Dani Cameranesi scored three goals, two 1½ minutes apart late in the second period, to lead the No. 2-ranked Gophers to a 5-0 victory over Ohio State on Saturday afternoon at Ridder Arena. The second consecutive win for Minnesota in this best-of-three quarterfinal series advances the Gophers to the WCHA's Final Face-Off next weekend.

The Gophers (31-3-1) will play North Dakota (18-11-5), which advanced with two 6-1 wins over St. Cloud State, on Saturday at Ridder.

Cameranesi, a junior forward with a team-high 32 goals now, gave the Gophers a 1-0 lead over OSU (10-25-1) at 9 minutes, 35 seconds of the first period. Defenseman Lee Stecklein made it 2-0 six minutes into the middle period. Then Cameranesi struck twice, at 15:48 of the middle period and again, on a power play, at 17:15.

Kate Schipper got the final Gophers goal in the 14th minute of the third period with Cameranesi getting the lone assist. Schipper had two assists, on Cameranesi's first and third goals.

"The difference-maker was getting a goal in the first period," Cameranesi said. "We struggled with that [Friday] and didn't get one until late in the second, so they were able to keep themselves in the game. We just came out with a lot of heart and passion today."

Amanda Leveille had 25 saves for the Gophers, Alex LaMere 25 for the Buckeyes.

Cameranesi

The Gophers, who won the first game of the series 5-2, extended their unbeaten streak over Ohio State to 40 games (38-0-2) dating to February 2008.