Minnesota fought to fight another day in the WCHA playoffs, while the season came to a close for St. Thomas. The fourth-ranked Gophers battled back from a frustrating 1-0 overtime loss to St. Cloud State to defeat the Huskies and force a deciding third game in their opening round series, while the T ommies were swept at No. 2 Ohio State on Saturday. Gophers 4, St. Cloud State 1 One day after coming up empty despite launching 42 shots on the opposing net, Minnesota cracked SCSU goaltender Emilia Kyrkkö’s code with 49 shots in a 4-1 defeat of the Huskies at Ridder Arena to even their best-of-three series at a game apiece and force a winner-takes-all third game at 3 p.m. Sunday in Minneapolis. Tereza Plosova put Minnesota (25-10-1) in the lead with the game’s opening goal at 8:15 of the first period. It was a lead that the hosts didn’t relinquish, adding three more tallies off the sticks of Abbey Murphy and Chloe Primerano to take a 3-0 edge into the final frame. Maria Mikaelyan kept matters interesting by scoring for the Huskies (12-22-2) at 4:50 of the third to bring the visitors to within two goals, but Murphy’s empty-netter with a minute to play clinched the contest for the hosts. Gophers netminder Hannah Clark made 17 saves in the win. Sunday’s rubber game at Ridder will be broadcast on both Fox 9+, as well as BTN+. Game 3’s winner will advance to the WCHA Final Faceoff on March 5 and 7 at the Lee Penny Anderson Arena on the St. Thomas campus. Ohio State 4, Tommies 1 Unfortunately for St. Thomas, the Tommies will not be part of the tournament being hosted at their arena as Ohio State ended UST’s season with a 4-1 loss in Columbus, Ohio. One day after falling 5-1 to the Buckeyes at the OSU Ice Rink, St. Thomas (12-23-1) saw its season come to a close. Maddie Brown scored the Tommies’ final goal of the winter midway through the second period, but her tally barely made a dent in the mighty titan’s armor. UST goaltender Julia Minotti made 27 saves, while her teammates put 20 shots on the Buckeyes (32-4-0). Related Articles Men’s basketball: Gophers upset UCLA Women’s basketball: Win streak dead, Gophers vow to focus on what’s next Men’s basketball: Tommies wallop Bison Men’s hockey: Gophers stun No. 2 Michigan Women’s basketball: St. Thomas keeps rolling with win against Kansas City ...read more read less