(5) Minnesota at (1) Wisconsin
The Gophers snapped an eight-game winless streak against the Badgers with a 3-2 win on Friday night. It was Wisconsin’s first loss of the season. Taylor Heise put Minnesota on the board just 27 seconds into the game. It looked like the Badgers might escape a sloppy first down just one, but Emily Oden doubled the lead just before the intermission. Wisconsin picked it up in the second and third, with goals from Casey O’Brien and Maddi Wheeler tying it up. But that lasted exactly nine seconds, as a miscommunication on defense put the puck on Catie Skaja’s stick with Kennedy Blair out of the net for UW. It would prove to be the game-winner. On Saturday, the teams traded goals. Payton Hemp scored in the opening minutes for Minnesota. O’Brien scored early in the second to tie the game. Emily Zumwinkle scored midway through the third and O’Brien scored her third of the weekend to force overtime. There was no score in the extra frame, so it officially goes down as a 2-2 tie. Minnesota gets the extra conference point thanks to a shootout win.
(2) Ohio State at (9) Minnesota Duluth
The Bulldogs used three goals in the opening 11 minutes on Friday to help power a 5-2 win. Naomi Rogge scored first for UMD, just 1:45 into the game. Anneke Linser doubled the lead and a few minutes later, Anna Klein made it 3-0. In the second, Klein became the 22nd Bulldog to earn 100 career points when she extended the lead to 4-0. Jennifer Gardiner and Clair DeGeorge each scored in the third for Ohio State as they attempted to mount a comeback, but Elizabeth Giguere’s late goal stopped their momentum and completed the 5-2 win. In the second game, it was the Buckeyes who built up a big lead. Liz Schepers, Paetyn Levis and Lexi Templeman had OSU up 3-0 heading into the third. Riley Brengman made it 4-0 and Templeman scored again to make it 5-0. Giguere and Gabbie Hughes each scored to bring the game to 5-2, but that’s as close as it would get. Jenna Buglioni added an empty-netter and Ohio State took the 6-2 win and the weekend split.
Cornell at (3) Northeastern
Chloe Aurard returned to the ice for the Huskies and scored on the power play late in the first. Gabbie Rud evened the game up just 24 seconds later to make it 1-1 heading into the second. Lily Delianedis put Cornell up 2-1 midway through the middle frame. Skylar Irving tied it up and then Skylar Fontaine put Northeastern ahead. Brooke Hobson’s goal with less than a minute to play made it a 4-2 victory for the Huskies. It was Northeastern’s first win over Cornell in five tries, dating back to 2002. On Sunday, graduate student Maddie Mills scored twice against her former team to lead Northeastern to a 3-1 win. Mills opened the scoring with a power play goal. Katy Knoll doubled the lead in the first and Mills’ second goal put it at 3-0 heading into the third. Gills Frechette lit the lamp for Cornell on the power play early in the third, but the Big Red weren’t able to put together a comeback as Northeastern earned the sweep.
(8) Clarkson vs. St. Lawrence
It took nearly 50 minutes to break the scoreless tie in this game. Skylar Podvey scored on the power play. Clarkson looked to be running out of time for an equalizer as they took a penalty, but they pulled the goalie and played with an extra skater to make it 5-on-5. Caitrin Lonergan put away a rebound of a Nicole Gosling shot to tie the game with 30.5 seconds left in regulation. In the second game, Lonergan was once again the last-minute hero, this time using her speed to score with 27 ticks left on the clock. It was her 199th career point and the only goal in the game.
Union at (9) Harvard
Harvard scored three times in the opening four minutes en route to a 5-0 win. Kristin Della Rovere, Dominique Petrie, Becca Gilmore, Taze Thompson and Anne Bloomer each lit the lamp and rookie goalie Alex Pellicci got a shutout in her second career start.
RPI at (9) Harvard
Kyra Willoughby scored her first goal of the season in overtime to salvage a 4-3 win for the Crimson. Taze Thompson and Kristin Della Rovere scored in the first to put the Crimson up 2-0. Paige Lester added an extra attacker goal midway through the second to extend the lead to 3-0. But RPI came fighting back. Lauren Severson scored twice in a row at the end of the second and beginning of the third to make it a one-goal game. Maddy Peterson tied it up in the final minutes to force overtime. The Engineers three goals came on just 12 shots. But Willoughby scored just 19 seconds into the extra frame to secure the win for Harvard.
