University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Ohio State
Players Mentioned
Six Unanswered Scores Send Gophers to WCHA Final Faceoff Championship
3/7/2025 10:06:00 PM | Women's Hockey
DULUTH, Minn. - The fourth-ranked and third-seeded Golden Gopher women's hockey team (28-10-1, 19-8-1 WCHA) will look to win their second WCHA Final Faceoff Championship in three years after taking down second-ranked and second-seeded Ohio State (27-7-3, 19-6-3 WCHA) 6-2 in the semifinals on Friday.
The Maroon & Gold are set to matchup against defending champions Wisconsin for the tournament title, after the Badgers topped No. 6 Minnesota Duluth 3-1 earlier in the day. Minnesota and Wisconsin have faced off in the WCHA Postseason championship nine times, most recently in 2019, with the Badgers winning six of those contests.
The Gophers had to mount an early comeback in their semifinal matchup, as Ohio State struck twice within the game's first ten minutes. Jocelyn Amos sent the puck to the back of the Minnesota net at the 2:04 mark, before Joy Dunne brought the Buckeye lead to two near the midpoint of the opening period.
The Gophers' scoring spree began around six minutes before first intermission. On Minnesota's second power play of the day, Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award Finalist Abbey Murphy tallied her 30th goal of the season and 100th of her career, assisted by Sydney Morrow, to get the Gophers on the board. Murphy became the seventh player in program history to reach the century mark in career goals. Four minutes later, on another Minnesota power play, Ella Huber brought the game even with her 15th goal and 45th point of the season, assisted by Murphy and Chloe Primerano. The game remained 2-2 at the first break.
Audrey Wethington's fifth goal of the season gave Minnesota the lead 7:51 into the second period, assisted by Natalie Mlynkova. Four minutes later, Ava Lindsay doubled the Gophers' goal advantage with her eighth score of the season, assisted by Peyton Hemp and Maggie Nicholson. Minnesota led 4-2 heading into the final intermission.
The Gophers killed off a crucial five-on-three Buckeye power play opportunity at the beginning of the third period, before ultimately putting the game out of reach with two additional scores. Abbey Murphy notched her second goal of the day, assisted by Huber and Josefin Bouveng, at the 8:21 mark, before Chloe Primerano netted an empty-net goal with under four minutes to play. The 'U' secured its 19th WCHA Final Faceoff Championship berth by a final score of 6-2.
Freshman goaltender Hannah Clark continued her string of standout postseason performances, making 22 saves and recording a .917 save percentage in her 24th collegiate victory between the pipes.
Quotable:
"Very, very happy that we're moving on," said head coach Brad Frost. "Really proud of our group, especially after getting down two goals there early, to fight back the way that we did. The power play was buzzing there to get us back into [the game], and then to get that two-goal lead there in the second [period] to get going into the third was huge. A huge penalty kill there, five-on-three when the game was still in doubt, and just some really, really good, smart and hard hockey by our team. Angling with our feet, taking away [Ohio State's] time and space, making them go 200 feet. Really proud of our group and excited for the opportunity to win a championship tomorrow."
Notable:
- Abbey Murphy's 101 career goals rank seventh-most in program history. She is also only the seventh Gopher player ever to reach the 100-goal mark.
- Abbey Murphy is just one goal away from tying Natalie Darwitz' career mark of 102, the sixth-most in school history.
- Abbey Murphy scored her 30th and 31st goals of the season.
- Abbey Murphy recorded her 20th multi-point game of the season.
- Abbey Murphy has recorded multiple points in each of the Gophers' four postseason games so far.
- Ella Huber tallied her 15th goal and 45th point of the season.
- Ella Huber recorded her 15th multi-point game of the season.
- Audrey Wethington's 171 game appearances are fourth-most in program history.
- Audrey Wethington recorded her fifth goal of the season, 21st goal of her career, and seventh game-winning goal of her career.
- Emma Kreisz tallied her 20th point of the season and the 45th point of her career.
- Ohio State led 24-21 in shots on goal.
- Minnesota will seek to earn its ninth WCHA Postseason title in the program's 19th championship game appearance.
- The Gophers hold a 3-6 record against the Badgers in the WCHA Final Faceoff Championship games.
- The Gophers last appeared in the WCHA Final Faceoff Championship on Mar. 4, 2023, defeating Ohio State 3-1 at Ridder Arena.
Up Next:
Tomorrow, the Gophers will take on the top-ranked and top-seeded Wisconsin Badgers in the 2025 WCHA Final Faceoff Championship. Puck drop at AMSOIL Arena is set for 2:00 p.m. CT.