Andrea Braendli stopped 21 shots as No. 4 Ohio State edged the No. 2 Gophers 2-1 on Friday in WCHA women's hockey at Ridder Arena. Minnesota was held scoreless until Emily Brown's goal with 51 seconds left in the game. It came with Gophers goalie Mikayla Pahl out for an extra attacker.
The Buckeyes (10-5) outshot Minnesota 17-3 in the opening period and 13-4 in the second when they scored their two goals. Emma Maltais got the first unassisted at 9 minutes, 4 seconds. It was her third goal this season — all versus the Gophers. Paetyn Levis, a junior forward from Rogers, made it 2-0 at 12:51. Her fourth goal of the season proved to be the winner.
BOXSCORE: Ohio State 2, Gophers 1
This is the third time the Gophers (9-6-1) and Ohio State have met this season; they split their first two series with Minnesota winning the opener both times.
Not this time as Braendli, a junior from Zurich, Switzerland, lowered his 1.98 goals-against average a little more.
Pahl made 36 saves for the Gophers, who dropped from first place in the conference to second with 30 points. Wisconsin (10-2-1, 31) beat Bemidji State 4-0 to move into first by one point. Ohio State stayed in third place but is now only one point behind Minnesota.
The Gophers have been shut out only once this season (by Wisconsin) and held to three goals only three times — all in losses to Ohio State with Braendli in the nets twice.
