University of Minnesota Athletics
Saturday, February 23
Bemidji, MN
3:07 PM
University of Minnesota
29-4-1 (19-4-1WCHA
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Bemidji State
13-19-2 (10-12-2WCHA
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Minnesota
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Bemidji State
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Photo by: Brad Rempel
Gophers Win WCHA Regular-Season Title
2/23/2019 7:16:00 PM | Women's Hockey
Minnesota defeated Bemidji State 4-3 to close out the regular season with a win and earn the program's 10th WCHA regular-season title.
BEMIDJI, Minn. – The Golden Gopher women's hockey team used a 4-3 win on the road at Bemidji State to wrap up the regular season as WCHA champions on Saturday. Minnesota's win coupled with a Wisconsin tie secured the outright regular-season conference title, conference tournament number one seed, and WCHA First Round bye for the Maroon & Gold.
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"We gutted out a win here tonight," head coach Brad Frost said. "I'm just so excited for our team and our program to be WCHA regular-season champions. It was a battle to the end, but our team fought and clawed and did what they needed to do, showed great grit and character. Credit Bemidji for making it really close there at the end – they're just such a good team and so well-coached."
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Minnesota (29-4-1, 19-4-1-0 WCHA) held a 4-1 lead midway through the third period, having scored four consecutive goals after surrendering the first goal of the game. Bemidji State (13-19-2, 10-12-2-0 WCHA) cut the lead to two with 11:41 remaining and then one with less than two minutes to play, but the Gophers held on for the win.
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Grace Zumwinkle, Emily Oden, Taylor Heise, and Amy Potomak scored goals for the Maroon & Gold, and Patti Marshall led all players with three assists. Sydney Scobee made 25 saves on 28 shots faced for the Gophers.
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The Beavers were led by Abby Halluska's two-goal effort and got 23 saves from Kerigan Dowhy. BSU had a 28-27 advantage in shots on goal for the game.
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As the Gophers closed out the 4-3 win, Wisconsin and Ohio State headed to overtime tied 2-2; Minnesota needed to score more conference points than the Badgers on the final day of the regular season to secure the conference title outright. The Buckeyes defeated the Badgers in a shootout to wrap up the regular season and take four points from Wisconsin on the weekend.
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Minnesota's WCHA title marked the 10th regular-season conference title in program history and the Gophers' first since the 2014-15 season.
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"I think this championship is one of the hardest to win because it's a battle of attrition and it's over the long haul," Frost said. "To be as consistent as our team was this year, and to win the WCHA championship, we're ecstatic and looking forward to getting into playoffs."
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As WCHA champions, the Gophers receive the conference tournament number one seed and a first-round bye straight to the WCHA Final Faceoff, which will be held at Ridder Arena, Saturday, March 9 and Sunday, March 10. Tickets are on sale now.
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The league's other six teams will vie to join the Gophers by winning a best-of-three WCHA First Round series, held at the home sites of the No. 2-4 seeds the weekend of March 1-3. No. 7 seed St. Cloud State travels to No. 2 seed Wisconsin, No. 6 seed Minnesota State travels to No. 3 seed Ohio State, and No. 5 seed Bemidji State travels to No. 4 seed Minnesota Duluth in the three first-round series.
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The winner of the 2019 WCHA Final Faceoff receives the league's automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.
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"We gutted out a win here tonight," head coach Brad Frost said. "I'm just so excited for our team and our program to be WCHA regular-season champions. It was a battle to the end, but our team fought and clawed and did what they needed to do, showed great grit and character. Credit Bemidji for making it really close there at the end – they're just such a good team and so well-coached."
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Minnesota (29-4-1, 19-4-1-0 WCHA) held a 4-1 lead midway through the third period, having scored four consecutive goals after surrendering the first goal of the game. Bemidji State (13-19-2, 10-12-2-0 WCHA) cut the lead to two with 11:41 remaining and then one with less than two minutes to play, but the Gophers held on for the win.
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Grace Zumwinkle, Emily Oden, Taylor Heise, and Amy Potomak scored goals for the Maroon & Gold, and Patti Marshall led all players with three assists. Sydney Scobee made 25 saves on 28 shots faced for the Gophers.
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The Beavers were led by Abby Halluska's two-goal effort and got 23 saves from Kerigan Dowhy. BSU had a 28-27 advantage in shots on goal for the game.
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As the Gophers closed out the 4-3 win, Wisconsin and Ohio State headed to overtime tied 2-2; Minnesota needed to score more conference points than the Badgers on the final day of the regular season to secure the conference title outright. The Buckeyes defeated the Badgers in a shootout to wrap up the regular season and take four points from Wisconsin on the weekend.
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Minnesota's WCHA title marked the 10th regular-season conference title in program history and the Gophers' first since the 2014-15 season.
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"I think this championship is one of the hardest to win because it's a battle of attrition and it's over the long haul," Frost said. "To be as consistent as our team was this year, and to win the WCHA championship, we're ecstatic and looking forward to getting into playoffs."
Â
As WCHA champions, the Gophers receive the conference tournament number one seed and a first-round bye straight to the WCHA Final Faceoff, which will be held at Ridder Arena, Saturday, March 9 and Sunday, March 10. Tickets are on sale now.
Â
The league's other six teams will vie to join the Gophers by winning a best-of-three WCHA First Round series, held at the home sites of the No. 2-4 seeds the weekend of March 1-3. No. 7 seed St. Cloud State travels to No. 2 seed Wisconsin, No. 6 seed Minnesota State travels to No. 3 seed Ohio State, and No. 5 seed Bemidji State travels to No. 4 seed Minnesota Duluth in the three first-round series.
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The winner of the 2019 WCHA Final Faceoff receives the league's automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.
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Team Stats
MINN
BSU
Shots
27
28
PPG
0
0
SHG
0
0
Penalties
1
1
Penalty Mins
2
2
Faceoffs Won
23
27
Game Leaders
+/-
+3
Goals
0
Sh
1
A
3
+/-
0
Goals
1
Sh
6
A
0
+/-
+1
Goals
1
Sh
4
A
0
+/-
0
Goals
1
Sh
3
A
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's HockeyD
/ Women's HockeyF
/ Women's HockeyF
/ Women's Hockey
G
/ Women's Hockey
F
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