Women's Hockey Advances With Win Over Neumann
Anthony O'Hagan
Issue date: 3/5/10 Section: Sports
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In the quarterfinal game, Neumann scored the first goal halfway through the first period. The Pioneers responded to the minor adversity by scoring four unanswered goals, including three in the second period to win 4-1.
The Pioneers have now earned the right to face the number one team in the nation, Plattsburgh, on Saturday, March 6.
Lindsay Norton is confident about the team's ability to beat the number one team in the nation.
"We plan to stick with what we have been doing the past couple of weeks and are mentally preparing ourselves to play the best team in the nation," Norton said.
At the beginning of the season, things looked grim for the Pioneers when they lost their first two games of the season. Then they entered a stretch of inconsistent wins and losses.
The Pioneers are now clicking with chemistry and as a result, they are peeking at the right time. They won their last three regular season games before winning their playoff match against Neumann.
Junior forward Samantha Glockling credits the promising results to a change in the coach's focus.
"Coach Clausen focused a lot on our for-check in the past month," she said. "That gave our system more depth and ability to create offense, which I think we executed if you look at our goals for in the last three games."
However, senior forward Andrea Maxon said teamwork was another factor in the team's success.
"I think the biggest factor that led to turning our season around was how we started working together as a team," Maxon said. "We were focusing too much on individuals, yet once we started to utilize and believe in our systems we started seeing success. There is also such a positive attitude on the bench and in the locker room that does not let us get down if we get scored on. Every single member of the team plays their heart out until the last whistle when we look up to see the score which is something our coach told us to do and has helped us turn the season around. "
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