Bemidji, Minn. – The Gophers women's hockey team scored three goals in the third period to beat Minnesota Duluth 4-1 on Friday in the semifinals of the WCHA's Final Face-off at the Sanford Center.

Rachael Bona scored at 7:47 of the final period on a power play to give the No. 1-rated Gophers (35-1-1) a 2-1 lead. Milica Millen made it 3-1 about six minutes later. And Dani Cameranesi got the final goal with 50 seconds left.

The Gophers will play North Dakota in Saturday's championship game. UND edged Wisconsin 1-0 on Meghan Dufault's goal in the second period. Shelby Amsley-Benzie had 35 saves for the shutout.

In the second semifinal, the Bulldogs (15-15-6) took a 1-0 lead in the second period on Katerina Mrazova's first goal of the season. But Kelly Terry answered with her 18th goal of the season for the Gophers before the period ended.

Amanda Leveille had 21 saves for the Gophers, Kayla Black 32 for UMD.

• The Gophers received all five major WCHA awards Thursday night at a pretournament banquet. Sophomore Hannah Brandt was named the conference player of the year, Terry the student-athlete of the year, junior Rachel Ramsey the defensive player of the year, and freshman Cameranesi the rookie of the year.

• President Obama invited the team to visit the White House on Monday so he can recognize them for their national title and 41-0 record in the 2012-13 season.