offense went into full effect. The Bulldogs tried to ice the puck, but Aubrey Nelvin ended up with it instead and got a good-looking shot at the net after she found a seam in the defense. Again the goaltender stopped it, but the Falcons were testing their limits.

Then Adrian put themselves behind the 8-ball again by earning yet another penalty as the refs had to intervene multiple times when the Bulldogs started to get chippy. Ultimately, though, the power plays provided no joy, and they expired without incident even while the Falcons put shot after shot on goal.

There began to be a sense of inevitability to a tie break that must certainly come, and with 1:30 to go before the second intermission, it finally came on an unassisted Bulldog shot from in front of the net as they took a 2-1 lead.

The Falcons upped the intensity on what was already a fast-paced game and tried to tie it up before time expired, but they had no such luck. The period ended and River Falls’ championship hopes hung in the balance while the teams retired to the locker room and the full house at Hunt Arena waited anxiously.

The puck dropped on period three with River Falls winning the faceoff. They came into the period with a commanding 33-16 lead in shots on goal which fans hoped would be portentous for the outcome of the game.

Realistically, it isn’t very likely for a team to get outshot 2-1 while maintaining the efficiency that Adrian had enjoyed thus far in shots to goal ratio. And just so, 3:43 into the period, McCollins took possession of the puck, pushed straight at the Bulldogs’ goaltender and showed just why she leads the entire nation in points this season, making it 2-2 after the unassisted goal.

The game advanced towards midperiod, and for all intents and purposes, it was a 0-0 game with 9:00 to go. The Falcons had a 21-shot advantage at this point at 40-19.

The minutes wound off the clock as Adrian looked very deliberate in making good use out of the limited shots the River Falls defense allowed them. Then, with just under 7:00 left in regulation, UWRF incurred their first penalty of the game for cross checking, sending the penalty kill unit into full effect. The 2:00 went by flawlessly as the Falcons tightened up and executed without incident.

Then came the incident.

At 3:56, the Bulldogs got cited for an obvious case of interference, thus giving River Falls an opportunistically timed power play. Surprisingly, even though Adrian was shorthanded, they actually took control for most of that next 2:00, and time expired on the power play without any damage done.

Then, as the Bulldogs came back to full strength, Bailey Olson stepped up and took it to the house giving the Falcons a 3-2 lead with just 1:50 to go.

Adrian pulled its goalie not long after, and chaos erupted in front of the Falcon net. It was fast and heated, but the Falcon defense cleared the puck as the buzzer rang, taking them to the championship game at home just two days later.

The Bulldogs came into the night first in the nation in scoring by the slimmest of margins, holding a one goal, cumulative season advantage over the Falcons at 154-153. Each team had three representatives in the Top 7 players in assists per game nationally, but points is where River Falls really made its hay over Adrian. Of all D3 competitors in the nation, McCollins, Megan Goodreau and Alex Hantge hold the first, fourth and fifth spots in points scored, respectively.

With such tight competition, home ice advantage and a full arena of cheering fans helped as well.

Game 2 – Three in the Third

Game two versus the Elmira Soaring Eagles started evenly, but as the period progressed, the offensive metrics started to favor River Falls once again.

After starting the first 10:00 of the period shooting evenly, River Falls sent a flurry of all but unanswered pucks at the Soaring Eagles’ goaltender until about the 2:00 mark. While both teams were manufacturing good looks, the Falcons simply had more of them. Ultimately, even though the home team would outshoot Elmira 15-6 by the end of 20:00, the game would remain scoreless going into the second period.

Near the beginning of the period, McCollins went for the puck rebound in front of the net and drew a foul after getting knocked to the ice after the whistle had blown and play had stopped, giving Elmira the first penalty of the game. As a team, the Falcons led the nation in powerplay success rate at 33%, so this is quite literally the last team you want to give that sort of advantage to in the championship game.

River Falls quickly tried to take advantage with a pass from Hantge to Goodreau whose shot went wide. Time started running out on the power play, and with just 13 seconds remaining, Nelvin took a viscious hit from behind sending her face first into the glass. This earned Elmira a 5:00 major penalty and gave the Falcons a short window of 5-on-3 hockey followed by 4:47 with a one skater advantage.

UWRF began to pepper the Soaring Eagles’ goaltender with pucks relentlessly even as the penalty kill was proving very effective for Elmira. Then, with just over a minute left on the power play, Makenna Aure scored giving the Falcons a 1-0 lead.

The Soaring Eagles came back to full strength 66 seconds later and almost immediately tied the game up on their fourth shot on goal of the period.

With time set to run out on period two, the Falcons incurred their first penalty of the game. Thankfully, not only are they good at scoring on power plays, they are equally as good at killing them as they had only given up four goals in 78 total tries on the season.

The period would end soon after, but the penalty would continue into a final frame where things started to really come off the rails for UWRF.

They started the period shorthanded, killed that penalty, but immediately incurred not one but two more giving the Soaring Eagles a 5-3 advantage in the final period of a 1-1 game for the championship.

Elmira continued to dominate faceoffs as well, having won every single one of them after 7:00 of play.

Still, the Falcons’ penalty kill was effective, and almost as soon as they came back to full strength, Kenzie Dunn chipped one in through the five-hole of the Soaring Eagles goaltender to take a 2-1 advantage. Then, a minute later, they did it again.

With traffic in front of the next, Lavergne’s shot reflected off another player and into the net for her third score in as many games to make it 3-1, Falcons.

Relentless in their pursuit of a championship, 90 seconds later, Hantge did it again for the black birds, scoring the third unanswered goal of the period to make it 4-1. With this, Hantge officially finished her season having scored points in 26 of the Falcons 31 games.

The tournament came to a close shortly thereafter, and the UW-River Falls Falcons women’s hockey team finally won their first NCAA Championship in program history while going a perfect 31-0 and setting an all-time Division 3 record in the process.

The attendance for the game was announced at 1,780 for an arena that officially holds 1,400, and nearly every one of them was cheering at the top of their lungs.

Senior captain McCollins, who was voted National Player of the Year and Most Outstanding Player of the tournament, was in awe after the game, saying reality hadn’t quite sunk in yet.

“I still don’t believe like this is real. Every year we get so close, and it’s so frustrating because we have an amazing team and amazing program. With all the girls who’ve come through this program, and we’ve had some studs, but to actually like be in this moment and win a national championship, it’s kind of just like everything that we’ve been working for for so long. We like finally got it. And it’s just like the most amazing feeling ever,” McCollins said. “I just can’t believe it’s real. I’m smiling, and I’m happy. I’m happy for everybody. I’m so proud of our team. This is something that every year we work towards, and the fact that we actually did it this year is unbelievable.”

Senior captain Hantge says that coming out onto the ice in front of a full house at Hunt Arena for the NCAA championship in itself was a great experience.

“It was electric. Going out for warmups and seeing the rink sold out was a bit of a shock, but it’s a really cool feeling. It really brings energy for us players on the bench, and it keeps us really focused in the game too because they’re constantly bringing the energy for us,” Hantge said.

Hantge reflects on the journey and everything that went on behind the scenes and says she’s grateful for her team and her coaches.

“Looking back on how we overcame so many obstacles within this season and still having a perfect season, I mean, there’s so many things that other people don’t know about our team and the bumps in the road. So, I think coming through that, I’m just proud of my teammates for always pushing through,” Hantge said. “These are seriously the best coaches I think I’ve ever had. It’s not just hockey in their eyes, either. You’re a person, and they truly care about how you’re doing and about your future as well. So, for me, coaches that care about you that much just makes the team culture even better.”

For Head Coach Cranston, this is the culmination of 25 years of hockey in a program that he built from scratch.

“When I walked out into that rink and saw all those people, never in my wildest imagination would I have ever thought that 25 years later this is what would be going on in Hunt Arena. It’s beyond anything I could have ever comprehended,” Cranston said. “It’s so great. It’s so good for these girls and for Division 3 women athletes to have that going on. It’s just so awesome. I’m so proud of them.”

Coach Cranston gives a lot of credit to his team for always finding a way to win and especially to his seniors for being leaders throughout this historical run. He says this group of athletes will be hard to top.

“At the start of every year, I always tell the team, okay, let’s do something that no other team has done before. And that’s hard to do because we’ve been national runner ups and we’ve done so many crazy things, but I can’t say that anymore. Because no team is ever going to do more than what this team did. It’s impossible. So, I guess I won’t use that slogan anymore, I’ll have to find a different way to motivate,” Cranston said. “And, you know, every single kid on this team contributed in a positive way, and it’s just it’s an unbelievable accomplishment. This hockey team will be in the history books for a long time, and that’s pretty amazing.”