DE PERE – St. Norbert College completed a clean sweep of Northern Collegiate Hockey Association titles, defeating No. 7 Adrian College 3-2 in a lengthy overtime contest to lift the Slaats Cup and clinch the NCHA's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament at Resch Olympic Pavilion.
The Green Knights (24-4-1), ranked No. 10 in the USCHO.com Division III poll, won their second-ever conference tournament title and clinched their second-ever bid to the NCAA Tournament in another tight contest with the Bulldogs. All three games between the Green Knights and Bulldogs went to overtime this season.
Following a scoreless opening period, St. Norbert took advantage on an early power play opportunity in the second period, with Tristan Wicklund scoring just 19 seconds into the period off assists from Claire Healy and Natalie Hogan. Adrian responded with a power play of its own at 5:55 to tie the game at 1-1, a score that held for the rest of the period and most of the third period.
The Bulldogs scored at 17:18 in the third period to take their first lead of the game at 2-1. It may have looked like the Green Knights had been left for dead with the season on the line before a
Natlie Hogan goal at 19:02.7 extended the game for a chance to win in overtime. Courtnie Hogan and Kelsey Ross combined on the assists to extend the game to a 20-minute sudden death overtime.
St. Norbert had an early power play opportunity in the extra period but couldn't find results. A second power play at 12:14 proved to be vital, as two Bulldogs went to the penalty box and gave the Green Knights a 5-on-3 advantage.
After three shots on target and several blocked shots, the Green Knights found the back of the net as freshman Tristan Wicklund scored the sudden death game winner at 14:00 to send the Green Knights back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013.
Wicklund and Courtnie Hogan had multi-point games in the crucial win.
St. Norbert was outshot 38-32 by Adrian. Keira Markell recorded 36 stops for the Green Knights, while Adrian's Annie Gilbert made 29.
St. Norbert went 2-for-8 on the power play, while Adrian went 1-for-2.
The Green Knights will find out who their first-round opponent will be tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. during the NCAA Selection Show on NCAA.com.
