Now the waiting begins.
The No. 4 Gophers women's hockey team, as usual, beat Minnesota State Mankato 3-0 on Saturday afternoon at Ridder Arena to move into a tie for first place with Wisconsin for the regular-season title.
The Badgers, though, don't finish the regular season until Sunday, when they play Minnesota Duluth at 2 p.m. at Amsoil Arena. Wisconsin needs a win or tie in that game for an outright conference title.
Minnesota (25-5-3, 17-5-2-1 WCHA) gave itself a chance for a title share — and coach Brad Frost his 400th career win — by beating the Mavericks for the 48th consecutive time. This game was closer than many of the wins in that streak.
Grace Zumwinkle's team-high 22nd goal of the season put Minnesota ahead 1-0 just over 11 minutes into the game. Sarah Potomak made it 2-0 at 2:45 of the second. Amy Potomak, Sarah's sister, scored in the third.
Three goals was more than enough offense for Gophers goalie Sydney Scobee; she stopped 24 shots for her eighth shutout this season. Goalie Calla Frank had 37 saves for the Mavericks (11-18-6, 4-16-4-3).
"Another solid game," said Frost, whose career record is 400-75-34 in 13 seasons. "Scobee was very good and able to get a goal every period there. Was just fantastic how we took away their time and space well. We possessed the puck well and had a lot of good chances."
Zumwinkle and Amy Potomak both had seven shots on goal, tying for the game high.
"[Now] we're excited about getting into the playoffs here and starting our final season," Frost said.
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