College women's hockey: Minn.-Duluth stymies Clarkson in an NCAA Tournament first-round game
Mar. 9—MINNEAPOLIS — The Clarkson University women's hockey season ended in a frustrating manner Thursday night as the Golden Knights fell, 2-0, to Minnesota-Duluth in an opening-round game of the NCAA Tournament at the University of Minnesota's Ridder Arena.
The frustration for Clarkson (29-11-2 overall) was more than just the final score.
The Golden Knights were called for six penalties, including two majors, and lost co-leading scorer Anne Cherkowski to a major late in the second period.
Cherkowski was given a game disqualification for a hit-from-behind that means she will have to miss Clarkson's opening game next season.
Overall, the Golden Knights played 13 minutes and 13 seconds down at least one player while having just one power-play of their own late in the third period.
Minnesota-Duluth (26-8-3) struggled early in the game, not taking a shot on goal until the game was five minutes old.
But the Bulldogs capitalized on their first chance when defenseman Taylor Stewart scored on a rebound of a shot from Gabby Krause at 5:59 of the opening period.
Stewart had an open net to shoot at for her rebound attempt.
Clarkson's first major penalty came with 26.8 seconds left in the first period when Sena Catterall was called for boarding.
While Clarkson was still killing that penalty early in the second period Brooke McQuigge was penalized for another boarding call, giving Duluth a two-player advantage for 48 seconds.
Clarkson killed both penalties against a Bulldogs team that came into the game fourth in the nation on the power play with a 26.9-percent success rate.
The Golden Knights had another penalty to kill at 9:13 of the second period when Kirstyn McQuigge was called for slashing.
Cherkowski's major penalty came with 1:34 left in the second period and she was visibly frustrated, waving both hands in the air as she headed down the tunnel after being ejected from the game.
Clarkson continued to display a strong penalty kill in the third period, but the Bulldogs broke through with three seconds left in the major with another goal from Stewart at 3:23.
Earlier in the major, the Bulldogs thought they had taken a 2-0 lead on a goal from Mary Kate O'Brien, but a video review showed it was kicked in and the score was waved off.
Clarkson's only power play came at 11:55 of the third when Haley Winn was tripped at center ice by Gabby Krause.
Minnesota-Duluth finished with a 28-16 edge in shots-on-goal and will play host Minnesota at 3 p.m. Saturday in a quarterfinal.
