The final Western Collegaite Hockey Association teams locked up their spots in the 2026 Kwik Trip WCHA Final Faceoff on Sunday afternoon as Minnesota and Minnesota State won their respective first-round series. 


#5 Minnesota State 2, #4 Minnesota Duluth 1 | BOX SCORE | Minnesota State Recap
- For the first time since 2009, Minnesota State advanced to the WCHA Final Faceoff after a 2-1 defeat against Minnesota Duluth in game three of the WCHA First Round best-of-three series. 
- Kianna Roeske put Minnesota State on the board early, scoring just under four minutes into the first period; Thea Johansson tied the game for UMD with less than a minute left to go in the first frame, but the Mavericks' Ava Guillemette scored what would stand as the game-winner at the 8:28 mark of the second period.
- Hailey Hansen made 41 saves in the game for Minnesota State; in the series, Hansen stopped 140 of the 144 shots she faced. 
- The Mavericks earned their 17th victory of the season, as the 17 wins marked a new single-season record for Minnesota State.  

#3 Minnesota 6, #6 St. Cloud State 1 | BOX SCORE 
- The third-seeded Minnesota Golden Gophers punched their ticket to the 2026 Kwik Trip WCHA Final Faceoff after a 6-1 defeat against the #6 seed St. Cloud State.  
- Minnesota opened the game with two straight goals in the first seven minutes of play; Laura Zimmermann brought St. Cloud State within one just over a minute into the second period, but the push was not enough as the Gophers went on to score three straight goals to close out the period and added an empty net goal in the final frame courtesy of Josefin Bouveng who notched her second of the game.
- Bouveng led the Gophers with three points off her two goals and an assist, while Hannah Clark made 17 stops in the net for Minnesota.

For more information on the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, follow the league on X and Instagram @WCHA_WHockey, and online at wcha.com.