No. 2 Minnesota and No. 1 Wisconsin tied 3-3 Friday at Ridder Arena. However, the Badgers beat the Gophers 1-0 in a shootout to secure an additional point in the WCHA standings.
The teams exchanged goals all night until Jen Schoullis scored with less than a minute remaining in the third period to put the Gophers up 4-3. But officials reviewed the goal and determined she had touched the puck with her hand and disallowed the goal and the game continued into overtime.
Minnesota failed to capitalize on a power play late in the overtime period, and the teams went into a shootout deadlocked at three. Badgers forward Hilary Knight scored the lone shootout goal to give Wisconsin the victory.
“It’s a tie and it’s a shootout loss, and it feels like a loss so nobody’s happy about the result,” Gophers head coach Brad Frost said, “but I’m certainly from a coach’s standpoint, pleased with the effort and the execution.”
Minnesota came out sluggish in the first period, and was outshot 16-4 as a result. The Badgers struck first when forward Carolyne Prevost scored a power play goal 2:56 into the frame.
Gophers defenseman Anne Schleper tied the game midway trough the second on a wrister from the point. With the goal, Schleper became just the third Minnesota defenseman to reach the 100-career point plateau.
“I kind of told myself, ‘I want to make it at least a goal, not an assist,'” she said of the milestone. “It worked out good for me.”
The score remained tied at one heading into the third period.
Wisconsin star Brianna Decker scored early in the third, but Minnesota responded when Schoullis scored a power play goal of her own.
Badgers forward Brooke Ammerman rebounded her own miss and found the back of the net 14:07 into the period to put Wisconsin up 3-2, but the lead didn’t last. The Gophers took advantage of another Badgers penalty and tied the game at three on a Megan Bozek goal.
“Our power play created a ton of chances,” Frost said. “It got a couple big goals for us.”
Both goaltenders had a bevy of spectacular saves. Wisconsin’s Alex Rigsby finished with 38, and Minnesota’s Noora Raty had 34.
The teams’ series will conclude Saturday at 4:07 PM.
