Staying alive: Women’s D1 kickstarts tournament run with heart-racing victory over ASU in overtime, 3-2
The Lady Flames Division 1 hockey team began its tournament run with a 3-2 overtime victory over the No.10 ASU Sun Devils. The Flames entered the postseason as the No. 1 seed in the ACHA Women’s Division 1 bracket, and with the win are just two victories away from hoisting the ACHA National Championship trophy for the sixth time running.
The defending champs didn’t come by their first win of tournament play easily, however.
After a scoreless first period in which the Flames outshot ASU 21-5, the Flames scored the game’s first goal with junior forward Brielle Fussy capitalizing on a rare miscue from the Sun Devils’ goaltender Quinn Eatinger.
“She just moved so well,” Flames junior forward Haley Battles said about Eatinger. “I do think that their defense did a really good job in front, clogging up the middle and pushing people out. So, she was able to see a lot of the shots coming through. So that was a good prop on their defense. And then they’re just goalie’s just phenomenal, (she has) phenomenal movement. She’s always on her toes. She’s never too far deep, so it’s just really hard to deke her. You honestly just got to shoot it and just hope it goes in.”
Haley Battles is the team’s leading goalscorer | Photo by Noah Seidlitz
Fussy’s goal was the only one to be scored in the first 40, and as both teams took to the ice to enter the third, a feeling of uncertainty hovered. The Flames dominated in both time of possession and shots on goal in the first two periods, but momentum quickly swung back in favor of the Sun Devils.
Just 1:23 into the third, ASU caught the Flames sophomore goaltender, Alex Keith, unaware and behind her cage and took advantage of the situation to score. Just 12 seconds later, they added another goal onto their first, giving ASU its first lead of the game.
The Flames were rattled, and ASU did its best to hold onto its momentum, but a tripping call turned power play with just over two minutes remaining in regulation led to the Flames getting the equalizer. This was due to the effort from graduate forward and team captain Rianna Spanier. The Flames had tied it up and forced overtime.
Overtime was another dominant showing from the Flames. Their game-winner felt inevitable, but it refused to come. Shot after shot after shot would either go off of an ASU body in front of the cage, off the cage itself or get vacuumed up by Eatinger in net.
Time kept ticking down, and the tension in the barn continued to climb as the Flames’ chances kept failing to turn into the game-winner. All game, the Flames’ strategy was to fire from the point and try and send in a rebound, but with time winding down, the Flames attacked the ASU crease with a vengeance, and a gap opened up in the stellar defense for ASU.
A dive from sophomore forward Brookelyn Beauchamp forced the ASU goaltender to make a save, creating an opening for junior center Zosia Adamek, who tipped the puck in to end it.
Zosia Adamek celebrated with teammates on the ice after her game-sealing goal | Photo by Noah Seidlitz
“I mean, to be honest, I’ve never prayed harder in my life,” Adamek said postgame. “Every shift, like, we were rolling through the shift, everyone played the hardest. Like I said, I was praying so hard, but I just drove the net. I gave it a shot and it just came together there. Like, the Lord’s so good.”
With the win, the Flames advance to the semifinal of the Women’s Division 1 ACHA National Tournament, in which they’ll face off against the Minot St. Beavers, who the Flames defeated in the National Championship game last season.
“Yeah, I think the first one’s always the hardest in a national tournament,” Flames Assistant Coach Mike Morrison said. “And playing a team like ASU that’s done really well. They’re a tough team to beat. I think this just gives us confidence that we can do what we need to do. We all don’t think we played super well tonight, so I think that tomorrow will be a different story.”
The team agrees with their coach’s sentiment, saying that the next game will be different.
“I’m more confident personally because I know how many shots we got,” Fussy said. “I know how well their goalie played, and I just am more confident now with our team’s whole new belief system of, like, we can overcome any adversity that gets thrown at us.”
Palsgrove is the asst. sports editor for the Liberty Champion. Follow him on X
