ITHACA. N.Y. - A memorable season for the Sacred Heart women's hockey team came to an end in the NCAA Tournament regional semifinal. Two late second-period goals broke open a tight game and lifted No. 6 Minnesota Duluth to a 6-1 victory over the Pioneers at Cornell's Lynah Rink.
The Bulldogs advance to Saturday's regional final where they will face No. 3 Cornell.
In the first NCAA Tournament game in school history, Sacred Heart can certainly hold its head high. The Pioneers trailed only 1-0 at the end of the first period and were down only 2-0 until the final seconds of the second.
The Pioneers finish with 21 victories, their most since 2019-20, a NEWHA Championship and the first NCAA appearance.
"I'm very, very proud of the effort we gave," said head coach
Thomas O'Malley. "It wasn't the result we wanted, but we showed we belong here."
Kate Helgeson scored the first NCAA goal in program history and
Carly Greene made 52 saves for the Pioneers.
RECORDS
Sacred Heart: 21-15-3
Minnesota Duluth: 22-14-2
SHU SCORING
Kate Helgeson (1 goal)
Grayson Limke (1 assist)
Peyton Bennetts (1 assist)
HOW IT HAPPENED:
After a pretty even opening 10 minutes, UMD struck first at 13:06 of the first period when Clara Van Wieren scored her 17th goal of the season. Sacred Heart had the only power play of the period but couldn't capitalize.
The Bulldogs got a goal from Danielle Burgen at 6:43 of the second period, but it looked like the Pioneers would remain within striking distance heading into the third. Instead, UMD scored twice in the final minute to seize control. Olivia Mobley got the first goal at 19:41 and just 16 seconds later Burgen scored again to make it 4-0.
UMD got the first goal of the third period, but Helgeson answered at 10:09 when she banged home a nifty centering pass from
Grayson Limke.
Peyton Bennetts started the play with a long feed ahead to Limke. Mobley's second goal of night capped the scoring in the final minute of the third.
NOTES
• While the Pioneers were making their first NCAA appearance, UMD is one of the sport's blue bloods. The Bulldogs were in the tournament for the fifth straight season and 16th time overall.
• Greene, who entered the night leading the nation in save percentage, made 50 or more saves for the second time in the postseason. She stopped 50 shots in the NEWHA Tournament semifinal victory over Saint Anselm.
• After scoring seven power play goals en route to winning the NEWHA Tournament, Sacred Heart finished 0-for-4 with the extra attacker against UMD.
WHAT'S NEXT
The future is very bright for the Pioneers, who will return a number of key contributors from a championship team.
"This was a great year overall for our program," O'Malley said. "We had an opportunity to play on the national stage. Sacred Heart hockey has arrived at the national level."
