Saint Louis, Missouri (3/16/24): Day 10 of the American Collegiate Hockey Association National Championships had a Championship Cup raised in Women's Division 2 and the two teams that will play for the Women's Division 1 Championship were determined.
Women's Division 2 National Championship
The last two National Champions met in the title game today to raise the Championship Cup. The first period did not see either team solving the goalies as both squads worked out the nervous energy and got into the flow of the game. Neither team took a penalty in a quick and clean period of hockey. Sault did dominate in the shot totals as they put up 12 to ACC's 4. With 20 minutes down, both teams hit the ice for the middle frame pushing the pace to create scoring opportunities. Assiniboine took a cross checking penalty 19 seconds into the period and SC wasted no time capitalizing, as Emma Lee scored 11 seconds in the 5-on-4 advantage. For Lee that was her sixth goal of the Nationals and it put Sault up 1-0 right out the gate. After ACC was unable to answer during their own power play, the game settled back into back-and-forth action with both sides getting good shots on net. Just before the midway point of the game, Lee got loose again and snapped her second goal of the day to give her team a 2-0 lead. ACC had two more power plays in the period, but Farrah Farstad continued to pitch a shutout as the 2nd Period came to a close. As the 3rd started, Sault College began to make it harder and harder to ACC to get time in the offensive zone and made sure that every shot was seen by their netminder and any rebounds were quickly swept away. SC was able to put the game out of reach with 8:54 left in the game, as Materia Land got her 5th goal of the tournament to make the score 4-0. When the final horn sounded the ice were littered with sticks, gloves, and helmets as the players from Sault rushed their goalie, Farrah Farstad, who had her second shutout of the Nationals. After the best tradition in all of sports, the handshake line, Emma Lee was announced as the National Tournament Most Valuable Player and then the after some pictures with the Commissioner and Captains, the Championship Cup was raised above a sea of white and blue for the second consecutive year. Sault College finishes the year with a record of 28-1-1. Assiniboine Community College, even with the loss finished with an impressive 21-3-0-1.
Women's Division 1 National Semifinals
Game 1: #3 Adrian College over #2 Midland University, 5-3
The first semifinal of the day featured two teams at are familiar with this game. Both teams, have been a final four team in the Nationals; Adrian last season and Midland in 2021 & 2022. The Bulldogs came out firing, outshooting the Warriors 19-9 in the first frame. It was a struggle for the squads to get into a flow during the 1st Period, as they combined for five penalties. Midland's second plenty, of the tripping variety, gave Hailey Wiltshire the chance to get her first goal of the tournament on a pass from Macy Piche. Already up 1-0, AC went looking for more on the power play late in the 1st when Tyla Turnbull found the back of the net with 2:34 left in the 1st to put Adrian up 2-0 heading into the intermission. For Turnbull, it was her second of the Nationals. When the middle 20 minutes commenced, the Bulldogs hit Midland with an uppercut, when they scored 15 seconds into the period, Allison Shaw's 4th of the week, and now led 3-0. The Warriors needed to respond, and they did with a power play goal at the 5:22 mark with Katie McNair's first goal of the tournament. Now 3-1 and the momentum seeming to move towards Midland, the next goal was key. The difference between 3-2 and 4-1 would be huge. The latter is what occurred. Keira Eagleson received a pass from Neleh Wood and buried her second goal of the Nationals and the Bulldogs and Warriors headed to the locker room with the score 4-1. As the 3rd period started, desperation started to set in for the Warriors as they continued to be stymied by Adrian. Midland finally found a spark of life at the midway point, when Hannah Stone was pulled with 10 minutes left, and Midland proceeded to score to make it 4-2. From that moment on, it seemed like there was potential for Stone to come to the bench every time Midland had possession deep in the Bulldog zone. MU scored again 3:20 later as Stone was skating to the bench, and Darbie Poole lit the lamp for her second of in two days. Now 4-3, the fans for both teams were on their feet for the last 4:22 cheering at every shot attempt and clearing attempt. Midland pulled Stone for the last time after a timeout with 2:36 left, looking for the equalizer. The Warriors had two great scoring opportunities, but when a pass tipped of a stick of a Warrior defense, Adrian was able to toss the puck down and hit the empty net. The Visitor's bench exploded as they now just 2:11 from returning to the National Championship Game for the first time since 2018. Adrian will now face Minot State for the Women's Division 1 Championship on Sunday at 1pm (CST)
Game 2: LU/Minot
The nightcap of the National Semifinal was a rematch of last year's National Championship game, this time a round earlier. Both teams came into the matchup having survived an overtime in their quarterfinal games. Off the whistle, the Beavers looked like the team that had a longer time to rest after their previous game. They were doing a good job of getting traffic in front of the Flames netminder. MSU was able to cash in when a shot from the point was redirected into the far side of the net by Riley Ball to give the Beavers the 1-0 lead. Liberty was able to get on the board when Minot took a roughing penalty that the Flames converted 49 seconds in the minor when Rianna Spanier got her second goal in two days, on assists from Carly Glover and Haley Battles. The period finished with the game tied at 1-1 and the Flames leading in shots 15-10. The 2nd period saw both teams tighten up on defensive end with the shots being halved. Most of Minot's shots happened during the two power plays they had in the period. The Flames shots mostly came in bunches when they were able to forecheck strongly and keep the puck in for an extended period of time. As the teams hit the ice for the 3rd, the tension in the rink was palpable with both squads knowing that the next goal could be the ticket to the National Championship game. Liberty started to push the tempo and separate themselves in the shot totals, but Minot continued to hang on, limiting rebounds and getting the puck out of the danger zones when LU got shots in on the Biever. With two seconds left, the Beavers got a tripping call, so while Liberty lost the ensuing draw, they would have 1:58 left on the power play to start the overtime. The Flames racked up shot after shot, hit a post, hit a crossbar, but nothing in the net. MSU killed the penalty and took a timeout reset and off the teams went into back-and-forth action. Minot State got their chance to be on the power play halfway through the period and had several good chances just no scoring, so on the OT went. Liberty had another chance to end the game on the power play as the Beavers took a cross checking penalty with 1:37 left in overtime. However, when the horn went off the game was still tied. So another ice cut and another overtime awaited. Minot State was able to kill off the penalty and then 1:50 in a shot rebounded off the Liberty goalie and Cameron Schmidt put tapped it in to send the Beavers to their second consecutive National Championship game. Minot State will face Adrian College in the National Championship game on Sunday at 1pm (CST)
