Esteemed RandBall contributor Jon Marthaler covered the 2008 Ms. Hockey Award for the Star Tribune, and he alerted us to the final two paragraphs from that coverage when the award was won by Bemidji High's Sarah Erickson:
In the fall, Erickson will enroll at the University of Minnesota, where she'll be joined by fellow Ms. Hockey finalists Anne Schleper of St. Cloud Cathedral and Kelly Seeler of Eden Prairie. ... The players already know their Gophers goals.
"We talk on the phone all the time," said Erickson, "and we always end with, `Let's win a national championship.' "
That, of course, is not an uncommon goal for a bunch of ambitious teenagers. But when all three become seniors with the Gophers -- and play key roles in leading the team to its first national title since 2005 -- it's a nice little moment upon which to reflect. Erickson scored two goals in Sunday's 4-2 NCAA title game victory over Wisconsin, while Seeler and Schleper were major contributors along the blue line.
It capped a pretty nice weekend for those who wear maroon and gold. The Gophers wrestlers finished second at the NCAA meet, with heavyweight Tony Nelson taking home an individual championship. And the Gophers men's hockey team, despite losing Friday to North Dakota, has the No. 2 seed in own regional next week and could get a chance for revenge against UND if both teams advance to the region final next Sunday at the X.
It was a reminder -- Patrick Reusse's accurate and well-crafted Sunday column about the men's hoops and football programs notwithstanding -- that not everything is broken over in Gopherland.
