Game Summary

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — All season long, Duncan Ryhorchuk has preached defense, defense, defense.

Sure, his Saint Mary's University women's hockey team entered the American Women's Collegiate Hockey Alliance national tournament having scored a whopping 138 goals, but it was the fact that the Cardinals surrendered just 41 that the SMU first-year coach was most proud of.

And it was that stingy, bend-but-don't-break approach that carried the Cardinals to a 2-1 victory over Williams College and a third-place finish in their first-ever national tournament appearance.

“All season I've been trying to convince this team how important playing defense is, and it finally paid off,” said Ryhorchuk, whose team finished the season with a school-record 22 wins en route to a 22-7-1 overall mark. “I think I'm a little biased, but I firmly believe defense wins big games.

“This was a big game, and it was our team defense that won it for us.”

That, and a picture-perfect goal from Josie Nechodom late in the second period.

With the score tied 1-1, Nechodom picked up a loose puck in front of the Ephs goal and, from her knees, lifted a backhand past the outstretched arm of Williams goalie Monelle Quevillon.

“I saw the shot coming (off the stick of defensman Diane Amsden) and it trickled through about three people and I just managed to get a stick on it and it went in,” said Nechodom of the biggest of her four goals this season. “I thought we came out much more focused today. We were psyched up and excited to play Middlebury (Friday), but I think we wanted this game more.”

And it showed in the Cardinals' play.

Gone was the tentativeness that showed in SMU's play during Friday's 3-1 loss to defending national champion Middlebury, and in its place was a calm, cool and collected defensive scheme that literally smothered any Williams' offensive threat.

“Saint Mary's is a very skilled team, but what really impressed me was the way they bottled us up with their defense,” said Williams coach Joe Milan, whose team ended the season 20-6-0. “They are great skaters and have good skills, but defensively, they were far superior to us.”

Which pleases the Cardinals to no end.

“It may be a cliche, but defense wins championships,” said junior forward Missy Westergren. “I've played in national tournaments before (at the high school level with the Thoroughbreds), and the successful teams are the ones that play good defense.”

Getting his squad to buy into his defensive-first philosophy, however, wasn't easy for Ryhorchuk.

“We've got a lot of great goal scorers and we needed them to commit to playing strong defense, too,” said Ryhorchuk, whose team had four players score 30 or more points. “Obviously, our entire focus wasn't on the defensive end of the ice — you still have to score a goal or two to win — but our No. 1 focus was keep our opponents out of the slot, let Missie (Meemken) see the shot coming, and then clear away the rebound.”

It was a philosophy that almost worked to perfect against the Ephs.

Almost.

Two minutes after SMU freshman Tennie McCabe — the MIAC's player of the year and the Cardinals' leading scorer — netted her record-setting 30th goal of the season to give SMU a 1-0 lead 12 minutes into the first period, Williams' Sophie de la Berra swatted home a rebound off a Victoria Scott shot to knot the game at 1-1.

“That was the one breakdown we had all game,” Ryhorchuk said of de la Berra's goal. “Missie got a clean look at (Scott's) shot, but we left the rebound lay there and (de la Berra) was there to put it in the net.”

But that was the only mistake the Cardinals would make as they played a flawless third period, and got a key save from Meemken on a breakaway with 1:30 remaining in regulation, to lock up their most important win of the season.

“This team has worked very hard all season and they deserved this,” Ryhorchuk said. “I think they realized after Friday's game just how important it was to play at the top of your game when you are trying to win a national championship.

“We played very well (against Middlebury), but I think if we would have played them like we played today, the outcome could have been much different.”

Unfortunately, Ryhorchuk doesn't have a time machine to send his Cardinals of Saturday back to play the Panthers of Friday, so instead, he'll have to be satisfied with the third-place national championship trophy.

Not a bad “consolation prize” now, is it?