University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
25-7-5
Minnesota Duluth
25-5-5
Gophers Fall to UMD in 2OT
3/4/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Hockey
MINNEAPOLIS - The No. 2 seed Golden Gopher women's hockey team battled No. 3 seed Minnesota Duluth in the longest WCHA Final Face-Off game in league history but ultimately fell 2-1 in double overtime in front of 2,533 fans in the semifinal round at Ridder Arena Saturday evening.
Minnesota Duluth (25-5-5) used a goal by Lara Stalder to end the game after over 91 minutes of play. Stalder scored the game-winner at the 11:29 mark of the second overtime to secure UMD's spot in Sunday's WCHA title game, which pits the Bulldogs against top-seeded Wisconsin.
Regulation ended in a 1-1 tie behind a pair of second-period goals. Katerina Mrazova put UMD on the board first, but Sarah Potomak responded for the Gophers to tie the game just 1:07 later.
Maddie Rooney finished with 62 saves for the Bulldogs while Sidney Peters made 39 for Minnesota. The Gophers outshot the Bulldogs, 63-41, for the game, which lasted 91:29. At the end of regulation, Minnesota led 38-27 in shots on goal.
"Well what a hockey game," head coach Brad Frost said. "Certainly, we wish we were on the other end of it, but I told our players to keep their heads high. We had chances. There was no question, Sidney Peters played great in net for us, in particular that big save in the first overtime. Three breakaways in that first overtime, outshooting them 20 to 8 in the first overtime, over 100 some odd attempts here tonight.
"I'm really proud of our kids, sometimes you win games the wrong way and lose games the right way-certainly we wish we didn't lose, but we did things right. Tonight, the big scoreboard at the end of the game said that we lost, but for us we'll learn from it and hopefully move on and play next weekend."
The teams played a scoreless first period but the Gophers had the advantage, outshooting the Bulldogs 17-6 in the opening frame. Megan Wolfe had a solid scoring opportunity for the Gophers when she intercepted a UMD pass at center ice and split the Bulldog defensemen to sneak through on a breakaway, but Rooney made the save.
UMD got on the board first with a power-play goal at the 12:15 mark of the second period. Mrazova backhanded a shot past Peters on her glove side with Ashleigh Brykaliuk and Stalder picking up assists on the play.
Minnesota (25-7-5) responded just 1:07 later with an unassisted tally by Potomak, who intercepted a Bulldog pass in the Gophers' end, carried the puck the entire length of the ice, and ripped a shot past Rooney to even the score at 1-1 with 6:38 to go in the middle frame.
The third period and first overtime saw the teams continue to exchange opportunities but neither goaltender wavered. The Gophers outshot the Bulldogs, 12-11, over the final 20 minutes of regulation and then 20-8 in the first overtime. Peters made one of several highlight-reel saves five minutes into the first overtime on a shot by Katherine McGovern.
"It's kind of a though pill to swallow, but I'm really proud of our team and the way we played," Potomak said. "We never gave up and we stuck together and battled right until the end. So, we are not going to dwell on it, we are just going to move forward and do the best we can, hopefully next weekend."
Stalder ended the game with her 23rd goal of the season in the second overtime period. The play was ruled a goal on the ice but was not without a lengthy review to look at a potential high stick on the play.
Minnesota went 0-for-4 on the power play, and UMD was 1-for-2 with the man advantage. No penalties were called during the overtime periods.
The Gophers enjoyed the return of senior Dani Cameranesi, who missed 17 of the team's last 19 games due to injury. Cameranesi tied a Minnesota program record with 14 shots on goal in the game.
"I'm feeling great," Cameranesi said. "I was actually just joking, saying I missed too many games so they wanted to throw two at me right away. It was a lot of fun battling out there, and being back on the ice with my family feels really great."
Top-seeded Wisconsin (30-2-4) defeated No. 4 seed North Dakota (16-16-6) by a score of 2-1 in Saturday's first semifinal, and the Badgers and Bulldogs will face off for the 2017 WCHA Final Face-Off championship at 2:07 p.m. CT Sunday.
Conference tournament action across the country concludes Sunday, and the NCAA tournament field will be announced Sunday night.
"I think we are in; we are hoping that we are in, but until everything rolls out tomorrow we're not sure," Frost said. "I would imagine that if we are outside the top four, which I would think we would be, we would head back up to Duluth."
The Gophers will learn their NCAA postseason fate during the selection show, slated to air live on NCAA.com at 8 p.m. CT Sunday night.
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