A 25-save shutout by Amanda Leveille, supported by junior Dani Cameranesi’s second hat trick of the season, advanced Minnesota over Ohio State with a 5-0 victory and a series sweep.
“Always feels pretty good, but obviously, it’s a team game, and I definitely didn’t do any of that by myself,” Cameranesi said. “I was able to be set up a lot by my other teammates.”
Cameranesi added a helper for the Gophers (31-3-1, 24-3-1 WCHA), who got solo goals from juniors Lee Stecklein and Kate Schipper, with the latter adding two assists.
“That line with Schipper, Kelly Pannek, and Dani is really causing problems for other teams,” coach Brad Frost said.
This weekend, it was Ohio State (10-25-1, 6-21-1 WCHA), which yielded a total of seven goals to the trio, including four by Cameranesi.
“I think we have a lot of tenacity on our line,” Cameranesi said. “Don’t try to be too pretty. Just a really nitty-gritty line, and I think we’ve been working really well together.”
The defeat ends the debut season for coach Jenny Potter and the Buckeyes. OSU goaltender Alex LaMere matched Leveille’s 25 saves, including 11 in the first period. However, the Gophers pulled away with a three-goal second period, capped by Cameranesi completing her hat trick when she deflected in a Sydney Baldwin shot on a power play at 17:15.
The Buckeyes’ best chances to fashion a different result came early, but Leveille held them off.
“She played really, really well, in particular in the first [period],” Frost said. “We gave up, I think, five two-on-ones; it was just ridiculous. We shouldn’t be giving that up in a weekend, let alone in one period.”
Minnesota faces North Dakota in a WCHA semifinal on Saturday.
