Gophers women's hockey ties 2-2 with Wisconsin to open weekend series; Badgers win shootout

Suddenly, the Gophers have company at the top of the WCHA standings.

Third-ranked Minnesota and No. 8 Wisconsin skated to a 2-2 tie in front of a sold-out crowd of 3,539 on Friday night at Ridder Arena. The Badgers secured the extra point in the WCHA standings when Britta Curl scored the only goal of the shootout.

While the Gophers (23-4-3, 20-2-3 WCHA, 66 points) gained one point for the tie, they dropped into a tie with Ohio State atop the conference standings with three games remaining in the regular season. The Buckeyes pocketed three points with a 6-1 win over St. Thomas on Friday.

"That's how we can play and that's how we need to play,'' Gophers coach Brad Frost said of his team's third-period and overtime effort, in which it outshot Wisconsin 24-5. "We need to do it consistently. The past couple of weekends, it's kind of been hit or miss.''

Down by a goal, the Gophers tied the score 2-2 when Taylor Heise scored 3:09 into the third, giving the senior her 21st goal of the season. Abbey Murphy also scored for Minnesota. Goalie Skylar Vetter made 28 saves through overtime, including 16 in the second period.

"She kept us in there and then allowed us to get that equalizer,'' Frost said of Vetter.

Wisconsin goalie Cami Kronish made 40 saves through overtime, then in the shootout denied the reigning Patty Kazmaier Award winner (Heise) and two 2022 U.S. Olympians (Murphy and Grace Zumwinkle). "That's pretty good,'' Wisconsin coach Mark Johnson deadpanned.

The Gophers and Ohio State will finish their series against the Badgers and Tommies, respectively, on Saturday. Next weekend, Minnesota closes with a series at St. Thomas while the Buckeyes travel to Wisconsin.

"We've just got to play to our standard tomorrow,'' Gophers defenseman Gracie Ostertag said. "I think good things are gonna happen.''

After a first period in which Kotlowski and Murphy scored goals, the rivals traded dominant periods. The Badgers' dominance came in the second, when they outshot the Gophers 17-7 and Compher scored at 8:37.

Compher's shot hit the inside of the pipe and bounced out, originally denying Wisconsin a goal. Play went on for more than a minute until the next stoppage, when officials reviewed it and ruled the puck had crossed the goal line, giving the Badgers a 2-1 lead.

The Badgers continued to push for a two-goal edge, but Vetter shut the door, making three saves in the final minute.

"We got a little more animated than we've probably been all year,'' he said. "It was just a really frustrating period to watch.''

The Gophers responded in the third, getting Heise's tying goal and keeping up the pressure throughout. Minnesota started overtime on a 4-on-3 power play but couldn't beat Kronish. All but a minute of the extra session was 4-on-3 or 4-on-4, which kept the speedy Heise in the box until a stoppage in play.