The University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team is advancing to its first NCAA Frozen Four championship game in 12 years.

With one snap of Naomi Rogge's wrist, the Bulldogs broke through a double overtime stalemate  and pocketed redemption to defeat third-seeded Northeastern University 2-1 at the Pegula Ice Arena at University Park, Pa. 

"What a hockey game" said UMD head coach Maura Crowell. "It's hard to put it into words, just back and forth, so long, double overtime, almost to the end of overtime. I think two evenly matched teams, tons of speed out there, tons of skill. You know when you are in double overtime and it's wearing you down, you just know that something good is going to happen, you just don't know what side it's going to be on. We were very happy that the puck wound up on Rogge's stick from Giguère making a great pass and she had a fantastic finish, and this is probably the best moment I have had in my career."

It took 98:15 minutes to find the game's finish, but it was in the opening minutes of the second period that the Huskies scored their lone goal of the afternoon. Emma Soderberg made the initial save, but Soderberg was left with a scrum in the crease and Skylar Irving found the loose puck to give NU the 1-0 at 3:35 of the frame.

UMD's defense bent but never broke through the rest of the second period. After a total of 20 NU shots in the first two periods, including 12 in the second period, the Bulldogs were about to flip the ice and set the stage for their new decade of postseason magic in the third period.

Senior Taylor Anderson – who scored against the Huskies last season in the Frozen Four semifinals – reclaimed those heroics at 10:05 of the third. After McKenzie Hewett kicked the puck into the slot to keep it alive, an NU player poked it right to Anderson on the bottom of the circle.  Anderson's one-timer beat Aerin Frankel stick-side and drew UMD even at 1-1, capping off a shooting spree by a Bulldog squad that had pummeled the Huskies 12-6 in the final period of regulation.

It would take a little over 38 extra minutes and an overtime resurface for Rogge to end the thriller.  Caught in the midst of a goaltender's duel, UMD finally found the key when Hewett forced a NU turnover in the neutral zone. Enter Élizabeth Giguère, who picked up the puck and the Bulldogs tournament ambitions all at once. Giguère crossed over the blueline and fed the puck across to Rogge between the circles, and with one move, Rogge ripped the puck past Frankel to send UMD into its seventh-ever NCAA title game at 18:15 of the second overtime.

"The puck was just bouncing in the neutral zone, and I saw Hewey (Hewett) fly and all of a sudden Giggy (Giguère) wound up with it." said Rogge about her game-winner. "I was just trying to go hard to the net and I called for it and she gave it to me and I just tried to get it off as quick as I could."

 

NAOMI ROGGE SENDS @UMDWHockey TO THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!!! #WFrozenFour pic.twitter.com/qEMHQ1krJT

— NCAA Ice Hockey (@NCAAIceHockey) March 18, 2022

Rogge got her historic moment in part because Soderberg again had one of her own.  The Jarved, Sweden native, just a month removed from starring for Sweden in the 2022 Winter Olympics, was unflappable, and made a career-high 46 saves. The senior netminder is now 4-1 in the NCAA Tournament, and has logged 365 minutes between the pipes while allowing just four goals in five games for a 0.66 goals against average in the NCAA postseason.

UMD will await the result of the Ohio State University and Yale second Frozen Four semifinal to find out who it will face Sunday afternoon on college hockey's biggest stage.  The championship tilt is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. ET.

"We put so much work in during the off season and our goal from the start when we all got together as a group was to make it to that game on Sunday," said Rogge, a senior. "For it to come true with this group of girls, it's just so incredibly special."