Penalty Box Post
Monday, March 7, 2021
Gophers fall to Wisconsin in WCHA Final Faceoff semifinal;
Badgers defeat Ohio State in OT for 9th conference tournament title
The Gopher Women's Hockey team fell to Wisconsin, 5-3, in the WCHA Final Faceoff semifinals on Saturday. The Badgers then earned a modicum of revenge by defeating Ohio State in a WCHA Playoff Championship rematch, 3-2 in overtime. The win is the 9th conference playoff title in Wisconsin program's history.
In their semifinal game, the Badgers took the initial lead on a first-period goal by Sophie Shirley, then doubled it 7 minutes into the second period when Makenna Webster lit the lamp. The Gophers got on the board just 86 seconds later on an Abbey Murphy goal, but Webster pushed the Wisconsin lead back to two with a power play marker late in the stanza. Amy Potomak put home a rebound goal 1:35 into the third frame, but a bad bounce gave UW's Lacey Eden an open Gopher net to make it 4-2 at the 5:12 mark. Grace Zumwinkle cut Minnesota's deficit to one a third time, scoring with 4:31 remaining, but a Gopher defensive zone clearing attempt in the final minute went awry and the puck deflected off of Lauren Bench into the net; Britta Curl was credited with the goal. Makayla Pahl started between the pipes for Minnesota, making 12 saves over the first 40 minutes, and Bench stopped 6 shots in relief; Wisconsin's Kennedy Blair made 23 saves.
In the second semifinal, Ohio State's Emma Maltais and Minnesota Duluth's Katie Davis traded first-period goals, but the Buckeyes tied an all-time WCHA single-period playoff record with a 5-goal eruption in the second frame, en route to a 7-2 victory. Maltais and linemate Tatum Skaggs each finished with 2 goals and 2 assists in the contest, while Liz Schepers added a goal and 2 helpers.
As mentioned above, the Badgers and Buckeyes net in the title game for the second-straight year, with OSU coming in as the defending champion. Daryl Watts gave Wisconsin two separate one-goal leads, but Jennifer Gardiner and Sophie Jaques responded for Ohio State to even the score both times. Going to overtime tied 2-2, the Badgers' Delaney Drake found a loose puck, tap-passed it to Eden, and Eden blew it past Buckeye goaltender Andrea Brändli just 42 seconds into the extra period to claim the title.
All-Tournament Team – Here's the list of players named to the WCHA Final Faceoff All-Tournament Team.
F - Daryl Watts, Wisconsin
F - Emma Maltais, Ohio State
F - Lacey Eden, Wisconsin
D - Chayla Edwards, Wisconsin
D - Sophie Jaques, Ohio State
G - Kennedy Blair, Wisconsin
Most Outstanding Player: Daryl Watts
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Minnesota misses out on NCAA Tournament
With the loss to Wisconsin in the WCHA semifinal, the Gopher Women's Hockey season came to an unfortunate conclusion as the team did not receive an invitation to this year's NCAA Tournament. It's the first time the team has not made the field since 2007.
Here's the list of the quarterfinal pairings for this year's tournament. Due to the pandemic, all matchups will take place at Erie Insurance Arena in Erie, PA, site of the Frozen Four. The quarterfinals will occur on Monday and Tuesday, March 15 & 16, while the semifinals and championship schedule has been moved up a day to Thursday and Saturday, March 18 & 20. Video from quarterfinal games will be streamed on NCAA.com.
#1 Northeastern University (20-1-1) vs. Robert Morris
Monday, March 15 at 2 p.m. EDT / 1 p.m. CDT
#4 Colgate (15-6-1) vs. Minnesota Duluth (11-6-0)
Monday, March 15 at 7 p.m. EDT / 6 p.m. CDT
#2 Wisconsin (14-3-1) vs. Providence College (12-7-1)
Tuesday, March 15 at 2 p.m. EDT / 1 p.m. CDT
#3 Ohio State (12-6-0) vs. Boston College (14-5-0)
Tuesday, March 15 at 7 p.m. EDT / 6 p.m. CDT
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