Penalty Box Post
NCAA Bracket Update
Monday, March 7th
Gophers fall to Ohio State in WCHA Final Faceoff Championship
The Gopher Women's Hockey team fell in overtime to Ohio State, 3-2, in the WCHA Final Faceoff Championship yesterday, after defeating Minnesota Duluth 5-1 in the semifinals on Saturday. The Buckeyes claimed their second league playoff title in the past 3 seasons.
In the semis, the Gophers built a 4-0 lead over the Bulldogs early in the third period. Catie Skaja opened the scoring just 51 seconds into the contest, Crystalyn Hengler doubled the lead moments before intermission, Abigail Boreen lit the lamp in the second stanza, and Taylor Heise tallied 14 seconds into the third frame. UMD's Elizabeth Giguere lit the lamp with 16 minutes to play, but Minnesota held firm and Emily Brown tacked on an empty-netter with 2:44 remaining to complete the scoring. Skaja, Boreen, and Brown each finished with a goal and an assist, and Madeline Wethington dished out 2 helpers. Lauren Bench made 21 saves for the Gophers, while Jojo Chobak stopped 34 shots for the Bulldogs.
Ohio State came from behind to defeat Wisconsin in the semifinals, 2-1, with all the scoring occurring in the second period. Sophie Shirley netted the opening goal for the Badgers, but that was all Buckeyes goaltender Amanda Thiele surrendered as she stopped 33 shots in total. Liz Schepers knotted the score for OSU and Gabby Rosenthal put them ahead with the gamewinner. Kennedy Blair made 16 saves for Wisconsin.
After a scoreless first period of the championship game, Abigail Boreen and Peyton Hemp lit the lamp in the second stanza to put Minnesota up 2-0 with 20 minutes remaining in regulation. However, Sara Saekkinen and Sophie Jaques responded with third-period goals for Ohio State to level the score. A penalty on the Gophers late in that period turned into an overtime power play for the Buckeyes, and Jaques scored 23 seconds into the extra period to claim the title. Thiele stopped 32 of 33 shots for OSU, while Bench made 26 saves for the Gophers.
All-Tournament Team – Here's the list of players named to the WCHA Final Faceoff All-Tournament Team.
F - Liz Schepers, Ohio State
F - Abigail Boreen, Minnesota
F - Sara Saekkinen, Ohio State
D - Madeline Wethington, Minnesota
D - Sophie Jaques, Ohio State
G - Amanda Thiele, Ohio State
Most Outstanding Player: Sophie Jaques
NCAA Tournament – Single-elimination
First Round – Minnesota Duluth (24-11-1) vs. Harvard (22-9-1)
Thursday, March 10 at 6:00 p.m. CT
Quarterfinal – First-round winner (UMD or Harvard)
vs. #2-seeded Minnesota Golden Gophers (29-8-1)
Saturday, March 12 at 2:00 p.m. CT
Both games at Ridder Arena
Despite falling in the WCHA Championship Game, the Golden Gophers qualified for the 2022 NCAA National Collegiate Women's Hockey Tournament as the #2 seed, earning a quarterfinal home game. With the tournament field expanding to 11 teams this season, the bracket now features three First Round contests; Minnesota Duluth and Harvard will come to Ridder Arena for one of those games on Thursday, March 10 at 6:00 p.m. CT, with the winner advancing to face Minnesota in the quarterfinals on Saturday, March 12 at 2:00 p.m.
Tickets will go on sale later today (Monday, 3/7), to Gopher Score members at 11 a.m. CT and to the public at 1 p.m. CT. All advanced sales are as all-session packages for both games. Tickets can be purchased online or by calling the ticket office at 1-800-U-GOPHER.
More information about these “Minneapolis Regional” games will be shared in our regular issue of the Penalty Box Post on Wednesday.
Other NCAA Tournament Matchups – First Round
Quinnipiac University (25-9-3) vs. Syracuse University (15-10-6) – at Ohio State
Thursday, March 10 at 6 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. CT
University of Wisconsin (25-7-4) vs. Clarkson University (22-11-3) – at Northeastern
Thursday, March 10 at 7 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. CT
Quarterfinals
Wisconsin / Clarkson at #3-seed Northeastern University (30-4-2)
Saturday, March 12 at 1 p.m. ET / Noon CT
#5-seed Yale University (25-8-1) at #4-seed Colgate (30-7-1)
Saturday, March 12 at 3 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. CT
Quinnipiac / Syracuse at #1-seed Ohio State University (29-6-0)
Saturday, March 12 at 5 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. C
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