Kenzie Dunn and Madison Lavergne scored 36 seconds apart in the third period Sunday and the host Wisconsin-River Falls women’s hockey team completed a 31-0 season, beating Elmira 4-1 for the NCAA Division III championship.
Wisconsin-River Falls women’s hockey completes perfect season with Division III national championship
The Falcons, with 22 Minnesotans on their roster, went 31-0, beating Elmira 4-1 to win the program’s first national title.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
March 18, 2024 at 3:23AM
The Falcons won their first national title behind a roster that includes 22 Minnesotans. The score was tied 1-1 when Dunn (Monticello) put the Falcons ahead for good with an unassisted goal at 6:50 of the third, only her third goal of the season. Lavergne (Warroad) then made it a two-goal lead moments later, and Alex Hantge (Hutchinson) added an insurance goal at 12:01.
“Very, very proud of every single player on our team,” said Joe Cranston, the only coach the Falcons have had in their 25-season history.”
MaKenna Aure (Alexandria) scored on a five-minute power play at 8:56 of the second period, but Elmira (23-8-1) tied the score on Emma Bradbury’s goal only 1:40 later.
The 31 victories are a Division III women’s record. It’s the fourth undefeated season in D-III women’s history.
Etc.
• The No. 16 Gophers gymnastics team ended its regular season by posting a season-best score of 197.725 to win its senior day quad meet at Maturi Pavilion, beating West Virginia (196.000), Northern Illinois (195.875) and Air Force (195.125). Five Gophers individuals combined to win four events, with Mya Hooten posting her ninth career perfect 10 to win the floor exercise. Emily Koch and Lauren Pearl tied for the beam title at 9.950; Jordyn Lyden won the uneven bars at 9.925; and Sarah Moraw won the vault at 9.900.
• Brady Counsell hit a two-run homer in the 10th inning for his second home run of the game and his baseball team’s fifth, and the Gophers rallied to beat host Elon 9-7, salvaging the final game of a three-game series. Elon scored six runs in the seventh inning to take a 7-3 lead, but the Gophers pulled even in the ninth, getting a solo homer from Jake Perry and a tying two-run shot from Ike Mezzenga.
• The Gophers women’s golf team finished tied for 12th in the 15-team Mountain View Collegiate in Tucson, Ariz., at 18-over-par 882. The Gophers’ Isabella McCauley finished tied for 11th place at 3 over par.
The Northwestern softball team scored three first-inning runs off Bri Enter and beat the Gophers 5-2 at the Garnet and Black Invitational in Columbia, S.C. Morgan DeBord went 2-for-3 with an RBI for the Gophers.
Two offensive linemen from Lakeville, Bryce Benhart and Riley Mahlman, are standouts for Big Ten rivals of Minnesota.
