The top-ranked Wisconsin Badgers, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 10 Minnesota Duluth, and St. Cloud State earned series-opening victories in Friday's Western Collegiate Hockey Association action.
RV St. Cloud State 6, Bemidji State 2 | BOX SCORE | Bemidji State Recap
- St. Cloud State scored six unanswered goals en route to a 6-2 win over Bemidji State; the Huskies recorded their 10th win of the season.
- Bemidji State's Kasey Senden put the Beavers on the board with her first career goal before Hailey Armstrong scored a power play goal that put the Beavers up 2-0 going into the second period; Julianne Labbé scored back-to-back goals for the Huskies in the span of a minute to tie it up in the second frame; St. Cloud State followed it up with another two goals in the second period as well as two in the final frame.
- St. Cloud State's Alice Sauriol had a career high five points on two goals and three assists; the trio of Sydney Bryant, Avery Farrell, and Julianne Labbé had a pair of points; Jojo Chobak had 25 saves, picking up her fourth win of the season.
- Armstrong led the way for the Beavers with two points on the afternoon; Morgan Smith and Carmen Bray notched assists in the game, and Ava Hills made 31 saves in net.
No. 1 Wisconsin 4, RV Minnesota State 1 | BOX SCORE | Wisconsin Recap | Minnesota State Recap
- Wisconsin earned a series-opening win against Minnesota State 4-1, marking their 26th win of the season; the Badgers remained in first place in the WCHA standings with the victory.
- Wisconsin opened up the scoring late in the first period, scoring back-to-back goals less than two minutes apart, but Minnesota State responded with one of their own at the 17:11 mark of the period; Lacey Eden scored a short-handed goal in the second period to put the Badgers up 3-1; Wisconsin added one final goal in the third frame from Cassie Hall.
- The Badgers' trio of Lacey Eden, Marianne Picard, and Laney Potter had two points on the afternoon; Rhyah Steward made 19 saves, picking up the second win of her career.
- Lauren Zawoyski scored the lone goal for the Mavericks, assisted by Sophie Stramel and Whitney Tuttle. Hailey Hanson had 40 saves on the afternoon. marking her fourth time this season, making 40 or more saves.
No. 10 Minnesota Duluth 3, RV St. Thomas 0 | BOX SCORE | St. Thomas Recap
- Another shutout performance for Ève Gascon led No. 10 Minnesota Duluth to a 3-0 defeat of St. Thomas for its 16th win of the season.
- After a scoreless first period, Mary Kate O'Brien scored on the power play to give UMD a 1-0 lead heading into the third period; the Bulldogs tacked on two more in the final frame as Caitlin Kraemer recorded a short-handed goal less than three minutes in and teammate Madi Burr netted one late in the period.
- Gascon recorded her eighth shutout of the season and 19th of her career in the win as she stopped all 24 shots she faced in the victory.
- St. Thomas netminder Julia Minotti made 32 saves for the Tommies despite the loss.
No. 2 Ohio State 4, No. 3 Minnesota 2 | BOX SCORE | Minnesota Recap | Ohio State Recap
- The second-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes defeated No. 3 Minnesota 4-2 for their 27th win of the season; the Buckeyes are two points back in the league standings behind Wisconsin for first place.
- Maxine Cimoroni recorded a power play goal 13 minutes into the game to give the Buckeyes a 1-0 lead after the first period; Ohio State followed up with three goals in the second, courtesy of Kaia Malachino, Jocelyn Amos, and Emma Peschel; the Gophers bounced back with two in the final frame but was not enough as the Buckeyes came out on top 4-2.
- The Buckeys went three for four on the power play in the win and outshot the Gophers 39 to 28; Hailey MacLeod got the win in net, making 26 saves in the game.
- Bella Fanale tallied her 17th goal of the season for the Gophers as she is now tied for second amongst NCAA rookies this season; Gopher netminder Hannah Clark recorded 39 saves.
*Rankings based on USCHO Division I Women's Poll
Saturday, Feb 7
Bemidji State at RV St. Cloud State - 1 PM CT
No. 1 Wisconsin at RV Minnesota State - 2 PM CT
No. 3 Minnesota at No. 2 Ohio State - 3 PM ET - FOX9+
RV St. Thomas at No. 10 Minnesota Duluth - 3 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.