No. 10 Ohio State at No. 1 Wisconsin
Abby Roque’s power-play goal midway through the first period held up for nearly 40 minutes of play before Tatum Skaggs redirected a puck to tie the game and force overtime. Ohio State won the shootout to earn the extra conference point. On Saturday, Emma Maltais scored 23 seconds into the game on an odd-player rush and a rebound, and Liz Schepers’ power-play goal midway through the second put the Buckeyes up 2-0 in a game that the Badgers needed to win to clinch the top spot in the WCHA. Sophie Shirley scored with 4:29 left in the game, and Emily Clark tied it up with 1:55 to go, but the Badgers could not find the go-ahead goal and OSU won the shootout again. Wisconsin ends up second and will host St. Cloud State, while Ohio State is third and will host Minnesota State in the opening round of the WCHA playoffs.
No. 2 Minnesota at Bemidji State
Kelly Pannek netted a hat trick and linemates Sarah Potomak and Amy Potomak each had three points to lead Minnesota to a 6-3 win on Friday night. The Gophers jumped out to an early 2-0 lead with goals from Taylor Wente and Sarah Potomak before five minutes had even elapsed. Bemidji State responded, tying the game over the next five minutes with goals from Lindsey Featherstone and Paige Beebe, but that was as close as it would get as Pannek scored three consecutive goals — one late in the first and two to open the second — to make it 5-2 and put the game out of reach for the Beavers. Abby Halluska scored in the opening minute of the third, but Bemidji State could not mount a comeback and Taylor Heise’s empty-netter iced the 6-3 win. On Saturday, Halluska scored 38 seconds into the game to put Bemidji up 1-0. Sixteen minutes later, Grace Zumwinkle tied it up to send the teams to the locker room knotted at one. Emily Oden and Taylor Heise scored within 13 seconds of each other in the second to put Minnesota up 3-1 after two. Amy Potomak’s goal early in the third seemed like it might be the dagger, but Bemidji State mounted a comeback. Haley Mack and Halluska each scored, but the Beavers ran out of time and fell 4-3. The Gophers earned the regular-season WCHA title with their pair of weekend wins.
No. 3 Northeastern vs. Merrimack
Senior goalie Brianna Storms made her first collegiate start for Northeastern and pitched a shutout in the Huskies’ final regular season home game as they took down Merrimack, 3-0. Alina Mueller, Veronika Pettey, and Andrea Renner scored for Northeastern in the win. Felila Manu scored 1:18 into the game to put Merrimack on the board first on Saturday. Mueller responded to tie the game at one after one period. Tori Sullivan put Northeastern ahead just 29 seconds into the second period, but Chloe Cook scored on a power play, and Katelyn Rae added a shorthanded goal with five seconds left in the period to put Merrimack up 3-2 after two. Kasidy Anderson scored on a power play to tie it up at three. Paige Voight put Merrimack up again, but Northeastern came back one last time with a goal from Mueller to earn the 4-4 tie.
No. 4 Cornell at Rensselaer
Kristin O’Neill put Cornell on the board just 14 seconds into the game, and that set the tone for the Big Red as they went on to win, 8-2. Aimee Raithby responded for Rensselaer to tie it up midway through the first, but then Cornell pulled away. Pippy Gerace scored twice and had an assist, and five other Cornell players scored to give the Big Red a 7-1 lead. Jaimie Grigsby added another for RPI late in the third, but this one was all Cornell as they cruised to a decisive win.
No. 4 Cornell at Union
Katie Sonntag put Union on the board first with a goal late in the second, but Cornell responded 19 seconds later with a goal by Grace Graham to tie it at one heading in to the second-period break. Pippy Gerace’s goal 40 seconds into the third was the game-winner as Cornell won the game and clinched the ECAC regular-season crown.
No. 6 Princeton at No. 5 Clarkson
The Clarkson goals came in spurts as they scored twice in the first 1:13 to take the lead and twice in the final 1:20 to secure the win on Friday. Loren Gabel and Cassidy Vinkle scored first to give the Golden Knights a 2-0 lead. Michaela Pejzlová scored 29 seconds into the second period to make it 3-0. Carly Bullock responded to cut the lead to two as the teams headed to the locker rooms for the final time. Maggie Connors potted a power-play goal early in the third, and it seemed like the Tigers might be able to forge a comeback, but T.T. Cianfarano and Elizabeth Giguère’s late goals secured the win for Clarkson.
Quinnipiac at No. 5 Clarkson
Elizabeth Giguère scored in the second. and Randi Marcon tied it up on a power play with just more than five minutes left in the game, and that was the only action this game saw. Clarkson finished second in the ECAC and will host seventh-place Quinnipiac in next week’s conference tournament.
No. 6 Princeton at St. Lawrence
This one was deadlocked for most of the game. The teams played an evenly matched game until Nadine Edney broke the tie five minutes into the third frame to put St. Lawrence on the board. Maggie McLaughlin’e empty-netter secured the win for St. Lawrence. The Tigers went into the weekend atop the ECAC, but lost both games and ended up fourth in the final standings.
No. 7 Boston College at New Hampshire
Lindsey Agnew’s short-handed goal opened the scoring for Boston College 49 seconds into the game, and Kali Flanagan’s power-play goal made it 2-0, but New Hampshire scored a power-play goal of its own thanks to Carlee Turner to make it 2-1 after one. New Hampshire scored twice in the second to take a 3-2 lead into the third period, as Page Rynne tied it and Taylor Wenczkowski scored with 48 seconds left in the period. Erin Connolly scored at 11:32 of the third to tie it for Boston College, and neither team could score in the OT.
No. 8 Boston University at Connecticut
Seven different Terriers tallied points, and BU extended its unbeaten streak to 14 games as BU defeated Connecticut, 3-1. Nara Elia’s power-play goal midway through the first put BU up after the first period. Courtney Correia and Emma Wuthrich added goals in the second to give the Terriers a 3-0 lead. Danika Pasqua scored early in the third, but the Huskies could not mount a comeback as Boston University won, 3-1.
Providence at No. 8 Boston University
Natasza Tarnowski’s power-play goal had Boston University up 1-0 after one, but Providence responded with goals from Christina Putigna and Whitney Dove in the second to give the Friars the 2-1 win. The Terriers end up in third in Hockey East, and Providence finished fourth.
No. 9 Colgate at Union
Union opened the scoring with a goal from Megan Ryan less than two minutes into the game. That held for most of the first period, but then Tanner Gates scored for Colgate. Jessie Eldridge and Shae Labbe tallied assists to set a new Raiders program record. Eldridge broke her own single-season program record for points with her 46th of the year, and Labbe broke the program single-season record for assists with her 26th. Labbe followed that with a goal to put the Raiders up 2-1 after the first. Rosalie Demers and Eldrige scored in the second to extend the lead to 4-1. Katelyn Russ looked to spark a Union rally, scoring early in the third, but it was not to be. Elridge scored a short-hander late in the third to ice the 5-2 win.
No. 9 Colgate at Rensselaer
After a scoreless first, Olivia Zafuto opened the scoring for Colgate. Blake Orosz tied it up for RPI, but the Raiders scored twice in the final two minutes of the period to give Colgate a 3-1 lead. Jaimie Grigsby closed the gap with a goal early in the third, but Chelsea Jacques’ goal late in the third secured the win for the Raiders, who finished second in the ECAC.
