It was not a banner evening for Minnesota hockey as the Gophers men’s and women’s hockey teams were both defeated in convincing manner on Thursday. The women were shutout in their WCHA Final Faceoff opener, while the men were rocked by a Big Ten Conference heavyweight.
Women’s hockey: Ohio State 4, Gophers 0
The third-seeded Minnesota women’s hockey team saw their WCHA hopes skate away at the Lee & Penny Anderson Arena in St. Paul after a 4-0 loss to second-seeded Ohio State.
The Gophers didn’t muster up a goal on any of their 22 shots on Buckeyes goaltender Hailey Macleod while Ohio State scored in each period to skate away with the one-sided win.
Minnesota netminder Hannah Clark made 29 saves in the loss.
Ohio State (33-4 overall, 24-4 WCHA) advances to the WCHA title game against the No. 1 team in the nation, Wisconsin (32-3-2, 23-3-2) at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Anderson Arena. Meanwhile, the Gophers (26-11-1, 18-9-1) await word on the yet-to-be-announced NCAA Regional matchups as to where and when they will play next.
Regional play is scheduled to take place from March 12-14.
Men’s hockey: Michigan State 7, Gophers 1
A beleaguered Minnesota men’s hockey team stumbled one step closer to the conclusion of a woebegone season with a 7-1 loss to visiting Michigan State inside 3M Arena at Mariucci.
The second-ranked Spartans (25-7-1 overall, 16-6-1 Big Ten) scored the first six goals of the game before Tanner Ludtke put a small band-aid on the scoreboard with Minnesota’s lone tally of the contest at 7:49 of the final period. Michigan State managed one last power-play goal with 72 seconds to play to send the hosts to the showers after an evening of on-ice manhandling.
Luca Di Pasquo and Nathan Airey split time in goal, making 26 and 12 saves, respectively, while their Gophers teammates put 24 shots on Michigan State goalie Trey Augustine.
Minnesota (11-21-2, 7-15-1) closes out the regular season with one more game against the Spartans at 7 p.m. Friday. The game will be televised on Fox 9+ and BTN+.
The Big Ten postseason tournament is scheduled to begin on March 11.
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