POTSDAM, N.Y. -- Sophomore Olivia Howe's goal just more than a minute into the extra session powered No. 4 Clarkson against the Union (N.Y.) Dutchwomen 2-1 in overtime on Saturday afternoon at Cheel Arena.
The Golden Knights improve to 25-4-5 (16-2-4 ECAC Hockey) while the Dutchwomen fall to 9-24-1 (4-18-0). Clarkson clinches the ECAC regular-season title for the first time in the program's 11-year history, ending Cornell's four-year reign atop the conference.
The Knights will enter the ECAC playoffs as the top seed and host eighth-seeded Dartmouth in a best two-out-of-three series next weekend at Cheel Arena.
The Knights would win the opening draw of overtime and control the puck in the attacking zone and 61 seconds into overtime senior captain Carly Mercer would find Howe in front of the net. Howe would sneak the puck by Union goaltender Shanae Lundberg to tally the game winner.
No. 1 Minnesota 6, Minnesota-Duluth 0
MINNEAPOLIS – Special teams led Minnesota to a second consecutive 6-0 win and series sweep against visiting Minnesota-Duluth on senior night at Ridder Arena on Saturday evening.
The Gophers scored four power-play goals (4-for-9) and shut down UMD on five opportunities with the man advantage en route to their third consecutive shutout victory.
Junior Rachel Ramsey and sophomore Hannah Brandt led Minnesota with three points each, and sophomore goaltender Amanda Leveille made 10 saves in her 13th shutout of the season.
No. 2 Wisconsin 3, Minnesota State-Mankato 1
MANKATO, Minn. -- Fueled by two third-period goals, Wisconsin defeated Minnesota State-Mankato 3-1 on Saturday at All Seasons Arena.
A balanced attack helped the Badgers complete the sweep, as sophomore Courtney Burke, freshman Sydney McKibbon and sophomore Erika Sowchuk all found the back of the net for Wisconsin.
Freshman Ann-Renée Desbiens made 27 saves and picked up her 11th win of the year. The Badgers outshot the Mavericks 44-28.
Princeton 4, No. 3 Cornell 3
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Junior Brianna Leahy scored twice and had two assists to lead Princeton to a 4-3 won against Cornell in the regular-season finale on Saturday at Lynah Rink.
These teams will meet again in the ECAC quarterfinals next weekend. Third-seed Cornell hosts No. 6 Princeton in the best-of-three series beginning Friday.
Jillian Saulnier put Cornell on the board first at 4:01. Alyssa Gagliardi got the puck on the blue line with Princeton pressuring deep. She circled into the left circle and found Saulnier open on the weak side and she popped it five hole.
Two Princeton power-play goals put the Tigers on top 2-1. Freshman Kelsey Koelzer scored first just 2:02 after Saulnier’s goal. Denna Laing and Jaimie McDonell played catch along the right boards before Laing sent it deep to Leahy. Leahy shuffled back to Laing and delievered a great pass into the slot for Koelzer.
Junior defender Ali Pankowski roofed a shot from the left circle at 11:56 of the second period, after Leahy got a rebound behind the goal and found Pankowski. It was the only goal of the period.
Leahy’s first goal and third point of the day came unassisted at 6:20. Leahy intercepted a Cornell pass just in front of her team’s bench and rifled a shot that went between the legs of Slebodnick. She was pulled after the goal and replaced with Paula Voorheis.
Saulnier made it 3-2 at 9:45. A backhanded pass by Gagliardi into the paint and Saulnier was there to capitalize.
Leahy pushed the Tigers lead back out to two, 4-2, with the would-be game winner at 17:01. The goal came 12 seconds after an injury timeout for a Cornell player. Laing dug the puck out of the corner for Sally Butler, Butler skated in toward the right post and slotted for Leahy who went blocker side on Voorheis.
Cornell pulled Voorheis for the final 1:53 and were able to get one extra attacker goal, by Emily Fulton at with 57.6 seconds left after a scrum out in front of the goal.
No. T5 Boston College 3, Boston University 2
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. -- Freshman Andie Anastos scored two goals, including the game winner with five second remaining in the third period, and goaltender Corinne Boyles made 24 saves to propel Boston College to a 3-2 victory against Boston University at Kelley Rink on Saturday afternoon.
Boston College trailed twice in the game, 1-0 and 2-1, but was able to tie the score both times before finally scoring the game-winning goal in the final seconds of the game.
Andie Anastos netted her 12th goal of the season to tie the game at 1-1 at 9:19 of the second period. Emily Pfalzer intercepted a pass along the right boards in BU's zone, skated behind the net and threw a pass across the ice in front of the net to Anastos, who finished the play with a one-timer that she blasted into the net.
Lexi Bender scored her third goal of the season with a slapshot from the left side of the slot to knot the score at 2-2 with 11:56 to play in the third period. Emily Field and Haley McLean assisted on the play.
Anastos concluded the scoring with her game winner from between the faceoff circles, securing the 3-2 victory for BC. She sent a pass along the right boards to Field who circled back toward the net and fired a shot that a BU defender blocked, but Anastos scooped up the rebound and lifted a shot into the top left corner of the net for the goal.
No. T5 Harvard 3, Brown 1
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Behind a pair of goals from senior Elizabeth Parker and 30 saves from freshman Brianna Laing in net, Harvard handled Brown 3-1, and clinched the Ivy League title outright in the process.
The Ivy League championship is the second in a row for the Crimson (21-4-4, 16-3-3 ECAC) and 12th overall since 1987. Harvard finished 7-1-2 in League play, just ahead of Cornell, which finished 7-2-1. The Big Red and Crimson split last season's Ancient Eight crown.
Aside from the Ivy title, Harvard secured the No. 2 seed in the ECAC tournament. The Crimson will host No. 7-seed Yale in the best-of-three quarterfinals.
Ohio State 3, No. 7 North Dakota 1
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State completed the series sweep of North Dakota with a 3-1 win Saturday afternoon in front of a packed house at the OSU Ice Rink.
Chelsea Knapp got the start between the pipes for the Buckeyes and followed up Friday’s shutout performance by Lisa Steffes by allowing only one goal while stopping 30 shots. With the win Knapp moved into a tie with former Buckeye Ericka Vanderveer for most wins in program history with 42.
North Dakota took the game’s first lead at 9:24 of the opening period on a strike from Amy Menke.
The Buckeyes answered at 14:35 of the first on the 10th goal of the season from Ally Tarr to send the game into the first intermission tied 1-1. Assists on the score were credited to juniors Taylor Kuehl and Danielle Gagne, the 12th helpers of the season for each.
Following a scoreless second period, sophomore Kendall Curtis skated the puck to the center of the North Dakota zone and fired a shot past UND goaltender Lexie Shaw for the game winner 3:27 into the final stanza. The unassisted score was the seventh for her this season.
OSU would extend its lead to 3-1 at the 9:35 mark of the period on the 10th goal of the season for Gagne. Tarr picked up an assist on the score, giving her 103 career points and moving her into eighth place on the Buckeyes all-time scoring list.
No. 8 Mercyhurst 2, Lindenwood 2
ERIE, Pa. -- Mercyhurst tied Lindenwood 2-2 at the end of overtime on Saturday afternoon. The Lakers finished their regular season the CHA regular-season champions with a record of 22-7-4. Lindenwood finished its regular season with a 5-24-3 record.
For the first time in the Lakers history against Lindenwood, the Lakers trailed the Lions 1-0 after skating through a scoreless first period. At the 9:23 mark, Lindenwood's Lyndsay Kirkham scored her sixth goal of the season to give her team the 1-0 edge. Jocelyn Slattery and Kendra Broad were awarded the assists.
Less than a minute later, junior Shelby Bram scored her eighth goal of the season off a rebound from goaltender Nicole Hensley. Senior Christie Cicero took the initial shot from an odd angle at the right side of the net. Bram picked up the puck after crossing through traffic in the center and shot the puck back door.
Lindenwood's Alyssa West gave her team the 2-1 lead at the 8:57 mark in the final period. With the momentum swaying Lindenwood's way, the Lions capitalized after a rush into the offensive zone. Jordyn Constance had the only assist after feeding the puck to West on the left-hand side of Mercyhurst goaltender Amanda Makela.
Lindenwood suffered a penalty for Mercyhurst to have their fourth power play of the contest. Sophomore Jenna Dingeldein scored the tying goal at the 13:02 mark after a one timer at the top half of the circle. Sophomore Emily Janiga rotated the puck to junior Molly Byrne at the point. Molly then fed the puck across ice to Dingeldein who took a hard shot to the top left corner of the net.
No. T9 Quinnipiac 3, Colgate 0
HAMILTON, N.Y. -- Needing a victory to secure home ice for the ECAC Hockey playoffs, Quinnipiac did just that and then some with a record-breaking day for senior Kelly Babstock in a 3-0 win against Colgate on Saturday from Starr Rink. Babstock picked up an assist in the second period to record her 200th career point to become the first in program history to accomplish the feat. With the victory, the Bobcats (20-5-9, 11-4-7 ECAC Hockey) earn the No. 4 seed and will host No. 5 St. Lawrence in a rematch of last year's thrilling quarterfinal series.
Babstock's milestone-clinching moment pushed her into elite company as she already is the only women's ice hockey player with 100 career points and now becomes just the third player (male or female) in Quinnipiac history to reach 200 career points, joining Chris Cerrella (2001) and Todd Johnson (1989) as the only Bobcats in the 200-point club.
The Bobcats' victory gives them their third 20-win season in program history while it also was the 250th in the career of head coach Rick Seeley in 14 seasons with three different teams. Quinnipiac also advances to their fifth consecutive appearance in the ECAC Hockey tournament and will be hosting a quarterfinal series for the third time and second season in a row.
Junior goalie Chelsea Laden was stout in net, making 12 saves for her seventh shutout of the season, a total that ranks as the third-highest in the entire nation. Junior Shiann Darkangelo continued her hot streak with her 20th goal of the season as she now has 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in her past nine games.
No. T9 Robert Morris 4, Penn State 0
PITTSBURGH -- Robert Morris junior forward Rebecca Vint broke her own single-season school record for goals and freshman goaltender Jessica Dodds stopped all 22 shots she faced as the Colonials ended the regular season with a 4-0 victory against Penn State on senior day.
Robert Morris (24-7-3, 13-5-2 CHA) sweeps the season series with Penn State (4-27-3, 1-18-1 CHA), as the Colonials outscored the Nittany Lions 19-2 in their four meetings.
Vint continued her dominance of Penn State with a short-handed goal at the 12:06 mark of the first period. After senior defenseman Kylie St. Louis was booked for roughing, the junior forward stole the puck at the blue line and raced up the ice, lofting a shot over Penn State goaltender Nicole Paniccia's left shoulder for her 12th goal against the Nittany Lions and her 23rd of the season, surpassing her historic mark of 22 set in 2011-12.
RMU added its second goal with 6:55 remaining in the second frame as freshman forward Brittany Howard netted the 17th goal of her rookie campaign. Sophomore defenseman Kelsey Gunn and junior forward Katie Fergus were credited with the assists.
The Colonials stretched their lead to 3-0 in the final stanza with another goal from a rookie. Sophomore forward Ashley Vesci found iron with a shot from the slot, but freshman forward Maeve Garvey was there to clean up the mess, batting in the rebound for her eighth goal of the season. St. Louis was credited with the secondary assist.
