University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Ohio State
May's 2OT Goal Advances Team to Championships
3/7/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Hockey
Laura May scored the game-winning goal at 3:31 in double overtime to help the No. 3 University of Minnesota women's hockey team to a 5-4 win, this afternoon at Ridder Arena. With the victory, the Golden Gophers (25-7-5) advance to the WCHA Championship game, set for tomorrow at noon. The Gophers will take on Minnesota Duluth (17-15-5) after the Bulldogs defeated Bemidji State, 7-3 earlier today.
OSU's Brittany Carlson put the Buckeyes up, 1-0 when she used a screen in front of Gopher goalie Noora Raty from Hokey Langan at 6:35 in the first. The two teams would go scoreless for the remainder of the first and most of the second to keep the game at 1-0 in favor of the Buckeyes.
Brittany Francis capitalized on a perfect pass from Megan Bozek at 18:23 in the second period on a power-play attempt. An OSU player tried to clear the puck out of the zone, but Bozek was there to keep it in the zone. She skated from just inside the left side of the blue line and brought the puck deep into the right circle and found Francis at the back door all alone.
A flurry of six goals within 10 minutes of the third period drew the 4-4 tie and the extra stanza. Kelli Blankenship put the Gophers up, 2-1, briefly when she scored at 11:55 in the third from Michelle Maunu and Terra Rasmussen. However, OSU responded with a goal of its own at 12:07 in the third when Raelyn LaRocque put in a rebound to tie the game. Natalie Spooner then put the game at 3-2 when she scored an unassisted, short-handed goal at 16:45. Francis netted her second goal of the game when she scored a five-on-three power-play goal at 17:25 in the third period to tie the game at 3-3. Emily West found Francis in front of the net while Bozek held the second assist.
Anne Schleper put the Gophers up, 4-3 when she went high for a goal at 18:31 in the third. The Gophers committed a penalty, however, to give OSU an extra-person advantage. OSU took a timeout at 19:17 and pulled OSU goalie Chelsea Knapp out of the break to give OSU a six-on-four advantage. The play worked as LaRocque scored her second goal of the period at 19:42 in the third to tie the game at 4-4 and send it into overtime.
Although Minnesota had some chances in the first overtime, the Gophers couldn't find the net. Chelsey Jones had a shot that rang off the pipe as did OSU's Laura McIntosh. In all three players hit the post in the game.
In double overtime, May ended the game at 3:31. Becky Kortum took an initial shot, which Knapp stopped. However, the rebound found its way to Jones at the bottom of the left circle, who was there to use her backhand to get the puck to May. She squared up just below the hash marks and buried the puck for her 12th goal of the season and the game-winning goal.
The WCHA semifinal marks the second-straight game the Gophers have played in an extended length of time. Last Saturday, the Gophers and Minnesota State played in a triple overtime (101:16), while today's game lasted over 83 minutes and a time span of 3:09. It was the Gophers' second-longest in school history after the marathon last Saturday.
Raty was in net for the Golden Gophers. She had nine saves in the first, 11 in the second, seven in the third, seven in the first overtime and one in the second overtime for 35 total saves. She was in net for 83:31 and improves her record to 17-2-4 overall.
