Maryanne Menefee, Megan Wolfe, and Dani Cameranesi all had a goal and an assist in Minnesota’s 4-2 win at Bemidji State.
The Gophers (29-2-4, 22-2-4-2 WCHA) also got a goal from Meghan Lorence, the 100th point of her career.
“It meant a lot,” Lorence said. “It was a milestone in the road that I was looking to get for a while, but it was a good team effort today.”
BSU (18-15-1, 13-14-1-1 WCHA) countered with tallies from Kristine Grenier and Kristin Huber.
“Give Minnesota credit,” Beavers coach Jim Scanlan said. “They seem to be able to crank it up when they need to. I thought their second period they came out and took control again, just with their ability to play in our zone. They found ways to get pucks to the net.”
Minnesota took a 2-1 edge in the second period on a shot from the point by Wolfe and a power-play tally by Lorence, and Menefee increased the margin to 3-1 a minute plus into the final frame despite the sprawling efforts of Beavers goalie Brittni Mowat.
Huber got her team back into the game with an unassisted goal at 6:06, picking up the puck along the end wall and walking in front unopposed. Bemidji State had seven minutes of power-play time in the third period to look for an equalizer, its first opportunities with the advantage in the series.
“We just weren’t used to it, I guess, but we should be this far along in the season,” Grenier said. “We should have capitalized on it. The bounces just didn’t go our way during the power play. We got some looks, and that’s just the way it goes this time.”
Cameranesi hit an empty net seconds after Mowat left for an extra attacker.
Grenier gave Bemidji State an early lead two minutes into her Senior Day, cashing in a second-chance opportunity from the low slot.
“My two linemates, Hanna [Moher] and Summer [Thibodeau], did all the work for that goal,” Grenier said. “I just had to pop it in, but it was an awesome feeling.”
The game stayed 1-0 for more than 25 minutes until Wolfe got Minnesota going.
“You hope you can build on it; that’s the key,” Scanlan said. “For us to go from one to two against this team would have been huge, but we could just never do it.”
The Gophers had a 15-5 edge in shots in the second period.
“I thought we made some good adjustments there in the second, but I thought the biggest adjustment was our players started moving their feet a little more,” coach Brad Frost said.
Freshman Sidney Peters made 19 saves to earn her fifth win at Minnesota.
“Regular season is done,” Frost said. “Super excited with how everything finished up and how we played, and now it’s on to the second season.”
Top-seeded Minnesota will host Minnesota State in a WCHA quarterfinal series next weekend, while Bemidji State will be traveling to either Duluth or North Dakota, depending on the results of the Ohio State at Minnesota-Duluth game on Sunday.
“Happy with our effort; I like the way we’re playing,” Scanlan said. “Regardless of where we go next weekend, whoever we play is going to know they’re in a battle.”
