Call an ambulance, Dad. — Skylar Fontaine, the NCAA’s most prolific defender this season, scored Thursday in 19 minutes and 34 seconds of extension, and Northeastern overcame its first double-overtime deficit of the season to beat Minnesota Duluth 3-2 in a frozen four.
Fontaine stole a pass on the right side of the blue line, skated up the ice and beat Emma Soderberg with a wrist shot from the lower left circle.
It was Fontaine’s 14th birthday. Goal of the season in the Northeast Coast Conference championship game on Saturday against second-seeded Wisconsin. The Huskies (22-1-1) extended their unbeaten streak to 22 games.
Northeastern, which trailed for only the second time this season after two periods, scored twice in the third period to force overtime.
Northeastern started the third period with a 5-on-3 lead and was patient until Maureen Murphy broke through with her seventh goal 42 seconds into the period. Katie Noll tied the score with her 12th goal of the game (14:30).
The Bulldogs scored twice in the second period. First, Mannon McMahon scored his first goal of the season on a wide open net at the right time. Minnesota Duluth scored the fourth goal of the game on an assist from Taylor Anderson to make it 2-0 after 4:30, just 13 seconds after the first shot on goal.
After being outshot 13-4 in the first period, the Huskies ended up getting 47:28 shots on goal, including 12:5 in overtime. All four penalties, including three against Minnesota Duluth, were handed out in the second period. Northwestern goalkeeper Erin Frankel raised her program record for wins to 78.
Northwestern defeated eighth-seeded Robert Morris 5-1 in the quarterfinals for its first-ever victory in the NCAA Tournament. Last year, the Huskies went 32-4-2 in the NCAA Tournament for the third year in a row and fourth time overall when COVID-19 caused the cancellation.
It was the eighth Frozen Four appearance for the Bulldogs (12-7), but the first since 2010 when they won their fifth title. They also won three in a row in 2003, and after losing the championship game in 2007, they won again in 2008.
Minnesota Duluth earned an invitation to the quarterfinals and gave coach Maura Crowell her 100th career victory by beating Colgate, her alma mater, 1-0. Victory against the Bulldogs.
In the next game, Casey O’Brien and Caitlin Schneider each added a goal and two assists to give the Badgers a 3-0 lead and beat rival Ohio State 4-2.
Senior captain Daryl Watts made a steal and scored into the empty net with 13.9 seconds left in the game for the second-seeded Badgers, who are the defending champions since last year’s NCAA Tournament was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Badgers (16-3-1) struck early when O’Brien and Schneider assisted on Makenna Webster’s seventh goal of the game just 1:19 into the contest.
They also struck early in the second half, with O’Brien scoring her second goal and Schneider her third, with Webster also providing an assist.
With six minutes left in the second half, Gabby Rosenthal gave Ohio State a 13-7 lead with her fifth goal. Sara Saekkinen’s second goal at 12:05 of the third period made the score 3-2.
That’s how Wisconsin guard Kennedy Blair started his season with 37 assists.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
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