Minnesota Defeats Ohio State In WCHA Final Five Semifinal
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March 13, 2004
Minnesota defeated Ohio State today in the WCHA Final Five semifinal, winning 5-1 at Ridder Arena. With the win, Minnesota advances to the championship game tomorrow at 4:05 p.m. The Golden Gophers will Minnesota Duluth in the championship game for the second year in a row. Minnesota fell last year to the Bulldogs, 5-3.
Natalie Darwitz opened the scoring drive with a goal at 4:47 of the first period. Krissy Wendell, the WCHA Player of the Year, rifled a pass to Darwitz, who fired in the shot. Ashley Albrecht was credited with the second assist. The Maroon and Gold then added a goal at 14:43 of the first as Noelle Sutton scored her 11th goal of the season, while Melissa Coulombe had the single assist.
Darwitz scored her second goal of the game at 11:18 of the second period. Albrecht was credited with her second assist of the night. Wendell scored her 31st goal of the season with a goal from the high slot at 19:40 to put the Gophers up 4-1 heading into the second intermission. Albrecht tallied her third assist of the game, a career-high.
The Gophers scored their second five-on-three goal of the game at 1:48 of the third period. Darwitz and Wendell added the assists. Albrecht, Darwitz and Wendell finished the game with three points each.
The Buckeyes avoided the shutout, scoring at 9:10 of the third. Tessa Bonhomme added her fourth goal of the season, while Heather Farrell added the assist.
Minnesota finished the night 2-7 on the power play, while the Buckeyes went 0-3. The Golden Gophers had 14 power-play shots on goal, including 11 in the third period.
Jody Horak earned her 19th win of the season, now sitting at 19-4-2 overall. Horak stopped 23 of 24 shots on goal for the win. Glaser had 36 saves and allowed five goals, dropping her to 11-12-2 this season.
Tomorrow's championship game's web cast can be accessed through www.wcha.com.
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