University of Minnesota Athletics
Sunday, March 6
1:00 PM
University of Minnesota
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vs
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Ohio State
Photo by: Eric Miller
Gophers Fall in WCHA Final Faceoff Thriller
3/6/2022 4:25:00 PM | Women's Hockey
Minnesota suffered its first defeat on home ice since Jan. 15 with a 3-2 overtime defeat in the 2022 WCHA Final Faceoff title game.
MINNEAPOLIS – The No. 1 Golden Gopher women's hockey team came just short of sweeping the WCHA conference with a 3-2 overtime defeat on Sunday afternoon at Ridder Arena.
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Minnesota (29-8-1) and Ohio State (29-6-0) battled for the first 20 minutes with no team finding the opening goal. It took another seven minutes and change into the middle frame before the deadlock was eventually broken by senior forward Abigail Boreen. Boreen's third goal of the postseason was followed up by All-WCHA Rookie Team member Ella Huber's first career postseason tally. Ohio State stormed back in the third, scoring two goals in the first 11 minutes to tie the game. A late minor penalty came back to bite the Gophers in overtime as tournament MVP Sophie Jacques tallied her second goal of the game just 23 seconds into the extra period.Â
Lauren Bench stopped 26 shots in an excellent performance for Minnesota. Buckeyes netminder Amanda Thiele stopped 32 of 33 shots to earn the victory.
QuotableÂ
"What a hockey game," said head coach Brad Frost. "I sure hope the fans were entertained. It was a pretty fun game to be a part of. We're obviously not super excited about the result, but had chances both ways. Both teams played really well and that's what you would expect from the best league and two of the top teams in the country. We'll learn from it and fortunately we're playing next week, so we're excited about that."
On playing with an edge following a loss…
"I think most teams do, but that's our group this year and we love them and how they play."
Notable
Forward Abigail Boreen and defender Madeline Wethington were named to the 2022 WCHA Final Faceoff All-Tournament Team.
Up Next
The Gophers await their seed in the NCAA tournament. The bracket selection show takes place tonight at 8:00 pm CT on ESPNews.
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Minnesota (29-8-1) and Ohio State (29-6-0) battled for the first 20 minutes with no team finding the opening goal. It took another seven minutes and change into the middle frame before the deadlock was eventually broken by senior forward Abigail Boreen. Boreen's third goal of the postseason was followed up by All-WCHA Rookie Team member Ella Huber's first career postseason tally. Ohio State stormed back in the third, scoring two goals in the first 11 minutes to tie the game. A late minor penalty came back to bite the Gophers in overtime as tournament MVP Sophie Jacques tallied her second goal of the game just 23 seconds into the extra period.Â
Lauren Bench stopped 26 shots in an excellent performance for Minnesota. Buckeyes netminder Amanda Thiele stopped 32 of 33 shots to earn the victory.
QuotableÂ
"What a hockey game," said head coach Brad Frost. "I sure hope the fans were entertained. It was a pretty fun game to be a part of. We're obviously not super excited about the result, but had chances both ways. Both teams played really well and that's what you would expect from the best league and two of the top teams in the country. We'll learn from it and fortunately we're playing next week, so we're excited about that."
On playing with an edge following a loss…
"I think most teams do, but that's our group this year and we love them and how they play."
Notable
Forward Abigail Boreen and defender Madeline Wethington were named to the 2022 WCHA Final Faceoff All-Tournament Team.
Up Next
The Gophers await their seed in the NCAA tournament. The bracket selection show takes place tonight at 8:00 pm CT on ESPNews.
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Players Mentioned
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