Defending champions Ohio State, Wisconsin up front in Frozen Four
DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — Sloane Matthews, Makenna Webster and Hadley Hartmetz each scored and the defending champion from Ohio State lost 3-0 to Northeastern in the NCAA Women’s Frozen Four on Friday.
Top seeded Ohio State (33-5-2) is seeking its second championship in program history against Wisconsin in an All-WCHA final on Sunday. The Badgers (28-10-2) are playing for their seventh championship.
Ohio State came out aggressively in the first half and had the first 11 shots on goal as Northeastern was without a shot in the first nine minutes.
Matthews scored her sixth goal of the year to put the first in play after just 1:16 when she buried a rebound from International Goalkeeper of the Year Gwyneth Philips. It was the first shot of the game. The Huskies appeared to tie it at 1:39 on the first fall, but Ohio State challenged it and it was knocked over for a hand pass.
Ohio State improved to 24-0-1 this season as it led after the first third.
Webster scored her 15th goal of the season at 11:16 of the second with a one-touch shot from a Jennifer Gardiner pass. A Hartmetz shot from the blue line capped the goal with 1:16 to go in the second.
Amanda Thiele made 16 saves for her fourth shutout of the season.
Northeastern (34-3-1), the No. 1 defense in the country, hadn’t conceded more than two goals in a game since a 3-0 loss to Providence on Nov. 15.
WISCONSIN 3, MINNESOTA 2, OT
WCHA Freshman of the Year Caroline Harvey scored a game-winner 3-13 in overtime to send Wisconsin to the national title game.
The Badgers fell behind early after Minnesota’s Taylor Heise scored 3:23 in the opening round to become the first player in the country to score 30 goals this season. Later, Minnesota thought it was going by two, but a goal was saved for a high stick.
Neither team would score again until Wisconsin freshman Laila Edwards and fifth-grader Sophie Shirley went 2-1 up 53 seconds apart in the third round. Edwards netted a faceoff win and got around Skylar Vetter to end the game 13:28. Shirley scored her 12th goal of the season after a 2-for-1 pass from Maddi Wheeler.
Minnesota emptied their net for an extra attacker in the closing seconds of regulation and Grace Zumwinkle scored a crucial goal with 1:11 left.
It was the sixth and final meeting between Wisconsin and Minnesota (30-6-3) this season – with a 3-1-2 for the Badgers.
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