WCHA Weekly Roundup: Jan. 21-26

It was a shocking but fun week in the WCHA! The Tommie stunned the college hockey world, St. Cloud State stole a point from top-ranked Wisconsin, and Minnesota and Bemidji clash it out in the great outdoors. Plus, we take a look at Ohio State's three game week and the week's conference award winners.

Series of the Week: Minnesota Duluth vs. St. Thomas

The number-four ranked Bulldogs headed down to Mendota Heights for a Thursday - Friday series against St. Thomas.

Friday’s game began with a goal from Rylee Bartz to get the Tommies on the board midway through the first period. Duluth answered back with two goals in the second period, including a short handed tally from Olivia Mobley. St. Thomas was awarded a penalty shot attempt late in the second but Ilsa Lindaman’s shot was stopped by UMD goalie Éve Gascon. The Bulldogs held on to their 2-1 lead into the third. Midway through the third, Maddie Brown tipped in a shot to tie the game. In the final 30 seconds of the game, the Tommies had a 2-on-1 chance that ended in Lindaman finding the back of the net for her first career collegiate goal to give St. Thomas the lead and eventually the victory. The win was the first against a top-five ranked opponent in program history for the Tommies.

The two teams met again on Friday with the Bulldogs looking for a split. St. Thomas opened the scoring once again with another Bartz goal less than five minutes into the game for the 1-0 lead. It was Bartz’s seventh goal of the season and second of the weekend. Chloe Boreen found the back of the net seven minutes into the second stanza to extend the lead. But the Bulldogs weren’t going down without a fight. They scored three unanswered goals in the second period alone to once again hold the lead into the final period of play. In the third, the Tommies evened the score with a goal by Lauren Stenslie which held into the end of regulation. Three minutes into overtime Ella Boerger scored the game winner for St. Thomas, her second goal of the season, to secure the 4-3 win. This was the fifth time this season the Tommies took a nationally ranked opponent into overtime. With the win on Friday, St. Thomas earned its first sweep of a nationally-ranked opponent in program history. Goaltender Dani Strom put together a great weekend by making 33 saves on 35 shots saved on Thursday, her 11th outing making 30+ saves. She followed that up with a 40 save performance on Friday, just her second such outing this season.

You can also check out a super cool cinematic recap of the weekend sweep!

The Tommies weren’t done making waves as they announced on Sunday that they removed the interim tag and named Bethany Brausen head coach of the Tommie women’s hockey program. After earning her first win at the helm of the Tommies on Thursday, Brausen will continue to lead a still young and developing St. Thomas women's hockey team. Brausen called it an "immense honor" and one of the "greatest privileges" of her professional career to be named head coach. She joined the Tommies in 2021 and has served as an assistant coach, active head coach, and interim head coach in her time there. Before that she was an assistant coach at the University of Minnesota where as a player she was a two-time captain and led the team to back-to-back national championships in 2012 and 2013. Brausen is now the fifth female head coach in the WCHA's eight team conference. Congratulations to Coach Brausen!

Around the Conference:

If you thought top teams were exiting the weekend with ease, you’d be wrong. In the St. Cloud and Wisconsin series the top-ranked Badgers rolled to a 5-2 win on Saturday. Laila Edwards celebrated her 21st birthday in style by scoring her 25th goal of the season on the power play which was also her sixth game-winning goal of the season. Four other Badgers scored with Laney Potter, Lacey Eden, and Cassie Hall all recording a goal and an assist in the game. Goaltender Ava McNaughton earned her 24th win of the season by stopping 14 of 16 shots. The Badgers have scored a power play goal in their last five games.

But Sunday was a different story. St. Cloud State opened the scoring late in the first period with a goal from Ally Qualley but Wisconsin answered back with a power play goal by Eden, who recorded her 150th career point, less than two minutes later. Midway through the second, Kirsten Simms scored the go-ahead goal on the power play for Wisconsin but the Huskies stuck around and managed to tie the game in the 3rd period with a goal from Laura Zimmermann, her fourth of the season. No team found the back of the net the rest of regulation or in overtime so the game was scored as a tie. In the shootout, McNaughton stopped all three shots in the shootout to award the Badgers the extra WCHA point. The Huskies are the only other team aside from Ohio State to earn a tie or win against Wisconsin. They are the only road team to win a point against the Badgers at home this season.

Minnesota and Bemidji State kicked off their series at Ridder Arena on Field Trip day, where the largest single-game attendance record at the arena was set with 3,700 spectators on hand. The Gophers were riding a four game win streak and looking to extend it in front of such a huge crowd. A quiet first period led to the first goal of the game from Peyton Hemp seven minutes into the second for a 1-0 Minnesota lead. In the third period, Audrey Wethington found the back of the net to extend the lead to two. The Beavers got on the board thanks to a goal from Mya Headrick two minutes later to cut the deficit to one, but Minnesota then scored two more goals thanks to Abbey Murphy, who put the game away late in the period. The Gophers earned their 20th win of the season and extended their win streak to five.

Saturday’s game looked a little different. As part of Hockey Day Minnesota, the series headed outdoors and was played at Valleyfair Amusement Park in Shakopee, Minnesota. It was the third outdoor game in program history for the Gophers who swept the Beavers after a 3-1 win on Saturday. It was Bemidji’s second appearance at Hockey Day Minnesota. The Gophers got off to a quick start with goals from Emma Kreisz and Abbey Murphy who scored her 93rd career goal. Gracie Graham joined in and found the back of the net in the second period for Minnesota’s sixth straight win.

Check out photos of the outdoor game below!

Ohio State had themselves a busy week. They traveled to Pennsylvania to face Mercyhurst in a game that was postponed earlier in the season. The Buckeyes walked away with a 5-1 win thanks in part to Jenna Buglioni who converted on a penalty shot, Mira Jungåker who scored her first career goal and goaltender Hailey MacLeod who made 14 stops. 

Ohio State had a quick turnaround as they hosted Minnesota State over the weekend. The Buckeyes won 5-2 on Friday night with Buglioni coming up clutch once again. The Captain set the new program record of season and career game-winning goals with her game winner that night. She now has seven game-winning goals so far this season and 17 in her career. It is Ohio State’s first regulation win over the Mavericks this season.

On Saturday the Buckeyes notched their third straight conference sweep after a 4-1 win against Mankato. It took a while to get the game’s first goal but Brooke Disher opened up the scoring for a 1-0 Ohio State lead. They added two more goals in the third before Minnesota State found the back of the net, but Jungåker put this game away with an empty netter with only seconds left in the game. It was the 20th win of the season for Ohio State.

Weekly Awards:

WCHA Defender of the Week: Mira Jungåker - Ohio State

Jungåker earned her first Defender of the Week honor after scoring two goals in three games for the Buckeyes. She scored her first collegiate goal against Mercyhurst early in the week and then scored her second goal and an assist on Saturday in the weekend series against Minnesota State.

WCHA Goaltender of the Week: Hailey MacLeod - Ohio State 

MacLeod started in two of Ohio State’s three games and earned wins in both games. She made 14 saves in the game against Mercyhurst and 17 saves against the Mavericks.

WCHA Forward of the Week: Lauren Stenslie - St. Thomas

This is Stenslie’s first weekly honor which she earned after recording one goal and four assists for a five point weekend in the Tommies’ sweep of number-four ranked Minnesota Duluth. She recorded multiple points in each game of the series with Thursday’s game a two point outing and on Friday she scored the game-tying goal and also had two assists.

WCHA Rookie of the Week: Dani Strom  - St. Thomas

Strom met the challenge of facing a top-five ranked team head on. She made a total of 73 saves over the weekend with 40 of them in Friday’s overtime win. She also recorded a .936 SV% and 2.44 GAA over the weekend.

Looking Forward:

Fresh off the greatest week in the program’s history, St. Thomas faces St. Cloud State over the weekend. Can the Tommies continue their run of upsetting ranked opponents? We shall see. Ohio State and Minnesota will meet in Minneapolis as the two teams have been on a tear lately, but someone has to lose… unless they go to a shootout which sort of counts as a tie, right? You know what I mean! Also, top-ranked Wisconsin coming off a scare from the Huskies plays a Bulldogs team looking to get back on track after a weekend sweep.

Weekly Scoreboard:

Tuesday 1/21/25:

Ohio State 5, Mercyhurst 1

Thursday:

Minnesota Duluth 2, St. Thomas 3

Friday:

Bemidji State 1, Minnesota 4

Minnesota Duluth 3, St. Thomas 4

Minnesota State 2, Ohio State 5

Saturday:

Bemidji State 1, Minnesota 3

St. Cloud State 2, Wisconsin 5

Minnesota State 1, Ohio State 4

Sunday:

St. Cloud State 2, Wisconsin 2 (Badgers win shootout)

Full schedule here.