La Toya Clarke and Kelly Stephens led No. 1 Minnesota to a 4-1 victory against Ohio State in the semifinals of the WCHA Final Five Friday. Clarke and Stephens each had three points on the night.
The Gophers had two goals in the first, one in the second and another in the third for the four-goal total. With the win, the Gophers (27-3-5) move to the WCHA championship game Saturday night at Fogerty Arena.
Minnesota’s Ronda Curtin started the run with a power-play goal at 14:44 of the first period, scoring her 12th goal on a slapshot at the point. Curtin leads the team and the WCHA with 46 points, and was named the WCHA Player and Defensive Player of the Year earlier Friday. Clarke and Stephens tallied assists on the power-play marker.
Clarke added Minnesota’s second goal at 18:38 with the assist going again to Stephens. Clarke won the faceoff and passed the puck to Stephens. Once clear of the back of the net, Stephens passed it to Clarke, who put it on the short side over the shoulder of Buckeye goalie Melissa Glaser.
“That line played very well, Buckeye head coach Jackie Barto said. “I thought the goal they scored at the end of the first period was a big momentum builder.”
Stephens and Clarke teamed for the third Minnesota goal. Stephens beat a OSU defender, putting the puck past Glaser.
The Gophers then added a Sutton goal at 10:06 of the third, her seventh goal of the season. Netminder Jody Horak played in her 17th game of the year, moving her record to 14-1-2. She had five saves in the first, six in the second and 17 in the third for a game-total of 28.
“I was happy with our effort and I thought we played well and we are looking forward to playing Wisconsin tomorrow,” Gopher head coach Laura Halldorson said.
The matchup was the fifth time that the Gophers have defeated Ohio State this season.
Wisconsin defeated Minnesota-Duluth in the earlier semifinal, 4-1. With the win, the Badgers will face Minnesota at 7:05 p.m. Saturday for the WCHA title. The Gophers have gone 3-1-0 against the Badgers this season, with two of the four games going into overtime.
In their last meetings, the Badgers defeated Minnesota 2-0 in the opening game of the series, but the Gophers avoided the sweep with a 3-2 overtime victory in the rematch.
