MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - Five different seniors scored goals and senior Lauren Bench made 21 saves as the WCHA Regular Season Champion Golden Gophers advanced to the WCHA Final Faceoff championship game with a 5-1 semifinal win over No. 4 seed University of Minnesota Duluth at Ridder Arena on Saturday afternoon.
The University of Minnesota (29-7-1) is in search of the program's eighth WCHA postseason title and awaits the winner of Saturday's second semifinal between the No. 2 seed Ohio State University (27-6-0) and the No. 3 seed University of Wisconsin (25-6-4). Meanwhile, Minnesota Duluth (24-11-1) made its fourth-straight appearance in the WCHA semifinals.
"I'm really proud of our group. I thought it was a pretty thorough performance tonight," Minnesota head coach Brad Frost said. "When you get into the playoffs, you have to play 60 minutes of hockey, and I thought our team did a great job of that. Obviously their first line in particular is really dangerous. We left Giguere alone for a second, and she got one there, but overall I thought our team did a nice job of playing our brand of hockey for 60 minutes and got rewarded with a win here tonight."
Minnesota seniors Catie Skaja, Crystalyn Hengler, Taylor Heise, Abigail Boreen, and Emily Brown each lit the lamp for the Gophers while Minnesota Duluth received its lone goal from senior Elizabeth Giguere and got 34 saves from sophomore goaltender Jojo Chobak.
"Obviously that was not the game we wanted to play today," University of Minnesota Duluth head coach Maura Crowell said. "A lot of their goals just came at really opportune times for them and were tough to overcome, but I really liked the way we came at them a little bit more in the second and came at them even more in the third. When we got that first goal, I think we were all confident we were going to be able to push and make it a game.
"Our belief is there. Credit the Gophers for playing a good game. We know we can play better. I think we all know that in our locker room, and hopefully we show that in the next week."
Minnesota got out to a fast start, getting on the board in the game's opening minute when Skaja buried a feed from All-WCHA honorees Boreen and Brown at the 51-second mark. Her shot from the right faceoff dot snuck past Chobak to give the Gophers an early lead.
"A fast start from the drop of the puck is huge for us," Skaja said. "We haven't really had that the last few games, so I think being able to get a goal or get opportunities early builds confidence throughout the whole lineup and allows us to play free and have some fun."
Hengler doubled the Gophers' lead with just 12.6 seconds remaining in the opening period when she fired a shot from the blue line through traffic past Chobak.
The Bulldogs came out hard in period two, and senior Lizi Norton got through on a breakaway in the opening two minutes but put her shot wide. Less than two minutes later, Boreen extended Minnesota's lead to three when she one-timed a feed from junior defense Madeline Wethington at the 3:18 mark of the middle frame.
Heise, the 2022 WCHA Player of the Year and a Patty Kazmaier Award Top-10 Finalist, then gave Minnesota a 4-0 lead just 14 seconds into the third period. Wethington picked up the assist on the play.
"You want to get out to as quick of a start as you can," Frost said. "You can play really, really well and not score but gain some momentum and traction off that, but obviously scoring on the first shift was huge. To go from two to three before they can get to one-we don't talk about that and say that the next goal's a big one. Everybody knows the next goal is a big one. As soon as you get to three before they get to one, you know this is good. Then obviously we got to four before they got to one. Some big goals there."
The Bulldogs did not surrender without a fight. UMD spoiled Minnesota's shutout with a goal off the stick of Giguere, a WCHA Second Team honoree and Patty Kazmaier Award Top-10 Finalist, at the 3:55 mark of the third period to make it 4-1.
Looking to overcome the three-goal deficit, Minnesota Duluth pulled Chobak for the extra skater with 3:17 remaining, but Brown, an All-WCHA Third Team honoree, sealed the win for the Gophers with an empty net goal with 2:44 remaining.
For the game, Brown, Skaja, Boreen, and Wethington led the way with two points each. Minnesota had the advantage in shots on goal, outshooting the Bulldogs 39-22. Both teams were 0-for-1 on the power play.
Saturday's second semifinal pits No. 2 seed Ohio State against No. 3 seed Wisconsin, and the winner will face Minnesota in Sunday's WCHA Championship game. Puck drop is scheduled for 1:01 p.m. CT at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis.
The winner of the 2022 WCHA Final Faceoff will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Women's Ice Hockey Championship.
For more information on the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, follow the league on Twitter and Instagram @WCHA_WHockey, and online at wcha.com.