Friday's Western Collegiate Hockey Association action was highlighted by league victories from No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Minnesota, and St. Thomas, while No. 8 Minnesota Duluth and No. 1 Wisconsin battled to a 1-1 draw, with the Bulldogs winning the extra point in the shootout.
No. 3 Minnesota 11, No. 12 Minnesota State 3 | BOX SCORE | Minnesota Recap | Minnesota State Recap
- The third-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers stunned No. 12 Minnesota State with an 11-3 victory in the series opener; this marked the first time the Gophers had scored back-to-back double-digit games since October 15-16, 1999.
- After an early goal from Minnesota State's Makayla Moran in the first period, the Gophers exploded for five straight goals to close out the opening frame; the Mavericks cut the deficit to three early in the second, but was not enough as the Gophers tallied four more in the period; Minnesota's Kendra Distad made it 10-2 just over two minutes into the final frame before Zoe Lopez scored the final goal for the Mavericks; Molly Jordan rounded out the scoring for Minnesota scoring with less than two minutes left.
- Abbey Murphy recorded her second consecutive hat trick and fourth of the season, while teammate Josefin Bouveng extended her point streak to 20 games with her three assists in the win.
- Four different Mavericks registered a point in the loss as Zoe Lopez, Ayla Puppe, and Moran each tallied a goal; Whitney Tuttle assisted on Puppe's goal.
No. 8 Minnesota Duluth 1 (SOW), No. 1 Wisconsin 1 | BOX SCORE | Wisconsin Recap | Minnesota Duluth Recap
- No. 8 Minnesota Duluth and No. 1 Wisconsin battled to a 1-1 draw as the Bulldogs took the extra point in the shootout, with Josie St. Martin being the lone scorer in the shootout for both teams.
- The Bulldogs snapped their seven-game losing streak against Wisconsin, with their last win coming on December 3, 2023, in Madison.
- UMD's Madi Burr started the scoring at the 1:33 mark of the first period with an unassisted goal; Wisconsin's Caroline Harvey answered back with just four seconds remaining in the second period to knot the game at one; after a scoreless third period and overtime, the Bulldogs won the shootout for the extra point.
- Ève Gascon backstopped the Bulldogs, stopping 37 of 38 shots she faced.
St. Thomas 2, Bemidji State 1 | BOX SCORE | Bemidji State Recap | St. Thomas Recap
- Rylee Bartz guided St. Thomas to a 2-1 victory against Bemidji State, scoring the game-winning goal with less than a minute left to play in regulation; the win marked the ninth of the season for St. Thomas
- Nora Sauer scored her third goal of the season just 34 seconds into the game to put the Tommies on the board; Shelby Sandberg responded for the Beavers early in the second period to tie the game at one before Bartz scored the game-winning goal at the 19:04 mark of the final frame.
- Dani Strom got the win in the net for the Tommies while stopping 17 shots; St. Thomas outshot the Beavers 30-18 in the victory
- Olivia Dronen assisted on the Sandberg goal as they were the only Beavers to register a point in the loss; netminder Kaitlin Groess recorded 28 saves.
No. 2 Ohio State 4, No. 15 St. Cloud State 0 | BOX SCORE | Ohio State Recap
- The second-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes shut out No. 15 St. Cloud State 4-0, marking their third win against the Huskies this season; Ohio State improved to 18-3-0 overall.
- Hilda Svensson opened the scoring for the Buckeyes at the 12:25 mark of the first period; Jordan Baxter made it a 2-0 Buckeye lead with a goal just over six minutes into the second period before Ohio State added two in the final frame courtesy of Sanni Vanhanen and Jordyn Petrie.
- Buckeye netminder Hailey MacLeod recorded her third shutout of the season while stopping all 23 shots she faced.
- Jocelyn Amos tallied her 100th career point with an assist on the fourth goal of the game; Amos became the 21st player in Ohio State program history to reach 100 career points.
*Rankings based on USCHO Division I Women's Poll
Saturday, Jan 10
No. 2 Ohio State at No. 15 St. Cloud State - 2 PM CT
No. 1 Wisconsin at No. 8 Minnesota Duluth - 2 PM CT
Bemidji State at St. Thomas - 2 PM CT
No. 12 Minnesota State at No. 3 Minnesota - 7:30 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.