Sunday afternoon at Matthews in the ECAC Women's League Championship final,
the number one seeded University of New Hampshire Wildcats were upset by the
Bears of Brown 4-3.  It was the first time an Ivy League team has won the ECAC
Championship.  While it is great to have a new winner, how you play the game
does matter.  Brown used ugly tactics and came away with no honor.
 
The game opened with UNH dominating play.  Michelle Thornton (Melissa
McKenzie) went up the gut on the Bear defense, deked the goalie and scored.
Lovely goal!  Soon after that the Wildcats went off the boil, and the game
deteriorated.  Brown tied the match at one when Jordan Jiskra scored on a
shorthanded breakaway.  The Bears took the lead when Tamra Jones (Ali Kenney)
was left unmarked.  The refs were allowing the underdog to get away with a lot
of cross-checking, hooking and general junk.  New Hampshire for unknown
reasons was in nap mode.
 
In the second, the Wildcats remained flat.  Brown looked like a team who
thought they could win it.  Julie Iler (Kathleen Kauth, Jill Graat) went on a
long break and eventually knocked in a rebound to make it 1-3 Bears.  Right
after that score, Thornton (Sara Cross) cut the lead to one when UNH applied
the pressure.  Brown was at sixes and sevens.  The next goal was critical.  It
was a non-score allowed by the zebras.  Brown's Iler had crashed the net and
wiped out the UNH goalie during a 4 on 3 power play.  The puck was gathered by
Graat who dumped it in the vacant net.  Giving the Bears a two goal cushion,
in a final, changed the course of the match.
 
In the final period, New Hampshire put on spells of pressure, but Brown's
goaltender Alison Brewer hung tough.  In the closing minutes of the game the
Wildcat's fresher defender Winny Brodt (Samantha Holmes) scored an offside
goal.  The refs were not up with the play.  However, with little time left,
UNH could not equalize.
 
It is perfectly ghastly how many Ivy League teams are resorting to junk
systems to win the game.  Perhaps to them quality has no meaning.
 
While New Hampshire did not play well today, I was pleased to see them not get
involved with the trash side of the game.  Clearly it was not their day.
Defenders Jaime DeGriselles, Kerry Maher and Nicki Luongo all looked good.
They played with spirit, provided good marking and moved the puck.  The line
of Thornton, Tina Carrabba and Cross were the best unit.  Carrabba was
effervescent.  Senior Brandy Fisher tried to get her team back in the match
with numerous plays.  In the end, the Wildcats looked tired.
 
 
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 good shooting
 hungerf
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