Gophers women's hockey team can't hold late lead vs. Wisconsin in WCHA semifinals

Lacey Eden’s overtime goal lifted the Wisconsin women’s hockey team to a 4-3 victory over the Gophers in the semifinals of the WCHA Final Faceoff on Friday at Ridder Arena.

Casey O’Brien forced OT by scoring with 8,8 seconds left in regulation for the No. 2 Badgers, banking in a shot that deflected off goalie Skylar Vetter’s helmet and into the net. Wisconsin will play No. 1 Ohio State in Saturday’s championship game at Ridder, a rematch of last year’s national championship game won by Wisconsin 1-0.

Eden, a junior who played at Shattuck-St. Mary’s, scored 7 minutes, 59 seconds into the overtime. The goal was assisted by Britta Curl and Vivian Jungels, a sophomore from Edina.

The Badgers (32-5) outshot the fifth-ranked Gophers 42-23, including 30-11 after the first period.

Peyton Hemp’s power-play goal with 3 minutes, 44 seconds remaining had given the defending tournament champion Gophers a 3-2 lead.

The game’s first eight minutes saw three goals as the Gophers (27-9-2) opened a 2-1 lead.

Kirsten gave the Badgers a 1-0 lead 38 seconds after the opening faceoff, but Josefin Bouveng and Ella Huber scored in a two-minute, 40-second span to give the Gophers a 2-1 lead with 12 minutes, 47 seconds remaining in the first period.

Kirsten Simms tied the score with a power-play goal with 11 minutes, 9 seconds remaining in the second period.

Ohio State 5, Minnesota Duluth 0: Emma Peschel and Joy Dunne each had a goal and assist, Raygan Kirk had 17 saves and the Buckeyes (32-3) blanked the Bulldogs (20-13-4) in the first semifinal at Ridder Arena.

“Getting five goals on any team in this league,” Ohio State coach Nadine Muzerall said, “especially when it’s playoffs and everybody is playing their best, is impressive, but the zero on the board is just as impressive as winning 5-0. Give a lot of credit to (Raygan) Kirk. I think we were relentless on the puck and made nice plays.”

The Buckeyes outshot the Bulldogs 44-17. Dunne and Kiara Zanon scored 44 seconds apart midway through the first period to stake the Buckeyes to a 2-0 lead.