The Gophers' reign as WCHA regular-season champions ended Sunday when top-ranked Ohio State scored three third-period goals to rally to a 3-1 victory over No. 6 Wisconsin in Madison.
Gophers women's hockey finishes second in WCHA, will play St. Thomas to open playoffs
The Gophers needed Ohio State to lose in regulation in its season finale at Wisconsin to win the conference crown.
February 19, 2023 at 11:01PM
The Buckeyes trailed No. 4 Minnesota 68 points to 67 in the standings entering the final game of the regular season and needed a win in either regulation (three points) or overtime/shootout (two points) to claim the title. The Gophers owned the head-to-tiebreaker.
Emma Matlais scored a power-play goal 15:43 of the third period, and Madison Bizal followed with power-play tallies with 55 and 25 seconds left in regulation to secure the title for Ohio State. Laila Edwards had given Wisconsin a 1-0 lead at 7:17 of the third.
Ohio State will be the No. 1 seed in the WCHA tournament and will be host to a best-of-three first-round series against last-place Bemidji State on Friday through Sunday. The No. 2 seed Gophers will face No. 7 St. Thomas at Ridder Arena. The Gophers swept the Tommies in Mendota Heights over the weekend, winning 2-1 in overtime on Friday and 4-2 Saturday.
The other first-round matchups are No. 3 seed Wisconsin vs. No. 6 seed Minnesota State Mankato, and No. 4 seed Minnesota Duluth vs. No. 5 seed St. Cloud State.
A former Gophers player, Taylor Landfair, helped the No. 2 Huskers hand No.16 Minnesota its third consecutive loss.
