MINNEAPOLIS – Putting together one of the most complete games for the program in years, the Minnesota Golden Gophers won the WCHA Tournament Championship on Saturday, defeating the top-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes 3-1.
The started off evenly matched, with the teams trading possessions and looking for an opening. The Gophers took a 1-0 lead late in the first period on a puck that popped up off OSU goalie Amanda Thiele and then fell back and trickled into the net.
On the closing play of the first, Ohio State’s Jenn Gardiner took umbrage to some contact from Minnesota’s Abbey Murphy. She pushed Murphy in the face mask and was given a penalty that upon review was upgraded to five minute major for contact to the head.
The Buckeyes were absolutely stellar on the ensuing penalty kill to start the second period. Minnesota never really got set up as Ohio State pressured them in the neutral zone and sent the Gophers back behind their net to regroup over and over again. While such a big kill would normally provide a boost to a team, OSU coach Nadine Muzerall said it left her team exhausted and they weren’t able to recapture what they had been building in the first period.
“I think in the second period, having a five-minute major, that hurt our momentum—even though I think it was a brilliant penalty kill,” Muzerall said.
The Gophers extended their lead in the second on the power play with a goal from Murphy to make it 2-0, but Minnesota coach Brad Frost said there was no point in the game where he thought his team’s lead was secure.
Ohio State narrowed the lead to 2-1 when Gabby Rosenthal buried the rebound after Makenna Webster’s shot on the breakaway was saved. That seemed like it might be a turning point for the Buckeyes, but it was not meant to be. Minnesota squashed any hope of building on that goal when Peyton Hemp’s shot got through Amanda Thiele 62 seconds later and made it a 3-1 game.
In last year’s WCHA Championship, these two teams were in the same situation heading into the final frame – Minnesota was up by two goals. In 2022, the Buckeyes staged a comeback and won in overtime.
“One of the things I admire about [Muzerall] and her team is that they are never out of the fight—ever,” Frost said. “They keep coming at you, and so we knew they were going to have a good [third] period. We made it a point to say, if you want to try to knock off the defending champs, you have to raise your game to another level—and they did.”
The Gophers were relentless, putting pressure on Ohio State in every part of the ice. They blocked shots, they held onto the puck, they engineered a number of odd-skater rushes. Minnesota made pests of themselves to keep the Buckeyes from ever getting a chance to build anything or mount a comeback.
Frost said he thought his team needed the confidence of beating Wisconsin in the semifinal to remember what kind of team they’re capable of being. That win was a catalyst for the performance they put on Saturday afternoon.
“I’m super excited for our group. This team obviously has a lot of talent, but I think you saw this weekend, in particular tonight, the heart and the passion and the care that they play with. It was just so fun to watch and really fun to coach and be a part of. It was a group effort,” Frost said.
Despite the loss, Ohio State is the top seed heading into the NCAA tournament. Minnesota moved up to second in the Pairwise. Both teams will host a regional next weekend. They will find out their opponents Sunday at 12 pm Eastern during the NCAA Selection Show on ESPNews.
