COLumbus, Ohio - Senior forward Meghan Lorence scored a goal in each period for her first career hat trick as the Gophers beat Ohio State 5-3 on Saturday afternoon to sweep the WCHA women's hockey series.
"It was a really good game tonight, a hard-fought battle," Gophers coach Brad Frost said. "Meghan Lorence … did just a great job. Again, getting that secondary scoring was huge for us."
Lorence scored the only goal of the first period in the ninth minute, and put the No. 2-rated Gophers (9-1-2, 7-1-2 WCHA) ahead 2-1 in the third minute of the second period after Sara Schmitt's goal for Ohio State at 1:28 had tied the score.
Lorence, an assistant captain from Mounds View, made it 5-3 in the eighth minute of the third period. She has eight goals this season.
Defenseman Rachel Ramsey's goal with 15 seconds left in the second period broke a 2-all tie. Kate Schipper made it 4-2 at 2:25 of the third.
"Going into the third period being up one because of that late goal in the second was great," Frost said, "and then to continue to extend the lead created a lot of momentum for us into the third, and we were able to come away with the win."
Amanda Leveille had 18 saves for the Gophers, Kassidy Sauve had 30 for Ohio State (7-6, 5-5).
