Friday's action in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association saw No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Minnesota, Minnesota State, and St. Thomas earn series-opening victories.
RV St. Thomas 3, RV St. Cloud State OT | BOX SCORE | St. Cloud State Recap | St. Thomas Recap
- St. Thomas defeated St. Cloud State to earn its 11th win of the season; the 11 wins mark the most in program history for St. Thomas since making the move to Division I.
- JuliAnna Gazdik put St. Thomas up 1-0 with less minute left in the first frame; St. Cloud State's Maria Mikaelyan scored the equalizer at the 9:17 mark of the second period before Raili Mustonen gave the Huskies the lead at the 14:26 mark of the third; Gazdik scored again with less than two minutes to go and sent the game to overtime; Rylee Bartz scored just under three minutes into the extra period for the win.
- Gazdik recorded her first two-goal performance of the season while Bartz tallied her fourth game-winning goal of the season
- Mikaelyan's goal was the 10th of her rookie season; St. Cloud State netminder JoJo Chobak posted 32+ saves for the eighth time this season and fourth consecutive game.
No. 2 Ohio State 6, No. 9 Minnesota Duluth 2 | BOX SCORE | Ohio State Recap | Minnesota Duluth Recap
- The second-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes opened the series against No. 9 Minnesota Duluth with a 6-2 victory; the Buckeyes extended their win streak to nine straight games.
- Ohio State exploded for four first-period goals, courtesy of Jocelyn Amos, Sloane Matthews, Jordan Baxter, and Kassidy Carmichael; UMD’s Grace Sadura put the Bulldogs on the board at the 11:28 mark of the second, but Ohio State’s Amos responded four minutes later; Amos then opened the third with her third of the game before Rae Mayer made it 6-2 for UMD.
- Amos recorded the first hat trick of her career in the win; Buckeye netminder Hailey MacLeod improved to 14-2-0 on the year as she recorded 32 saves.
- Sadura, Mayer, Kate Kosobud, and Madie Burr each registered a point in the loss for UMD.
No. 3 Minnesota 3, No. 1 Wisconsin 2 | BOX SCORE | Wisconsin Recap | Minnesota Recap
- An overtime goal from Molly Jordan helped No. 3 Minnesota record an upset over No. 1 Wisconsin, as this marked the second time this season the Gophers upset the Badgers; the Gophers are now on an 11-game win streak.
- Sydney Morrow lit the lamp early for Minnesota, scoring at the 3:47 mark of the opening frame; Wisconsin’s Lacey Eden tied the game at the 14:28 mark of the second before teammate Cassie Hall gave the Badgers their first lead a minute later, but was not enough as Avery Hovland tied the game for the Gophers at the 9:27 mark of the third sending the game to overtime where Jordan netted the game-winning goal at the 1:17 mark of the extra period.
- Minnesota's Jordan scored her first game-winning goal of the season with the overtime goal, while netminder Hannah Clark recorded 25 saves in the win.
- Wisconsin rookie goaltender Rhyah Stewart made her first career conference start and recorded 24 saves despite the loss for the Badgers.
No. 14 Minnesota State 3, Bemidji State 0 | BOX SCORE | Minnesota State Recap
- The 14th-ranked Minnesota State Mavericks shut out Bemidji State 3-0 on the road for their 12th win of the season and seventh shutout on the year.
- Ava Guillemette netted a goal just over five minutes into the first period to give Minnesota State the early lead; after a scoreless second period, Lauren Zawoyski put the Mavericks up 2-0 at the 6:12 mark of the third period, while teammate Mercury Bischoff added in a goal of her own for the 3-0 Mavericks win.
- Hailey Hansen recorded her sixth shutout of the season for the Mavericks while stopping all 17 shots she faced in the win.
- Tonight’s contest marked the 100th career game for Bemidji State’s Hailey Armstrong and Kate Johnson; Ava Hills recorded 38 saves for the Beavers despite the loss.
*Rankings based on USCHO Division I Women's Poll
Saturday, Jan 31
RV St. Cloud State at RV St. Thomas - 2 PM CT
No. 1 Wisconsin at No. 3 Minnesota - 2 PM CT
No. 9 Minnesota Duluth at No. 2 Ohio State - 2 PM CT
No. 14 Minnesota State vs Bemidji State - 4 PM CT - Grand Rapids, Minn. / Yanmar Arena
For more information on the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, follow the league on X and Instagram @WCHA_WHockey, and online at wcha.com.