Trailing 2-0 halfway through the game, Wisconsin scored three goals in the last 10 minutes of the second period and four more in the third to beat the No. 3 Gophers 7-5 on Saturday in WCHA women's hockey at Ridder Arena.
Gophers lose 7-5 to Badgers in women's hockey, drop to second in conference race
Taylor Heise had two goals for Minnesota, but the Badgers scored seven times after the halfway point of the game to win at Ridder Arena. Kirsten Simms had two goals for Wisconsin.
February 12, 2023 at 5:44AM
The loss meant Minnesota dropped to second place in the conference behind Ohio State with only one weekend of the regular-season games left.
The Gophers (23-5-3, 20-3-3, 63 points) went into this series with a two-point edge in the standings over the Buckeyes, but tied No. 8 Wisconsin 2-2 on Friday (and lost in the shootout). Ohio State (27-3-2, 22-3-1, 66 points) beat the Tommies 5-0 on Saturday to sweep that series.
"A frustrating result," Gophers coach Brad Frost said. "Certainly not the outcome we were hoping for. We're proud of our team for coming back from a couple of goals down and having 26 shots in the third period.
"We had to press a bit and it led to a couple of odd-man rushes for them. Still a lot of hockey left and we'll regroup and be back at it next week."
Claire Enright began the rally for Wisconsin (22-8-2, 19-6-2) with an unassisted goal at 10:43 of the middle period. Laila Edwards tied the score at 2-all at 16:37 and Kirsten Simms put the Badgers ahead 3-2 with 52 seconds left in the period.
Taylor Heise had an unassisted, shorthanded goal — the ninth of her career — for the Gophers at 13:41 of the first and Catie Skaja made it 2-0 on a power-play goal at 35 seconds of the second.
The wild third period began with Simms scoring her second goal at 5:34 to make it 4-2. Goals by Abbey Murphy and Heise tied it but the Badgers got three goals in a little over two minutes, one an empty-netter, to lead 7-4.
Grace Zumwinkle had the final Gophers goal in the last minute.
Cami Kronish had 40 saves, 23 in the third, for Wisconsin, Skylar Vetter stopped 29 shots for Minnesota.
The Gophers play at St. Thomas, which has only three WCHA wins, next Friday and Saturday; Ohio State plays at Wisconsin on Saturday and Sunday.
The attendance for the second game of this border rivalry series was 3,539, setting a new single-series attendance record at Ridder Arena with 7,078.
The Gophers gave UMD goalie Eve Gascon a 48-save workout in the first of back-to-back meetings.
