UMD Women’s Hockey Set to Battle Ohio State in All-WCHA National Championship

The Bulldogs and Buckeyes split the regular season series this season. Puck drop for Sunday's national championship is set for 3:00 p.m.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Penn. – The Minnesota Duluth women’s hockey team relied on their seniors on Friday as Emma Soderberg made a career-high 46 saves and Naomi Rogge scored the game-winner in double overtime. Because of that, the Bulldogs are back in the national championship game for the first time in 12 years and they’re greeted by a familiar opponent.

The Bulldogs will face WCHA foes Ohio State in Sunday’s title game. This will be the sixth All-WCHA national championship matchup in the league’s history. The two teams split the regular season series, with the December games being heavy offensively while the January games were much tighter.

“They’re actually what I would say, the most similar team to us in the WCHA I think. They’re gritty but they’re also fast and they’re a skilled team. Sophie Jaques has been having a great season so just watching out for her,” senior forward and team captain Anna Klein said.

“Four really good hockey games overall and so we know what their strengths are, we know what our strengths are, we’re very familiar with each another which makes it pretty fun here to get that fifth game against a familiar opponent. I’d like for us to dictate the way the game’s going to be played tomorrow and I feel really good about the way that we’re playing. I think we’re playing our best hockey which is awesome so we just want to keep doing that,” head coach Maura Crowell said.

The Bulldogs are looking for their sixth national championship and first with Crowell as head coach, while the Buckeyes are looking for their first. Puck drop on Sunday is set for 3:00 p.m on ESPNU.