Bemidji State at (1) Wisconsin
In game one, the Beavers made 36 blocks and Kaitlin Groess made 42 saves to slow down Wisconsin, but the Badgers skated off with a 3-0 win. Kelly Gorbatenko scored with 39 seconds left in the first period to make it 1-0. Claire Enright scored late in the second and Lacey Eden added one a few minutes later to secure the win. On Saturday, the Badgers broke out for 11 goals and Casey O’Brien broke her own record for assists in a season and broke Hilary Knight’s record for career points at Wisconsin. Kirsten Simms scored 15 seconds into the game and that set the tone. She followed up with a second goal minutes later and completed a hat trick with a goal midway through the second. But the night belonged to O’Brien, who had three primary assists in the first five minutes of the game. It was a short-handed goal on a feed from KK Harvey that broke Knight’s record. O’Brien finished the game with a goal and five assists. Finley McCarthy added two goals while Kelly Gorbatenko, Hannah Halverson, Cassie Hall and Sarah Wozniewicz each lit the lamp to lead the Badgers to the weekend sweep. They advance to the WCHA Final Faceoff and will face Minnesota Duluth in the semifinal on Friday.
St. Thomas at (2) Ohio State
Joy Dunne set the tone early in both games for Ohio State as they swept their weekend series with St. Thomas. On Friday, she brought the puck from behind the net before turning and beating Dani Strom to make it 1-0 1:31 into the game. Emma Peschel scored on breakout with Dunne and Joceyln Amos to make it 2-0 at the first break. Defender Mira Jungåker scored from the faceoff circle in the second to extend the lead to 3-0. Amos scored on the power play just :29 into the third frame to make it 4-0. Cara Sajevic broke up the shutout for St. Thomas with a power play goal late in the third, but Jungåker’s short-hander secured the 4-1 win. On Saturday, Dunne scored with the extra attacker just 1:36 into the game. On the ensuing play, Josie St. Martin lit the lamp to extend the lead to 2-0 before two minutes had elapsed. Maddi Wheeler scored before the end of the third to make it 3-0. Makenna Webster found the back of the net in the final minute of the second to make it a 4-0 game. The Tommies were able to spoil the shutout late, this time with a goal from Maddie Jurgensen, but Ohio State took a second 4-1 win and advances to the WCHA Final Faceoff and will face Minnesota in the semifinal on Friday.
Union at (3) Cornell
The Big Red outshot the Garnet Chargers 42-14 and Karel Prefontaine scored twice to lead Cornell to a 3-0 win on Friday. Georgia Schiff scored the other goal while Lily Delianedis and Delaney Fleming each had two assists. On Saturday, the game was much more even. After a scoreless first period, the Big Red took a 1-0 lead thanks to a power play goal from Grace Dwyer. But that seemed to shake things up for Union, who quickly responded. Maddie Leaney scored with a pretty top shelf goal to tie the game and then in the final minute of the second, Maren Friday put the Garnet Chargers up 2-1. In the third, they were able to stifle the Big Red and Cornell had to pull their goalie for an extra attacker with nearly three minutes left on the clock. Sophie Matsoukas made some great saves for Union before Prefontaine took a rebound off the back boards and tied the game with just 1:09 left on the clock. Cornell was energized and with Bermann back in the net, put the pressure on Union. Gabby Rud scored from the slot with just 27.5 left on the clock to take a 3-2 lead and hand the Garnet Chargers a heartbreaking last season loss to end their season. Cornell advances to the ECAC semifinal on Saturday where they will face Clarkson.
Minnesota State at (4) Minnesota
The Gophers’ second line put on a show on Friday as Emma Kreisz had two goals and three assists, Ava Linsday had two goals and an assist and Peyton Hemp had a goal and two assists to lead Minnesota to a 6-1 win over the Mavericks. Ella Huber also scored for Minnesota while Claire Vekich had the goal for Minnesota State in the loss. Things got much more chaotic on Saturday. The Mavericks jumped out to a 3-0 lead thanks to a goal from MacKenzie Bourgerie in the first and two goals in the first four minutes of the second as Claire Vekich scored on an early power play and Sydney Langseth finished off a play started by JuliAnna and Janessa Gazdik. But Abbey Murphy struck on a breakaway a minute later to get Minnesota on the board and cut the lead to 3-1. Ella Huber scored at the midpoint of the game to make it a one-goal game, but Minnesota State carried a 3-2 advantage into the third. Anyone coming back late from intermission missed out in this game. Alexis Paddington scored 15 seconds into the third to push the lead to 4-2, but the Gophers once again replied as both Murphy and Krista Parkkonen lit the lamp and it was suddenly 4-4 before five minutes had passed. Neither team could find an equalizer and the game went to double overtime. It looked like a third extra frame was on deck, but Madison Mashuga one-timed a shot with 4.7 seconds left on the clock to give Minnesota State the 5-4 win and force a game three. Hailey Hansen broke the MSU school record for saves in a game with 66 saves and her team made 31 blocks in front of her. Final shots were 70-44 in favor of the Gophers. In the deciding game three, Minnesota scored three unanswered goals in the first seven minutes of the second and that put the game out of reach for the Mavericks. Natálie Mlýnková scored on the team’s first power play to make it 1-0 in the first. Then Lindsay, Audrey Wethington and Murphy scored in quick succession to make it 4-0. Jamie Nelson pulled one back for Mankato to make it 4-1, but Murphy quickly grabbed the momentum back and Hemp scored one more before the second ended to make it 6-1. Nelson added one more for the Mavericks before the end of the third, but Minnesota took the 6-2 win and advance to the WCHA semifinals to face Ohio State.
(13) Princeton at (5) Colgate
Elyssa Biederman dominated on Friday, scoring three goals in 4:34 to start the game, giving Colgate a 3-0 lead before eight minutes had elapsed in the first period. Issy Wunder pulled one back for Princeton in the second to make it 3-1, but Kaia Malachino responded to give Colgate a three-goal lead once again. In the third, Brooklyn Nimegeers scored on the power play to cut the lead to 4-2, but the Tigers couldn’t get any closer and Neena Brick’s empty net goal secured the 5-2 win for the Raiders. In the second game, Hannah Murphy made 41 saves while Alexia Aubin and Emma Pais each scored to secure the sweep for Colgate. Rosie Klein ruined the shutout with a late goal, but Princeton ran out of time to complete a comeback. Colgate advances to the ECAC semifinal where they will face St. Lawrence next Friday.
(11) St. Cloud State at (6) Minnesota Duluth
UMD coach Lara Schuler used the coaches challenge impeccably this weekend and it helped propel her team to a weekend sweep and berth in the WCHA Final Faceoff. On Friday, her team scored first on an extended power play that came from Schuler’s challenge for a major penalty. Caitlin Kraemer delivered a one-timer to put the Bulldogs up 1-0. SCSU equalized in the second as Emma Gentry scored just after a penalty expired. Alice Sauriol’s power play goal a few minutes later gave St. Cloud the 2-1 advantage. The Huskies held onto the lead until the waning seconds of the game. The Bulldogs pulled their goalie and then called timeout to draw up a play. Kraemer buried a shot from the slot with under two to play to tie the game 2-2. It looked like overtime was on deck, but Olivia Wallin broke St. Cloud’s heart, turning on a shot with five seconds to go to win the game and give Minnesota Duluth the 3-2 win. On Saturday, Schuler challenged an early St. Cloud goal for offsides. The challenge was successful and instead of being down just three minutes into the game, her team was on even footing and eventually, the Bulldogs would score the opening goal late in the second. Grace Sadura scored from the slot to make it 1-0 UMD. Olivia Mobley’s low shot a few minutes later put Minnesota up 2-0. Despite outshooting their hosts 39-32, St. Cloud could not solve Eve Gascon and Laura Zimmerman’s late goal was not enough as time ran out and UMD took the 2-1 win and series sweep. UMD advances to the WCHA semifinals where they’ll face Wisconsin on Friday.
Yale at (7) St. Lawrence
Sarah Marchand put SLU on the board first just a few minutes into the game, carrying the puck through the zone and beating Pia Dukarich to make it 1-0. But Yale responded quickly as Naomi Boucher forced a turnover and went top shelf to make it a 1-1 game. Abby Hustler put St. Lawrence back on top in the second, picking up her own rebound, cycling behind the net and turning to find the back of the net to make it 2-1. With under four to play, Stephanie Stainton went coast to coast for Yale on the power play to tie the game once more and eventually force overtime. In the extra frame, Yale took a pair of penalties, including a game misconduct and the Saints capitalized on the 5-on-3 with Claire Tyo’s one-timer in the upper corner. In the second game, Abby Hustler scored with a backhander after a turnover midway through the second to put SLU up 1-0. Goalie Emma-Sofie Nordström earned an assist on the play. Yale pulled ahead early in the second with a pair of goals from Avery Peters and Carina DiAntonio before the midpoint. But St. Lawrence pushed back in the later part of the period. Kennedy Wilson scored from near the faceoff dot to tie the game 2-2 before Hustler scored her second to make it 3-2 Saints. Kristina Bahl tipped in a shot form Hillary Sterling early in the third to extend the lead to 4-2. Olivia Munn pulled one back for Yale on the PP, but St. Lawrence was able to tighten up on defense and the Bulldogs could not find an equalizer as the Saints took a 4-3 win and series sweep. St. Lawrence will face Colgate in the ECAC semifinals on Friday.
RIT at (8) Penn State
The Nittany Lions raced out to a 3-0 lead by the midpoint of the second period thanks to two goals by Tessa Janecke and another from Maddi Christian. But RIT started to push back as Athena Vasdani scored before the second intermission to make it a 3-1 game. Nicole Ness found the twine early in the third, but PSU held strong and withstood a push and the Tigers couldn’t find an equalizer as Penn State took a 3-2 win. In the second game, Christian, McKenna Welsh, Abby Stonehouse and Janecke each scored to carry PSU to a 4-0 win and weekend sweep. They advance to play Mercyhurst in the AHA championship game next Saturday.
(10) Quinnipiac at (9) Clarkson
Clarkson outshot the Bobcats 40-26 on Friday, but Quinnipiac skated away with a 3-1 win. Former Golden Knight Laurence Frenette scored twice to lead the Bobcats. Her first goal gave them a 1-0 lead near the end of the first as she tipped in a pass from Maddy Samoskevich on the power play. Just 1:17 into the second, she struck again on the PP, this time taking a pass from Maya Labad at the side of the net and tapping it in. Labad showed off her speed, taking off after loose puck and beating everyone to the zone and potting it to extend the lead to 3-0. Rhea Hicks scored later in the third for Clarkson, but they ran out of time to mount a comeback and Quinnipiac took game one. In game two, the Bobcats came out confident and fired 11 shots on goal, but only lit the lamp once as Zoe Uens sniped a goal in the final minute to make it a 1-0 game. Clarkson pushed back in the second, controlling the puck and tying the game on the power play with Nicole Gosling’s shot off the faceoff. Midway through the third, an odd-player rush didn’t immediately pay off, but Clarkson kept possession and Baylee Kirwan found Caroline Goffredo in the slot and the Golden Knights went up 2-1. Quinnipiac pulled their goalie but were unable to find an equalizer and Clarkson took the win and forced game three. On Sunday, the teams played discipline hockey and shots were limited as they searched for chances without giving up too much on defense. The Golden Knights scored on a forced turnover and breakout with Haley Winn finishing the play to make it 1-0 at the first intermission. Holly Gruber made a number of big saves, but maybe none more so than stopping a breakaway early in the second to maintain her team’s lead. Rhea Hicks added to her team’s lead with a power play goal deflection to make it 2-0 Clarkson. Quinnipiac broke through with a pass from Kahlen Lamarche that deflected in off a skate to make it 2-1. The Bobcats pulled their goalie, but Anne Cherkowski quickly found the empty net to extend the lead and Winn added another a few minutes later to secure the 4-1 win and send Clarkson to the ECAC semifinals where they’ll face Cornell.
Merrimack at (12) Connecticut
Sophie Robinson scored early in the first to put UConn up 1-0 and that lead would last for more than 40 minutes before Jada Habisch scored twice in the third to make it a 3-0 game. Livvy Dewar’s goal as time wound down closed out the 4-0 win for UConn. Tia Chan made 32 saves in the shutout win.
Vermont at (14) Boston University
It looked like the Catamounts might be on a roll, scoring early in the game thanks to Oona Havana, but every time Vermont lit the lamp, Boston University had an answer. Maeve Kelly scored just two minutes after Havana to tie the game 1-1. Rose-Marie Brochu put UVM up again midway through the first, but Lilli Welcke tied the game in the minute before intermission to make it 2-2. Neither team had an answer in the second frame, as they tried to find a goal but not make mistakes. In the third, Maddy Skelton struck on the power play for Vermont. Kelly’s shot from the point was tipped in by Sydney Healey to tie things again and eventually force overtime. The Terriers picked up steam and controlled the puck in the extra frame and were rewarded when Maggie Hanzel’s shot off the faceoff created a rebound that Riley Walsh cleaned up to send Boston University to the Hockey East semifinals on Wednesday, where they’ll face Boston College.
Maine at (15) Boston College
Maine opened the scoring in the first as Elise Morphy put the Black Bears up 1-0. Just two minutes later, Alanna Devlin put back a rebound to tie the game 1-1 and that’s how the teams headed to intermission. Things got crazy in the second as the teams combined for five goals in eight minutes. The Black Bears once again struck quickly, this time as Mikayla Boarder put Maine up 2-1 before a minute had elapsed. Julie Pellerin tied it a few minutes later and Keri Clougherty’s power play goal gave the Eagles their first lead of the game, making it 3-2 before six minutes had passed. Maine clawed back one more time as Jamie Grinder scored on the power play. But the tie lasted just 12 seconds as Pellerin took the next play to the net and gave Boston College a 4-3 lead that they’d hold until the final whistle. The Eagles advance to the Hockey East semifinals on Wednesday, where they’ll face their rivals at Boston University.
