Minnesota Duluth goaltender Eve Gascon had trouble catching the puck Saturday afternoon at Ridder Arena. When she finally corralled one, it cost her team the game.
Eleven minutes into the third period of a scoreless tie, the Gophers’ Abbey Murphy let go a shot from the top of the right-wing circle that banged off the glass behind the Bulldogs’ net. Gascon turned to play the puck, and she caught it just under the crossbar.
Murphy immediately began telling anyone and everyone that Gascon’s glove was beyond the goal line when she grabbed the puck. A quick video review proved Murphy to be correct, and the Gophers held on for a 1-0 victory.
“Her whole glove was in there,” Murphy said of her demonstrative reaction to the play. “I’m like, ‘That’s a goal.’”
As sure as she was, Murphy — and the rest of the Gophers — had to hold their breath in hopes that the replay showed, conclusively, that the puck was across the goal line.
“We were waiting,” Murphy said, “but I’m like, ‘Guys, I’m 10,000% that it went in.”
The goal was a team-leading 25th of the season for Murphy, but her first in the month of February.
“Sometimes when you’re fighting it a little bit, all of a sudden you bank one in off of someone’s rear end or a shin pad,” Gophers coach Brad Frost said. “But never really seen one like that.”
And yes, Murphy acknowledged that she’s been squeezing the stick a little tighter these past few games.
“Just a little,” Murphy said facetiously. “Obviously, it gets tough sometimes, but you’ve just got to find a way. Got to keep on shooting the puck and they’ll come.”
In making Murphy’s goal stand up, the fourth-ranked Gophers (25-9-1, 19-8-1 WCHA) completed the weekend sweet of the No. 6 Bulldogs (19-13-2, 14-12-2).
With Ohio State’s win over St. Cloud State on Saturday, the Gophers are the No. 3 seed in the WCHA tournament and will host Minnesota State-Mankato in a best-of-three-series beginning on Friday.
The Gophers outshot the Bulldogs 49-22 in the game, including 17-7 in the first period, when they registered the first 12 shots on goal in the game. The Bulldogs’ first shot on goal came halfway through the period.
The second period took a nasty turn, with the team taking turns making trips to the penalty box. The players seem to be frustrated over what they perceived to be missed calls or questionable calls by the referees.
Things calmed down in the third period.
“I think both coaches realized that after the way that second period went, that it was not advantageous for anybody,” Frost said. “(In the third) it got back to trying to win a hockey game.
“That’s why in third, I was just so proud of our group. Just stay out of stuff. Don’t worry about anything except what we can control and get back on top of our game. I was really proud of how they did that.”
Murphy was one of nine Gophers seniors saluted in a pregame ceremony on the ice. Frost spoke to the team about winning one for a group that has meant so much to the program, and one of its members proved to be the one to come through when it was needed the most.
“Great team win,” Murphy said. “Everyone worked their butts off. Honestly, just the effort by our team was incredible. So, I’m happy about this one.
“It’s really good to get a little momentum on our side. It really hasn’t really gone our way the last couple (series), but this was a really fun weekend.”
The Gophers have followed a four-game losing streak with three consecutive wins.
“I love how we’re playing,” Frost said. “We’re maturing at the right time. I’ve talked all year about playing the right way. We’ve done that in spurts, but then other times we haven’t. We’ve been doing a lot better job of that of late — certainly these last two games.”
Related Articles
Women’s hockey: Gophers keep momentum going with win over Minnesota-Duluth
Women’s hockey: Gophers beat St. Cloud State for program’s 800th win
Women’s hockey: No. 3 Gophers lose to No. 11 Huskies
Women’s hockey: Top-ranked Wisconsin rolls third-ranked Gophers
Women’s college hockey: Gophers split weekend series with Ohio State
Leave a Reply