Cara Piazza’s shorthanded breakaway goal with 16.9 seconds remaining in the second period ended up being enough for the Gophers in a 2-1 victory over its in-state neighbor. Junior Julia Tylke scored for St. Cloud State (5-15-2, 3-11-2-0 WCHA), which fell one goal short against Minnesota (16-5-2, 10-4-2-0 WCHA) for the second straight game between the two teams.
“That was a huge momentum thing for us to get up by two. We were pushing hard in the second period. Nothing was going in,” said Gophers head coach Brad Frost about Piazza’s goal. “Then all of the sudden to catch a break and a real nice shot on a breakaway.”
While both teams are WCHA members, Tuesday’s contest was officially a nonconference affair.
Each had holes in the schedule following North Dakota dropping women’s hockey in March. The Gophers and Huskies already played a two-game series earlier in the season in Minneapolis with the two teams set for another next month in St. Cloud. Despite losing all three, St. Cloud State was more competitive as the games went along.
“Every year I’ve been playing we’ve been getting a lot better. I’ve gone from being on a team that lost 12-0 and now it’s a one-goal game. It’s a huge growth for the program,” said Tylke. “We’re for sure just right there to finish it off.”
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