CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Miye D'Oench found the back of the net twice for Harvard in an elimination game, including the game winner in the second overtime period, as the Crimson (22-5-4, 16-3-3 ECAC) edged archrival Yale (9-15-7, 6-9-7ECAC) 3-2. Harvard stays alive with the win, and will faceoff with Yale on Sunday to decide the series.
D'Oench's two scores vaulted the Crimson to victory, while freshman Brianna Laing's play in net allowed Harvard the opportunity to remain in the title hunt. Laing finished with 32 saves during the four-plus periods, while her counterpart, Jaimie Leonoff, was tested by the Crimson for the second night in a row, forced to see more than 50 shots.
Yale took a 1-0 lead into the third before the two teams combined for three third-period goals. D'Oench scored first in the period to equalize the game, which seemed to give Harvard momentum. But Yale managed to stave off any Crimson attempt. Just five minutes later, Aurora Kennedy gave the Bulldogs more life. She weaved through the Crimson defenders and eventually found Phoebe Staenz, who tapped in a shot from the left side of the net to regain the lead for the visitors.
After a fair amount of back-and-forth, Harvard struck again in a crucial spot with just four minutes and change remaining. The Crimson tied things up thanks to a brillaing play in front of the net by Jessica Harvey. After Sarah Edney ripped a missle from the point that caromed off the boards, Harvey battled for the loose puck in the crease, sending it back into the zone. Dylanne Crugnale made a move to get open on the right side of the net, where she efficiently one-timed Harvey's pass into the back of the net to even the ledger.
No. 1 Minnesota 7, St. Cloud State 1
MINNEAPOLIS -- Led by four points from sophomore Hannah Brandt, Minnesota cruised past St. Cloud State 7-1 at Ridder Arena Saturday evening. The Gophers defeated the Huskies 4-1 and 7-1 to win the best-of-three WCHA first-round series and advance to next weekend's WCHA Final Face-off.
Along with Brandt's four-point effort, five other Gophers recorded multiple points in Minnesota's 14th consecutive victory. Freshman Kate Flug, senior Sarah Davis, sophomore Maryanne Menefee and junior Meghan Lorence each recorded two points on one goal and one assist, and junior Rachael Ramsey registered two assists.
Minnesota State-Mankato 3, No. 2 Wisconsin 0
MADISON, Wis. -- Minnesota State-Mankato used a goal in each period from three different seniors and a career-best 51-save performance from senior Danielle Butters to stun Wisconsin 3-0 in Western Collegiate Hockey Association playoff action Saturday night at LaBahn Arena.
With the victory, the Mavericks improve to 13-22-1 overall and force a decisive Game 3 on Sunday afternoon, while the Badgers drop to 26-6-2 on the season. Wisconsin is the highest-ranked team MSU has ever defeated, and it is the first Maverick win against the Badgers since Feb. 12, 2010 and their second ever in Madison.
Minnesota State pounced on the host Badgers early staking claim to a 1-0 lead just 1:43 into the contest. Junior Natalie Stoltz drove the net and fired a shot that squeaked between the pads of Wisconsin senior Alex Rigsby, before MSU senior Melissa Klippenstein slapped home the rebound for her sixth goal of the season and the only marker of the first period.
The Mavericks extended the advantage to 2-0 entering the second intermission on senior Kari Lundberg's 10th tally of the year. Lundberg took a feed from Stoltz and beat Rigsby with a wrist shot from the right circle that deflected off the left post and in at 5:31. Butters displayed prime form for the Mavericks backing up her 17-save performance in the first period with 14 additional saves in the second stanza.
The trend of early MSU goals continued in the third period when senior Kelsie Scott picked up a Badger turnover and deked out Rigsby before lifting a short-handed goal over her left pad at 3:08 increasing the Maverick lead to 3-0. The marker was Scott's sixth of the season and her second short-handed tally of the year, which is tied for second-most in program history. Junior Shelby Moteyunas was credited with an assist on the play. From there, Minnesota State used 20 saves from Butters, including 10 on the penalty kill, to deny a trio of Wisconsin power plays and claim the victory.
Stoltz's pair of assists are a new career-high, while Butters recorded 51 saves to earn her first shutout of the year and the first MSU shutout of Wisconsin.
No. 3 Clarkson 2, Dartmouth 0
POTSDAM, N.Y. -- Senior goaltender Erica Howe recorded her second consecutive shutout as Clarkson blanked the Dartmouth Big Green 2-0 on Saturday afternoon at Cheel Arena.
The top-seeded Golden Knights improve to 27-4-5 and will host the ECAC Women's Hockey Championship next Saturday and Sunday at Cheel Arena. The loss ends Dartmouth's season with a record of 9-20-1. Clarkson is now unbeaten in its past 18 games, going 15-0-3 dating back to the first week of December.
Howe stopped all 16 shots she faced on the afternoon to record her 13th shutout of the season. Three of those shutouts came against Dartmouth, including a 2-0 victory on Friday.
Cayley Mercer gave the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead with about a minute to go in the first before Christine Lambert added another at the 11:07 of the second.
No. 6 Cornell 5, Princeton 3
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Junior forward Jillian Saulnier had a hand in four of the five Cornell goals as the Big Red defeated Princeton in Game Two of the ECAC Hockey playoffs 5-3 on Saturday at Lynah Rink. Cornell will face the regular-season conference champions, Clarkson, next weekend at Cheel Arena for the ECAC Hockey semifinals.
Princeton's Sally Butler got the Tigers on the board at 5:01 in the first period and took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission, but it was Cornell that scored the next three goals to get ahead and never look back.
Sophomore defender Morgan Richardson opened up scoring for the Big Red at 2:19 in the second period. Sophomore forward Taylor Woods then gave the Big Red a 2-1 lead with help from Saulnier and senior forward Jessica Campbell.
Campbell notched Cornell's third tally at 2:18 into the third period off a pass from Saulnier, but 48 seconds later, Denna Laing dropped the Big Red's lead to one as she snuck one past freshman goaltender Paula Voorheis.
Cornell's lead increased again to two as Saulnier scored off a pass from Campbell at 7:37. Cassidy Tucker kept Princeton close, knocking in a pass from Rose Alleva.
With 56 seconds left, Saulnier slid a shot into the Tigers' empty net, giving the Big Red the 5-3 victory.
No. 7 Quinnipiac 2, St. Lawrence 1
HAMDEN, Conn. -- It took every ounce of energy Quinnipiac had left but when all was said and done, Bobcats came away with a triumphant 2-1 series-clinching victory against St. Lawrence from High Point Solutions Arena.
As the clock wound down under three minutes the Saints and Bobcats were both playing desperate hockey as St. Lawrence was flinging the puck toward the net at every opportunity while Quinnipiac was diving and sticking away at every loose puck trying to get a clear. In the end, a few timely blocks from the Bobcats and several big saves from junior goalie Chelsea Laden proved enough for the home team to advance to the ECAC Hockey semifinals.
Junior Shiann Darkangelo continued her stellar play this weekend with two points (one goal, one assist) on two Bobcat goals as she put up five total points (three goals, two assists) throughout the two-game playoff series. On Saturday she assisted on a goal from senior Kelly Babstock and then found the back of the net on the eventual game-winning goal late in the second period as Darkangelo finished with both game-winners against the Saints in the ECAC Hockey quarterfinals.
No. 9 North Dakota 3, Bemidji State 2 (OT)
GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- Meghan Dufault netted the overtime winner in a thrilling 3-2 victory against Bemidji State, as North Dakota clinched a berth in the 2014 WCHA Final Face-Off on Saturday night at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
With the win, North Dakota capped off a sweep of the Beavers in the first round of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs and will play in the semifinals on Friday against an opponent still yet to be determined.
Dufault’s winner came 9:47 into the extra period. Josefine Jakobsen’s shot from the slot was stopped by Bemidji State goaltender Brittni Mowat, but Dufault drove to the net and pounced on the rebound, putting a backhander into the net for her 11th goal of the season.
