Gophers fall to Wisconsin in NCAA semifinal
Minnesota Women's Hockey's season concluded with a 6-2 loss to Wisconsin in the NCAA Semifinals at Ridder Arena.
Peyton Hemp put the Gophers up 1-0 in the first period after they had killed a major penalty. But Laila Edwards knotted the score with a short-handed goal for the Badgers, and Caroline Harvey & Kirsten Simms put UW up 3-1 in the second. Josefin Bouveng pulled Minnesota back within one just 45 seconds after Simms' goal, but Casey O'Brien pushed the Badger lead back to two with just 2 seconds left in the period. Edwards put the game away with two 3rd-period goals, completing her hat trick with an empty netter.
Hannah Clark made 26 saves for the Gophers. Ava McNaughton stopped 21 shots for the Badgers. Harvey posted a 4-point performance, adding 3 assists to her goal.
Minnesota finishes the 2024-2025 season with a 29-12-1 record.
Minnesota-Wisconsin game recaps...
U. of M. recap - Minnesota Falls to Wisconsin in Frozen Four Semifinal
Jerry Zgoda, Minnesota Star Tribune – Gophers women’s hockey team sinks again against Wisconsin, in the Frozen Four semifinals
Ohio State defeats Cornell, 4-2 – The matchup between the Buckeyes and Big Red featured goals scored in pairs. OSU took a 2-0 lead as Makenna Webster and Brooke Disher lit the lamp in the first period, only to see Cornell's Lily Delianedis and Kaitlin Jockims find the back of the net 68 seconds apart in the second period to tie the score. But Joy Dunne put the Buckeyes back in the lead 3:37 into the third period after an earlier assist, then doubled that lead less than four minutes later for the final margin. OSU's Amanda Thiele earned the win with 27 saves, while Annalies Bergmann stopped 38 shots for Cornell.
Championship Preview – Ohio State and Wisconsin meet in the NCAA title game for the third-straight year; the Badgers took the 2023 championship, 1-0, and the Buckeyes returned the favor with a 1-0 win last year. It's also OSU's fourth-straight appearance in the final, having defeated Minnesota Duluth (3-2) in 2022.
Ohio State was only one of two teams to put a blemish on Wisconsin's record this season, though the Badgers have a 2-1-1 advantage. The teams split their October series in Columbus with Wisconsin winning 4-2 and Ohio State taking the rematch, 3-2. In Madison at the start of January, the Badgers got a 6-0 shutout in the opener, but the two squads played to a 3-3 tie in the second game (OSU won the subsequent shootout). Lacey Eden leads the Badgers in both goals and total scoring against the Buckeyes, lighting the lamp 4 times while dishing out 2 assists for 6 points; Casey O'Brien added a goal & 4 assists, and Caroline Harvey (2g, 2a), Kirsten Simms (2g, 2a), Laila Edwards (1g, 3a), and Laney Potter (4a) each tallied four points. Joy Dunne led OSU against Wisconsin with a goal & 4 assists, Jocelyne Amos dished out 3 helpers, and Makenna Webster & Maddi Wheeler were the only multi-goal scorers with two apiece. Ava McNaughton stopped 112 of 120 shots for Wisconsin across the four games, for a 1.98 goals-against average and .933 save percentage. Amanda Thiele made 97 saves for Ohio State but yielded 13 goals in 11 periods of action (plus one overtime session), for a 3.49 GAA and .882 SV%. Hailey MacLeod also made 6 saves on 7 shots in a 20-minute relief appearance.
Patty Kazmaier Award reminder – The Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award will be presented later this morning (Saturday, March 22), with Top-3 Finalists Laila Edwards, Caroline Harvey, and Casey O'Brien (all from Wisconsin). The presentation will take place at McNamara Alumni Center at the U. of M., beginning promptly at 11:30 a.m. CT with doors opening at 11:00 a.m. CT. Fans are invited to attend free of charge, and the ceremony will also be televised live on NHL Network. We'll share the announcement of the winner on our Facebook and X accounts once the presentation is made.
NCAA Championship – #2 Ohio State vs. #1 Wisconsin
Sunday, March 23, at 3:00 p.m. CT
Ridder Arena
Game televised on ESPNU
Thank you to our graduating Gophers – Emma Conner, Peyton Hemp, Ella Huber, Olivia King, Natalie Mlynkova, Abbey Murphy, Maggie Nicholson, Skylar Vetter & Audrey Wethington – for proudly representing the Maroon & Gold over the past several seasons!!
We send thanks to the entire GWH team on another great campaign, and we look forward to seeing you again in the fall!!
Goals for a Goal – Gophers finish 2024-2025 with 153 goals
We send one more round of thanks to everyone who pledged to the Goals for a Goal campaign for the 2024-2025 Gopher Women's Hockey season. With 2 goals in their NCAA semifinal, the team finished with 153 goals, 35 of which came on the power play!! If you made a pledge, please watch your email inbox for an invoice from the Golden Gopher Fund at the U. of M. indicating your final amount and how to remit your donation.
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