Gophers Advance in WCHA Tourney

MINNEAPOLIS (GopherSports.com) – Led by a hat trick from 2016 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award top-10 finalist Dani Cameranesi and a 25-save shutout from Amanda Leveille, the No. 2 Golden Gophers defeated Ohio State, 5-0, to win the WCHA First Round best-of-three series and move on to next weekend's WCHA Final Face-off.

Minnesota (31-3-1, 24-3-1-0 WCHA) took the best-of-three series in two games after a 5-2 win on Friday night. In Saturday's 5-0 win, Cameranesi led the way with four points, adding an assist to her hat trick. The Gophers also received goals from Kate Schipper (1g-2a) and Lee Stecklein (1g), and Leveille's 25 saves secured her ninth shutout of the season.

Ohio State (10-25-1, 6-21-1-1 WCHA) recevied 25 saves from goaltender Alex LaMere as the Gophers outshot the Buckeyes, 30-25.

Cameranesi scored her first of the night at the 9:35 mark of the first period off assists from Brook Garzone and Schipper before the Gophers found the back of the net three times in

The rest of the WCHA Final Face-off field is set as No. 6 seed Minnesota Duluth upset No. 3 seed Bemidji State with a 2-1 overtime win Saturday after winning 5-1 on Friday. Top-seeded Wisconsin cruised past No. 8 seed Minnesota State with 4-0 and 6-0 wins, and No. 4 seed North Dakota took care of No. 5 seed St. Cloud State with a pair of 6-1 victories.ip game at 2 p.m.