Saturday's action in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) was highlighted by No. 1 Wisconsin, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Minnesota, and Minnesota State earning victories in conference play.
RV Minnesota State 3, RV St. Thomas 0 | BOX SCORE
- Minnesota State picked up its first win in conference play after defeating St. Thomas 3-0 at home to split the series with the Tommies.
- Kamryn Van Batavia scored the game's opening goal and what stood as the game-winning goal for the Mavericks halfway through the second netted; Minnesota State followed it up with a power play goal from Whitney Tuttle and a Zoe Lopez empty net goal.
- Hailey Hansen picked up her third shutout of the season, stopping all 15 shots she faced in the victory.
- St. Thomas stayed strong in the faceoff dots, winning 38 on the day, with five players having won 59% or more of their faceoffs; Julia Minotti stopped 24 of the 26 shots she faced for the Tommies.
No. 3 Minnesota 5, No. 10 St. Cloud State 3 | BOX SCORE | Minnesota Recap
- After a tie game through the first 40 minutes of action, No. 3 Minnesota scored two goals early in the third period to secure its first WCHA series sweep over No. 10 St. Cloud State.
- The Gophers were led by Abbey Murphy, who netted two goals, as she now has 12 on the season and 115 in her career and is tied for second all-time in program history in goals scored for Minnesota.
- Layla Hemp started in goal and made 14 saves for Minnesota before Hannah Clark came on to make nine saves in relief and record the win.
- Maria Mikaelyan recorded a goal and an assist for the Huskies, who saw seven players pick up a point in the game; Emilia Kyrkkö started in net for St. Cloud State, saving 30 shots, while JoJo Chobak also saw time in net and made 13 saves.
No. 2 Ohio State 2, Bemidji State 1 | BOX SCORE
- The second-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes defeated Bemidji State 2-1 to pick up their first sweep of conference play this season, while the Beavers fell to 0-4-0 in conference play after facing the top two teams in the country to open up their conference slate.
- Bemidji State opened the scoring with a power play goal by Hailey Armstrong mid-way through the first before Ohio State tied it up less than two minutes to go in the first, when Emma Peschel bounced one in off a post.
- Hilda Svensson netted what stood as the game-winning goal for the Buckeyes seven and a half minutes into the second period; Svensson also recorded an assist on the first Buckeye goal.
- After making her Beaver debut in the opening game of the series, Ava Hills stopped 50 of the 52 shots she faced in net, ending the game with a 0.962 save percentage.
No. 1 Wisconsin 4, No. 4 Minnesota Duluth 3 | BOX SCORE | Wisconsin Recap | Minnesota Duluth Recap
- The top-ranked Wisconsin Badgers scored two goals in the final 30 seconds of the game to earn the come-from-behind victory over No. 4 Minnesota Duluth and remain undefeated on the season; the Badgers are now on a 25-game win streak at home.
- UMD's Thea Johansson scored the only goal of the first period, but the Badgers responded with two of their own in the second; the Bulldogs scored back-to-back goals to open the third before Wisconsin's Caroline Harvey and Cassie Hall scored two unanswered Badger goals within the final 30 seconds for the win.
- Cassie Hall led the offense for the Badgers after recording two goals, including the game-winning goal with less than ten seconds left to play in the contest.
- Ève Gascon recorded 45 saves in the loss for the Bulldogs, which marked her eighth game of her career with 45 or more saves.
*Rankings based on USCHO Division I Women's Poll
Upcoming Schedule
Sunday, Oct. 12
- No. 4 Minnesota Duluth at No. 1 Wisconsin - 1 PM CT
For more information on the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, follow the league on X and Instagram @WCHA_WHockey, and online at wcha.com.