University of Minnesota Athletics
Saturday, March 6
1:07 PM
University of Minnesota
11-8-1
3
vs
5
Wisconsin
13-3-1
1
2
3
F
Wisconsin
1
2
2
5
Minnesota
0
1
2
3
Photo by: Eric Miller
Gophers Fall in WCHA Semifinal
3/6/2021 4:45:00 PM | Women's Hockey
No. 4 seed Minnesota fell 5-3 to top-seeded Wisconsin in the semifinal round of the WCHA Final Faceoff on Saturday.
MINNEAPOLIS -- The No. 4 seed Golden Gopher women's hockey team dropped a 5-3 decision to top-seeded Wisconsin in semifinal one of the WCHA Final Faceoff on Saturday afternoon at Ridder Arena.
Abbey Murphy, Amy Potomak, and Grace Zumwinkle scored goals for Minnesota (11-8-1) while Emily Brown led the Maroon & Gold with two points on a pair of assists. Makayla Pahl played the first two periods in net for the Gophers, making 12 saves on 15 shots faced, before Lauren Bench made six saves on seven shots in the third period.
The Gophers held Wisconsin (13-3-1) to just 23 shots on goal, outshooting the nation's third-ranked offense 26-23 for the game. Minnesota was scoreless on its lone opportunity on the power play while Wisconsin went 2-for-5 with the skater advantage.
Minnesot trailed 1-0 at the first intermission following a first-period tally by Wisconsin's Sophie Shirley, and the Badgers' Makenna Webster extended the team's lead to two at the 7:12 mark of the second period. However, Murphy answered for the Maroon & Gold just 1:26 later, scoring her eighth of the year at the 8:38 mark of the middle frame. A late power-play goal from Webster put the Badgers up by two at 3-1 at the second intermission.
Potomak made it a one-goal game at 3-2 just 95 seconds into the third period, but Wisconsin's Lacey Eden extended the Badgers' lead back to two. However, Minnesota answered again, this time off the stick of Zumwinkle when she scored her NCAA-leading 17th goal of the season with 4:31 remaining in the middle frame. Curl scored on the power play with just 15 seconds remaining to seal the 5-3 game for the Badgers.
Quotable
"Tough result here tonight, but man I thought our team played well," head coach Brad Frost said. "As a group, we defended well and were on it. I know saying we defended well and giving up five doesn't often times make a whole lot of sense, but I just loved how our team competed. We got down a couple goals a couple times and got it to one and had a ton of momentum, and unfortunately, whether it was being in the box too much or not catching any bounces, the result did not end up the way we wanted it to."
Up Next
Action continues at the WCHA Final Faceoff when No. 2 seed Minnesota Duluth takes on No. 3 seed Ohio State in the second semifinal at 5:07 p.m. CT Saturday evening. The semifinal winners will then meet in the WCHA Final Faceoff championship game at 2:07 p.m. CT Sunday at Ridder Arena. The NCAA Selection Show will air live at NCAA.com at 8 p.m. CT Sunday evening as well.
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Abbey Murphy, Amy Potomak, and Grace Zumwinkle scored goals for Minnesota (11-8-1) while Emily Brown led the Maroon & Gold with two points on a pair of assists. Makayla Pahl played the first two periods in net for the Gophers, making 12 saves on 15 shots faced, before Lauren Bench made six saves on seven shots in the third period.
The Gophers held Wisconsin (13-3-1) to just 23 shots on goal, outshooting the nation's third-ranked offense 26-23 for the game. Minnesota was scoreless on its lone opportunity on the power play while Wisconsin went 2-for-5 with the skater advantage.
Minnesot trailed 1-0 at the first intermission following a first-period tally by Wisconsin's Sophie Shirley, and the Badgers' Makenna Webster extended the team's lead to two at the 7:12 mark of the second period. However, Murphy answered for the Maroon & Gold just 1:26 later, scoring her eighth of the year at the 8:38 mark of the middle frame. A late power-play goal from Webster put the Badgers up by two at 3-1 at the second intermission.
Potomak made it a one-goal game at 3-2 just 95 seconds into the third period, but Wisconsin's Lacey Eden extended the Badgers' lead back to two. However, Minnesota answered again, this time off the stick of Zumwinkle when she scored her NCAA-leading 17th goal of the season with 4:31 remaining in the middle frame. Curl scored on the power play with just 15 seconds remaining to seal the 5-3 game for the Badgers.
Quotable
"Tough result here tonight, but man I thought our team played well," head coach Brad Frost said. "As a group, we defended well and were on it. I know saying we defended well and giving up five doesn't often times make a whole lot of sense, but I just loved how our team competed. We got down a couple goals a couple times and got it to one and had a ton of momentum, and unfortunately, whether it was being in the box too much or not catching any bounces, the result did not end up the way we wanted it to."
Up Next
Action continues at the WCHA Final Faceoff when No. 2 seed Minnesota Duluth takes on No. 3 seed Ohio State in the second semifinal at 5:07 p.m. CT Saturday evening. The semifinal winners will then meet in the WCHA Final Faceoff championship game at 2:07 p.m. CT Sunday at Ridder Arena. The NCAA Selection Show will air live at NCAA.com at 8 p.m. CT Sunday evening as well.
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Team Stats
WIS
MINN
Shots
23
26
PPG
2
0
SHG
0
0
Penalties
1
5
Penalty Mins
2
10
Faceoffs Won
19
37
Game Leaders
Skaters
+/-
+2
Goals
0
Sh
2
A
2
+/-
0
Goals
1
Sh
6
A
0
+/-
+1
Goals
1
Sh
5
A
0
+/-
0
Goals
1
Sh
2
A
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's HockeyD
/ Women's HockeyF
/ Women's Hockey
G
/ Women's HockeyF
/ Women's HockeyF
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