Similarities striking for Clarkson squad
POTSDAM — For the second time in her life, Shannon Desrosiers will be part of hockey history on the University of Minnesota campus.
Desrosiers and her husband, Matt, the co-head coaches of the Clarkson University women's team, will lead the squad into its first NCAA Tournament game at 5 p.m. Saturday against the University of Minnesota at Minnesota's Ridder Arena.
Nine years ago Desrosiers, then known as Shannon Smith, was a starting left wing for St. Lawrence University in the first women's NCAA Tournament game ever played.
The Saints beat Dartmouth 3-1 about 150 yards or so away from Ridder Arena in Mariucci Arena, where the Golden Gophers' men's team plays.
"It's eerie how similar our team is here to that team," Desrosiers said. "They are just hard-working. The kids believe, and I think we did that year as well."
Clarkson (23-11-5 overall) enters Saturday's game ranked fifth nationally and had been as high as third earlier this season.
The Golden Gophers (25-8-5), ranked third, will be hosting the Frozen Four next weekend at Ridder Arena, which means Clarkson's players had to pack for a trip that could be as short as four days or as long as 11 or 12.
"It's weird," said Clarkson captain Britney Selina. "Everyone is preparing for a week-and-a-half out there. I'm planning to spend my spring break out in Minnesota. Everyone is confident."
Said defenseman Carlee Eusepi, "Our bags are a lot heavier than they usually are when we go on a trip. We had to pack for the unexpected."
Whether Clarkson overpacked or not will depend on how much it learned from two shutout losses at Ridder Arena back in late November.
Minnesota dominated the Golden Knights that weekend, winning 4-0 on Nov. 27 and following that with a 2-0 win the next day.
The Golden Gophers outshot Clarkson 75-41 and killed 14 penalties.
But a lesson from the past can come in handy for Desrosiers when dealing with this rematch.
SLU had gone through a two-year stretch going 0-3-1 against Dartmouth before her 2001 squad upset the top-ranked Big Green in the national semifinals in 2001.
"It's very similar," Desrosiers said. "I think the girls know, too, that we weren't playing our best hockey (in November), and they were playing their best. Having been out there, making the flight and the trip, I think it will be good to be familiar with that experience."
Said Selina, "Now we know what it takes. We have to bring everything we have. Minnesota saw us at the beginning of the year, but they didn't see everything we have. We didn't bring anything there that defines our team. Maybe they'll think we are that team they played early in the year."
"When we played them we didn't exactly play our best, so I think they think we're a lot easier than we actually are," said Eusepi. "We didn't bring our best game last time we played them. It's a big advantage that we know what that trip is like now. It's really long."
A big factor in Clarkson's post-Thanksgiving frustration was the play of Golden Gopher goalie Noora Raty, a freshman from Finland who recently won a bronze medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics.
"We know we have to get traffic on her and test her," Desrosiers said. "We didn't test her that much last time. I think this time we are a lot more prepared."
Desrosiers hopes to relive one final 2001 memory this weekend. The NCAA Tournament consisted of just four teams back then, and there was some thought SLU might be bypassed for Minnesota, which was one spot behind it in the PairWise Rankings, but hosting the event.
Despite a 7-1 loss to Harvard in the ECAC semifinals, SLU still took the Frozen Four spot away from Minnesota while it was hosting. Something that could happen again with a win Saturday.
"We're hoping to do it again," Desrosiers said.
