Detroit Little Caesars Beat Connecticut, Advance to USA Hockey Finals at the Onyx

Things can really heat up in the playoffs, and that’s exactly what happened on Saturday night in the 19-and-Under girls semifinals of the USA Hockey Tier 1 2011 National Championships at the Onyx Rochester Ice Arena. 

Detroit Little Caesars scored three goals in a wild third period to advance to the finals with a 3-0 win over the Connecticut Polar Bears.

In the first two periods, both teams’ goalies dominated. Taylor Fairchild had 17 saves for Little Caesars and Meghann Treacy had 22 for Connecticut. The teams went into the second intermission tied 0-0.

“Boy, when we went back into the locker room for the intermission, our girls kind of knew they hadn’t been playing all that well, and we just wanted to keep it simple,” said Little Caesars Coach Matthew Berger. 

Keeping it simple meant dumping the puck deep into the Polar Bears zone and applying pressure. Little Caesars' first line didn’t waste anytime in the third doing just that.

Caitlyn Post and Shiann Darkangelo set up Kelsey Summers for the first goal of the game (:29) before fans were even back in their seats from intermission. Darkangelo set up Summers with a perfectly-timed pass in front of the net, and all Summers needed to do was tap it in.   

The goal seemed to take the pressure off the Little Caesars' shoulders while Connecticut quickly became frustrated; the Polar Bears couldn’t get the puck out of its zone. When it did, the Little Caesars defense was right there to force a turnover or block a shot.

“We got down a goal right away to start and it’s an uphill battle when you’re shorthanded,” Polar Bears' Coach Maurice Fitzmaurice said. “What happens when you get down is people are trying to force things and make things happen. People aren’t using their head as they should.”

After the first goal, the Polar Bears committed eight penalties and allowed the Little Caesars to play with a man advantage for nearly the entire period. Little Caesars even had a 5-on-3 advantage three separate times.

Connecticut skaters did a lot of pushing and shoving on the ice, and the girls didn’t let the whistle stop them. By the time the period ended, the Polar Bears had more penalties than shots on goal (8 to 6) in the third.

Little Caesars used the Polar Bears lack of composure to its advantage. Caitlyn Post scored two power play goals (5:49 and 11:50) to help seal the win.

Berger wasn’t surprised that his team kept its focus and didn’t push back when tension escalated.

“We try to be a class act, we have that little Red Wing logo that sponsors us from the Ilitch’s,” said Berger. “Win, loss or draw, we always preach good sportsmanship. When the game starts getting chippy, we know our players aren’t going to retaliate.”

The win sets up a finals game for Little Caesars against Shattuck St. Mary's. St. Mary’s beat Colorado Select 4-1 in the other semifinal on Saturday night. Like Little Caesars, St. Mary’s is undefeated in the tournament so far and they’ve won five games allowing only two goals.  

“We’ve gotten together a lot the last three or four years,” Berger said. “It’s going to be a great game, and I’m excited to be a part of it.”

The teams will play the finals at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday at Onyx Ice Arena.

Notes - Maryanne Menefee had two assists in the quarterfinals; she added two more in the semifinals. Menefee assisted both Post’s goals in the thirds. Shiann Darkangelo added a second assist on Post’s second goal. Little Caesars finished the game with a 42-23 shot advantage over the Polar Bears.