All the snakelike turns that this hockey season has taken, all the regular season upsets, all the walk-ons who earned their letters (and maybe even scholarships), all the wrenched knees and bruised feelings, all the sacrifices … all of it led to this weekend.<\/p>\n
Frozen Four weekend.<\/p>\n
A few more days and one team, one group of driven women, the last ones standing as it were, will be able to collapse in a joyous pig pile on the Agganis Arena ice.<\/p>\n
So much has to go right for any team to be able to take on all comers and brush them away. Such is certainly true in women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pucks, which has been dominated by western teams since the NCAA made the sport its business nine seasons ago.<\/p>\n
And with three WCHA squads — those<\/i> three (do they need to be named?) — making the eastward trip to Boston, we could be in for yet another western coronation.<\/p>\n
Mercyhurst, of course, would like to have a say in that, and it just might find a way to add an eastern accent (if Erie, Pa. is to be considered eastern) to the conversation.<\/p>\n
Still, whenever a defending champion is on hand determined to retain its bragging rights, one had better be listening. Which brings us to Minnesota-Duluth, the school that has made the Iron Range the equivalent of Green Bay\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Title Town.<\/p>\n
Four National Championships in eight years will do that for you.<\/p>\n
The Bulldog line up is always heavily populated by Scandanavian imports, and this years\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 edition is no different. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s often been said that UMD coach Shannon Miller is able to lure all the Swedes, Finns, and even the occasional Russian to Duluth because of the weather. January in Duluth can feel absolutely balmy to a Stockholm girl.<\/p>\n
The real truth is that Miller is a heck of a recruiter and an even better coach, one who makes the tough decisions without flinching. Not that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll always tell you what she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s thinking. Shoot, she doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t always tell her own team what she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s thinking.<\/p>\n
You want to know who her goalie will be in Friday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s semifinal against Wisconsin — Kim Martin or Johanna Ellison — you could get in line, except even the Bulldogs will be in front of you. They probably won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know either, until they show up at Agganis.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re in a great situation,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Miller said, cagily. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve never been in this situation before ever as a coach. We have three goalies that are all really good and two for sure that can play this weekend. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll let you know when I know.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Forget about the fact that Martin (the aforementioned Stockholm girl) stole the show at last year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Frozen Four. Forget about the fact that Ellison (the Iron Range native who high-tailed it back home after two years at Boston College) stepped into the UMD net in January after Martin got hurt and has refused to step aside.<\/p>\n
Miller has a head game to play, and by gosh, she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to play it.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153If you follow Division I sports,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Miller said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153coaches make those last minute decisions at the last minute. Because you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got to put your best horses in the race. \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcJo Mama\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 (Ellison) has been outstanding. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s gotten us to Boston. And Kim Martin, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll take one day at a time. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one of the best goalies in the world.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the best part of our story this year. We lost our No. 1 goalie (eight) weeks ago. So I think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s remarkable that \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcJo Mama\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 has been able to step up and fill that role. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s blown us away how well she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s done. Most people wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe we could go to Boston with our No. 2 goalie in net. But here we are.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
If there is a Cinderella team in the FroFour, it would have to be Mercyhurst.
\nWhile the Lakers has been the dominant team in CHA, they had yet to earn passage to the Frozen Four.<\/p>\n
That is until they bounced St. Lawrence in last Saturday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s quarterfinal. If you ask Mercyhurst coach Michael Sisti, his squad is relishing its underdog role.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153If there is a favorite, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not us,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Sisti said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Clearly, everyone knows the track record of the WCHA teams and their success. I think the nice thing about hockey is that once the game is played, anything can happen. Right now, Wisconsin is the No. 1 team in the country, Minnesota is No. 2, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re No. 3 and (Minnesota) Duluth is No. 4. If there is (a favorite), I guess it would be something like that. I think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s anyone\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tournament, and whatever happens, happens.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
According to Lakers sniper and Kazmaier finalist Meghan Agosta, she and her mates would do well to keep the blinders on heading into their semifinal date with Minnesota.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153They have a good team,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153but I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really think about what they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to bring to the table. I have to think about what am I going to do and how am I going to make sure my team is ready to play on Friday. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re just concentrating on what we need to do and how well-prepared we are for tomorrow\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s game. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s us in the jerseys that control our own destiny.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Wisconsin is the eastern-most of the three WCHA schools, but that is not what will give them something resembling a home-ice advantage at Agganis. Rather, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the return to New England of Erika Lawler (Fitchburg, Mass.), Hilary Knight (Hanover, N.H.), and Meghan Duggan (Danvers, Mass.) that will guarantee that the Badgers will have a rowdy rooting section.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m very excited for several players on my team,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Wisconsin coach Mark Johnson. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Especially the ones from the East Coast who are getting the opportunity to play in front of their home crowds and families. Erika Lawler, Meghan Duggan and Hilary Knight, they made a big commitment several years ago to come out to the Midwest and be part of our program and they certainly have been a big part of it.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
As for the Gophers, the most penalized team in the country, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re intent on keeping the potent Mercyhurst power play (led by Agosta) off the ice. That, however, doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mean they are going to stow their physical M.O.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It can definitely be a double-edged sword,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Gigi Marvin, who was (with teammate Monique Lamoreux) a Kazmaier top-10 finalist. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We definitely got into penalty trouble, especially in the second period last week and had to kill a bunch of 5-on-3s as well as 5-on-4s. I think we thrive on that as well.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
All the snakelike turns that this hockey season has taken, all the regular season upsets, all the walk-ons who earned their letters (and maybe even scholarships), all the wrenched knees and bruised feelings, all the sacrifices … all of it led to this weekend. Frozen Four weekend. A few more days and one team, one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":140328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n