Goals were tough to come by as the Minnesota and St. Thomas women’s hockey teams took to the ice for the finale of their weekend series on Saturday afternoon at Ridder Arena
The squads played to an official 1-1 draw in the finale of their weekend series at Ridder Arena Saturday afternoon. The Gophers won a shootout to claim two points, with the Tommies earning a point.
In a defensive struggle, it took nearly the entirety of the first period for the first goal to go on the board. The opening tally went to the hosts, as Jamie Nelson’s power-play score put the Gophers up 1-0 just 18 seconds before the first intermission.
It took a long while for the lamp to be lit again, but Jenessa Gazdik’s even-strength goal at 12:10 of the third period forged a 1-1 tie that carried on through the final dozen minutes of regulation and five more minutes of overtime play.
Both goaltenders stood tall in their respective nets, with the Tommies’ Julia Minotti making 22 saves and Gophers netminder Hannah Clark stopping 26 of the 27 shots she faced.
After each team secured its lone point, the strong goalie play continued into the three-round shootout with both sides seeking the added bonus point for a shootout win. Neither team managed to put one in the goal through their first two attempts, but Sydney Morrow finally cracked the code in the third round with the lone tally of the penalty shot duel to give the third-ranked Gophers added consolation to close out the contest.
It was the first official tie of the season for both teams. Minnesota (24-5-1 overall, 18-5-1 WCHA) remained in third place in the WCHA with 55 points, while St. Thomas (12-17-1, 7-16-1) held onto sixth with 23 points.
The Gophers head out on the road next weekend for a crucial WCHA series at second-ranked Ohio State. By the time the puck drops in Columbus, Ohio next Friday night, the Buckeyes may be the top-ranked team in the country based on their 4-1 win at current No. 1 Wisconsin Saturday evening. The Badgers host Ohio State for their series finale on Sunday afternoon.
St. Thomas’ schedule doesn’t ease up much next weekend as the Tommies head north to take on No. 6 Minnesota-Duluth on Friday and Saturday.
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