Women’s D-I weekend wrap Jan. 28: Minnesota rolls over Ohio State, Clarkson puts pressure on leaders, Cornell separates from Colgate

Loren Gabel of Clarkson (Jim Rosvold)
Loren Gabel of Clarkson scored her 100th career goal.  (Jim Rosvold)

St. Cloud State at No. 1 Wisconsin
In game one, Annie Pankowski tallied her 100th career assist, and Mekenzie Steffen and Sophie Shirley scored a pair of goals in a six-second span in the third period, the fastest back-to-back goals in school history, to lead the Badgers to a 5-0 win. Steffen scored twice, Alexis Mauermann had a goal and an assist, and Pankowski had two assists to pace Wisconsin. On Saturday, the Badgers outshot St. Cloud State 53-13, including 36-6 over the final two periods, en route to a 3-1 win. The Huskies got on the board first with a goal from Hannah Portrykus five minutes into the game. Britta Curl tied the game with a wicked wrister, and Abby Roque scored before intermission to give Wisconsin the 2-1 lead. Emily Clark scored in the third to guarantee the win.

No. 2 Minnesota at No. 7 Ohio State
On Friday, Emily Oden, Grace Zumwinkle, and Alex Woken each scored twice to lead the Gophers to a 7-2 win. Nicole Schammel’s power-play goal in the first was her 100th career point. Madison Field and Jincy Dunne scored for Ohio State in the loss. All three OSU goalies spent time in the net on Friday. In game two, Minnesota exploded for a six-goal second period en route to a 7-1 win and weekend sweep of the Buckeyes. Fourteen different Gophers tallied a point in the win, led by Taylor Heise’s two goals and an assist. Emma Maltais scored a short-handed goal as the only Ohio State point in the game.

Vermont at No. 3 Northeastern
On Friday, Val Caldwell’s second-period goal for the Catamounts was the only scoring until there were three minutes left in the game and Skylar Fontaine tied it up for Northeastern to force overtime. Brooke Hobson scored the game-winner in the extra frame to give the Huskies the come-from-behind, overtime win. Melissa Black made 35 saves in the loss. On Saturday, Veronika Pettey notched her first collegiate hat trick and Andrea Renner added two goals to lead Northeastern to the 5-1 win and weekend sweep. Renner had NU up after one, but Taylor Flaherty evened it up midway through the second for Vermont. That seemed to light a fire under Norteastern, which scored three goals to close out the second. Pettey completed the natural hat trick with the lone goal in the third.

Harvard at No. 5 Clarkson
Loren Gabel had two goals and two assists and potted her 100th career goal in Clarkson’s 4-2 win over Harvard. Gabel opened the scoring early in the first, but Harvard responded with a power-play goal by Kaitlin Tse. T.T. Cianfarano notched her own extra-attacker goal late in the first frame to give the Golden Knights a 2-1 lead heading into the first-period break. Gabel and Ella Shelton extended the lead to 4-1 in the second. Lexie Laing scored for Harvard in the third, but they were not able to amount a comeback, and Clarkson took this one 4-2.

Dartmouth at No. 5 Clarkson
Christina Rombaut had Dartmouth up 1-0 early, but a pair of Clarkson power-play goals from Ella Shelton and Michaela Pejzlová gave the Golden Knights a lead they would not relinquish. Loren Gabel scored the lone second-period goal to put Clarkson up 3-1. In the third, Bailee Brekke narrowed the lead with a goal for Dartmouth early, and then a series of penalties put Clarkson on the defensive. It looked like the Big Green tied the game, but it was called back for a hand pass. Shelton scored again on the power play to put the game out of reach as Clarkson won, 4-2.

No. 6 Cornell versus No. 8 Colgate
On Friday, Cornell scored midway through the first with a Kristin O’Neill power-play goal, and that looked to be it, but Jessie Eldridge found the back of the net with just three seconds left in the period to tie it up headed into the first intermission. Lenka Serdar scored late in the second to give Cornell a 2-1 lead heading into the second-period break. Eleri MacKay tied the game early in the third period, but Amy Curlew and Grace Graham put the game away late to give the Big Red the 4-2 win. In game two, Cornell had a 2-0 lead after one thanks to a goal by Maddie Mills and a short-handed tally from Serdar. Jessie Eldridge scored 10 minutes apart in the second to tie the game, but Serdar added her third of the weekend and Paige Lewis scored 56 seconds later to give Cornell the 4-2 win and weekend sweep.

No. 9 Boston College versus Providence
Delaney Belinskas opened the scoring 1:22 into the game to put BC on the board first, but Meaghan Rickard responded four minutes later to tie it up. Unfortunately for Providence, that’s as close as it would get. Belinskas and Megan Keller scored in the second, and Caitrin Lonergan added one in the third to put the Eagles up 4-1. Caroline Peterson had a power-play goal for the Friars late in the third, but it was not enough as Boston College won 4-2. With her three points, Megan Keller set a new Hockey East single-season points record for a defenseman. Her 13 goals and 16 assists for 29 points in conference games this season breaks the previous record of 28. On Saturday, not to be outdone by Belinskas’ quick goal on Friday, Makenna Newkirk scored 45 seconds into the game to put Boston College on the board early. Lindsay Agnew scored in the second to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead, but Providence came back to tie the game thanks to power-play goals from Hayley Lunny and Sara Hjalmarsson. Agnew scored a short-handed goal early in the third, which turned out to be the game-winner, and Lonergan secured the 4-2 win and weekend sweep.

No. 10 Boston University versus Merrimack
In game one, Mackenna Parker and Kristina Schuler each scored two goals to lead the Terriers to a 6-3 win over Merrimack. The Warriors actually got on the board first with a goal from Mikyla Grant-Mentis, and they carried that lead into the first intermission. In the second, it was all Terriers as Schuler scored twice, and Parker and Emma Wuthrich each added a goal to make it 4-1 after two. Grant-Mentis scored twice in the third to close the gap, but Merrimack could not complete the comeback, and Sammy Davis and Parker scored in the final minute to put the game away for Boston University. On Saturday, it was again Grant-Mentis who put Merrimack on the board first. Schuler and Abby Cook responded with two goals late in the first to give BU the 2-1 lead after one. Jessica Bonfe tied the game for Merrimack in the second, and Katelyn Rae put the Warriors ahead. BU pulled the goalie and Davis tied it with 1:03 left to salvage the 3-3 tie.