The Gophers women’s hockey team used a five-goal second period to skate past Minnesota State Mankato 6-2 on Sunday at Ridder Arena, advancing to the WCHA Final Faceoff.
Gophers women’s hockey routs Minnesota State Mankato to advance in WCHA playoffs
The Gophers rebounded from Saturday’s double-overtime loss with a five-goal second period in the series finale.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
March 3, 2025 at 12:32AM
The Gophers' second-period outburst came on eight shots on goal. On Saturday, the Gophers outshot the Mavericks 70-41 — 27-13 in the two overtimes – but Minnesota State scored with five seconds remaining in the second overtime for a 5-4 victory, forcing Sunday’s decisive third game in the best-of-three series.
“A great job today,” Gophers coach Brad Frost said. “I’m proud of our group. They had their backs against the wall. We came out and started quickly and got that big power-play goal, which was awesome. And then we were kind of able to blow it open there in the second.”
Natalie Mlynkova scored 13 seconds into a power-play opportunity to give the Gophers a 1-0 lead with 4 minutes, 47 seconds remaining in the first period.
Ava Lindsay scored 95 seconds into the second period before Abbey Murphy scored twice in a 3½-minute span to fuel the Gophers' flurry. Murphy is one goal short of becoming the seventh Gophers player with 100 career goals.
“Your best players have to be your best players at this time of year,” Frost said. “Murph is a threat every time she’s on the ice. It was great to see her get those two today.”
Leading 2-0, the Gophers scored twice in a two-minute span — a shorthanded goal by Audrey Wethington and an even-strength goal by Murphy — to open a 4-0 lead with 12:46 left in the second period.
After the Mavericks pulled to within 4-1 with 10:55 remaining in the second on a goal by Jamie Nelson, Murphy scored 90 seconds later to restore the Gophers' four-goal lead. Peyton Hemp scored with 1:54 left in the second period to make it 6-1.
Nelson closed out the scoring for the Mavericks with 24 seconds remaining in the game.
The 66 saves by Mavericks goaltender Hailey Hansen, a sophomore from Blaine, on Saturday were the second most in WCHA history and second most in Division I women’s hockey this season.
The WCHA Final Faceoff is Friday and Saturday in Duluth. Minnesota Duluth plays Wisconsin at 1 p.m. Friday, followed by the Gophers and Ohio State at 4:30 p.m. The championship game is Saturday.
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