MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn. – Defender Hannah Bird’s goal 8:27 into overtime gave the St. Thomas women’s hockey team a 4-3 victory over Concordia-Moorhead in the MIAC playoff semifinals at St. Thomas Ice Arena.
The Tommies (18-5-3 overall, 14-2-2 MIAC) got off to a quick start over the Cobbers (13-10-4 overall, 11-5-2 MIAC), who had gone 11-1-1 in their last 13 games. St. Thomas controlled the first half of the first period, spending most of the time in the offensive zone, but the game evened up quickly, leading to an overtime thriller.
“We kept getting the lead and then giving it up; we were able to fight through that adversity and get the next goal,” coach Tom Palkowski said. “Even though they got a few goals, we pretty much took the momentum right back … It was a little tighter than we needed it to be.”
Forward Kelsey Barnier attempts to overcome the Cobber defense at the goal earlier in the season. St. Thomas will face Gustavus in the MIAC championship Saturday (Morgan Neu/TommieMedia).
Senior captain and defender Maria Bothwell put St. Thomas on the board first about four minutes into the game. Forward Tara Baago assisted on Bothwell’s first goal of the season, her seventh assist on the year. The Tommies did not allow a shot on goal for the first 10:37 of the game, and outshot the Cobbers 16-5 in the period.
The Cobbers responded with a power-play goal from Abby Taffe with nearly four minutes remaining in the first. However forward Jenny Saxon answered just 21 seconds later for the Tommies with a top-shelf snipe, giving St. Thomas a 2-1 lead after one period of play.
“It didn’t really matter who put the puck in the net, it just really needed to happen so that we could keep the momentum up,” Saxon said.
Concordia came out firing in the second period and got a few scoring chances early. Forward Kaya Baker tied the game up for the Cobbers with a goal from the slot about seven and a half minutes into the period.
The Tommies then regained the momentum on a power play after Cobber forward Bri Flynn went to the box for checking. About one second after the power play expired, forward Paige Baldwin scored from the point, netting her team-high, eighth goal of the season. Defender Mary Grace Flesher assisted on Baldwin’s goal, giving Flesher a team-high 14 assists this season.
“Getting out at the beginning is crucial,” Baldwin said. “We knew we had to get going early, and we did, so that was kind of our mindset doing all the little things, and it paid off.”
St. Thomas was on the defense quickly after the puck dropped at the start of the third period when forward Kelsey Barnier was whistled for interference. The Tommies were able to kill off the penalty, but the Cobbers used the momentum to tie the game at three 6:13 into the period.
After up-and-down, high intensity playoff hockey, the Tommies went on the power play with 4:40 remaining in the game. St. Thomas was not able to sustain anything with the advantage and moved to 0-5 on the power play for the game, sending it to overtime.
In their second-consecutive overtime game, the Cobbers came out with the edge, spending significant time in the offensive zone getting a few good scoring chances. St. Thomas responded with a few good chances until Bird netted the game winner 8:27 into overtime.
“It feels good. Naula [Flood] had a great shot on net, and I was in the right place at the right time, but it feels good,” Bird said. “Good win, we know Gustavus won, so we are just excited to play them and see if we can get to the NCAA (playoffs).”
Goaltender Madison Denny was the standout player for the Cobbers, saving 51 of the Tommies 55 shots.
“Well she’s very capable of keeping her team in it,” Palkowski said. “You know that’s a tough thing sometimes when you’re playing and building up shots, but in the meantime you’re not putting them in, and that goalie is building up confidence as well.”
St. Thomas moves on to the MIAC conference playoff championship to take on Gustavus March 8 at St. Thomas Ice Arena.
“(If we) play at the level we did today, we will be tough to beat,” Palkowski said. “I guess ultimately, deep down, I think we kind of wanted to play Gustavus. I guess we’d like to get a crack at them, especially on our home ice and a chance to win the championship.”
Jordan Kruger can be reached at krug6172@stthomas.edu