Gophers women's hockey breaks through in third period, beats St. Thomas 4-0

It took a while for the Gophers women's hockey team to break through against St. Thomas on Saturday. But break through they did, while earning another shutout in the process.

Emma Kreisz broke a scoreless tie with a power-play goal 3:45 into the third period, Lucy Morgan made 16 saves and the fourth-ranked Gophers earned a 4-0 WCHA victory over St. Thomas at St. Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Heights.

The Gophers (4-0, 4-0 WCHA), who beat the Tommies 8-0 on Friday at Xcel Energy Center, had a tougher time against St. Thomas goalie Olivia King on Saturday. But after Kreisz scored her first college goal, Nelli Laitinen's goal midway through the third period made it 2-0, and the Gophers added goals by Josefin Bouveng and Abbey Murphy in the final three minutes.

"St. Thomas played fantastic, but I'm really proud of how our team stuck together," Gophers coach Brad Frost said. "We defended pretty well and were able to find the back of the net late and then extend that lead."

The Gophers outshot the Tommies 34-16, including 15-5 in the third period. St. Thomas (4-2, 0-2) had won its first four games of the season before getting shutout over 120 minutes vs. the Gophers this weekend — and it doesn't get any easier for St. Thomas over the next three weeks. Their next three series are against No. 2 Ohio State at home, No. 1 Wisconsin at home and at No. 6 Minnesota Duluth.

The Gophers return home to Ridder Arena on Tuesday, when they play host to St. Cloud State.