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Gophers women drop thriller against juggernaut Badgers in WCHA title game

Minnesota's season will continue with the start of the NCAA tournament next week.
Will Ragatz|
Minnesota came up just short against Wisconsin on Saturday
Minnesota came up just short against Wisconsin on Saturday | Bjorn Franke, Gophers Athletics

The Gophers women's hockey team came up just short in a thriller against Wisconsin in the WCHA Final FaceOff title game on Saturday afternoon in Duluth. The Badgers, who haven't lost in over two months, scored with less than 30 seconds left in the third period to seal a 4-3 victory.

Both teams' seasons will continue in the 11-team NCAA tournament, which begins with regionals next weekend. Wisconsin (35-1-2) will be the No. 1 overall seed. Minnesota (28-11-1) will likely still host a regional as the No. 3 or 4 overall seed.

The Badgers struck first in Saturday's game, but the Gophers responded with a game-tying goal from Allie Franco just 20 seconds later. Josefin Bouveng's goal later in the opening period gave Minnesota a 2-1 lead at the first intermission.

It was a back-and-forth affair. Wisconsin scored the next two goals to go back on top, but a power-play goal from Natalie Mlynkova in the final minute of the second period drew the Gophers back even heading into the final stanza.

No goals were scored in the third period until Sarah Wozniewicz won it for Wisconsin with just 25 seconds on the clock. Both teams finished with 34 shots on goal in a very tightly-contested game.

Wisconsin, the top team in the country, has now won 16 consecutive games since its last defeat on Jan. 4 against Ohio State. The Badgers have lost just twice all season, and both came at the hands of the Buckeyes. This was a much better effort from the Gophers, who are now 0-5 against Wisconsin this season. They'd previously lost 5-0, 4-3, 8-2, and 6-1 against the Badgers.

To get to this game, Minnesota scored six unanswered goals to come from behind and beat Ohio State on Friday.

The women's hockey NCAA tournament bracket will be revealed tomorrow (Sunday, March 9).

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Will Ragatz
WILL RAGATZ

Will Ragatz is a senior writer for Vikings On SI, who also covers the Twins, Timberwolves, Gophers, and other Minnesota teams. He is a credentialed Minnesota Vikings beat reporter, covering the team extensively at practices, games and throughout the NFL draft and free agency period. Ragatz attended Northwestern University, where he studied at the prestigious Medill School of Journalism. During his time as a student, he covered Northwestern Wildcats football and basketball for SB Nation’s Inside NU, eventually serving as co-editor-in-chief in his junior year. In the fall of 2018, Will interned in Sports Illustrated’s newsroom in New York City, where he wrote articles on Major League Baseball, college football, and college basketball for SI.com.

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