University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
24-7-5, 18-6-4WCHA
Minnesota State
7-22-5, 5-18-5WCHA
West Nets Game-Winner in Triple OT
2/28/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Hockey
It took 3 hours and 47 minutes of competition, but Emily West scored the game-winning goal at 1:16 in triple overtime to defeat the Minnesota State University, Mankato Mavericks, tonight at Ridder Arena. With the win, the Golden Gophers (24-7-5 overall record) advance to the WCHA FINAL FACEOFF next weekend. The Gophers will play in either the noon or the 3 p.m. game next weekend once all first-round games have been decided. The Gophers will also await their next opponent as the WCHA re-seeds the tournament if needed.
The game marked the longest in school history at 3:47. Starting at 4:07 p.m., the Gophers and Mavericks played until West's game-winner at 7:54 p.m. It was also the longest game in MSU's history as well. West's goal was her 20th of the season, while Anne Schleper assisted on the play.
The Mavericks got on the board early when Jenna Hewitt scored at 5:22 in the first period with a single assist to Lauren Smith. Megan Bozek responded when she one-timed the puck at 11:15 to knot the game at 1-1. Sarah Erickson won the faceoff and dropped it back to Anne Schleper at the right point and found Bozek in the left circle as she ripped off a shot.
Brittany Francis scored a power-play goal at 2:31 in front of the net with the assists from Bozek and Schleper. MSU tied the game at 12:29 in the second when Moira O'Conner scored her first goal of the game. Kelli Blankenship helped the Gophers regain the lead at 19:41 in the second. Blankenship beat the defender and placed the puck over MSU goalie Alli Altmann's left should to give the Gophers a 3-2 lead.
However, O'Conner netted her second goal of the game at 2:47 in the third period with the assists to Smith and Kathleen Rosso. The goal would send it to overtime. With the game being a part of the WCHA playoffs, both teams returned to their locker rooms and the ice re-surfaced to set a 20-minute overtime.
In the first overtime, Minnesota and MSU each held seven shots on goal. The Gophers attempted 16 total shots, including six that went wide and three blocked. MSU had seven total, all of which found the net. Following the first overtime, another trip to the locker rooms and as the staff re-surfaced the ice to start another 20 minutes of play. In the second overtime, the Gophers again, had the most attempted shots, but only five found the net, while MSU had nine on goal. Both teams in the second OT were being to show their exhaustion as they were throwing shots at the net. MSU's Holly Synder threw the puck at center ice and it fluttered all the way to Minnesota's goalie Noora Räty as she stopped the puck.
After another 15-minute intermission and re-surfacing, the Gophers started their third overtime. Anne Schleper attempted a shot from the right point and was blocked. The puck found the far board as West picked up the loose puck and skated through the left circle and placed the game-winner over Altmann's right pad for the win.
The game-winner marked West's ninth game-winning goal of the season. She leads Division I with the most game-winning goals this season.
Anne Schleper tied a career-high night when she assisted on all four goals. Räty also held a career-high night as she stopped 41 of 44 shots. Her previous best came against Harvard (12/5) and Wisconsin (10/30) when she had 39 saves.
