Kelly Pannek's late goal extends Gophers' unbeaten streak vs. Ohio State

Junior center Kelly Pannek, the NCAA points leader, scored her 14th goal of the season with 3 minutes, 37 seconds left in the third period to give the Gophers a 2-1 victory over Ohio State on Friday night in a WCHA game at Ridder Arena.

Pannek's goal broke a 1-1 tie and continued Minnesota's prodigious unbeaten streak against the Buckeyes.

It's now at 43 games (41-0-2), going back to February 2008. This was the third one-goal win for the No. 4 Gophers (17-5-2, 13-4-2-2 WCHA) this season.

They won 3-2 and 2-1 on Oct. 21-22 in Columbus.

Ohio State (11-12-2, 5-12-2) took a 1-0 lead in this game on Julianna Iafallo's goal at 4:48 of the second period.

The Buckeyes' Kassidy Sauve, who finished with 31 saves, kept the Gophers scoreless until Caitlin Reilly tied it, scoring at 10:43 of the third.

Last weekend the visiting Gophers were swept by Minnesota Duluth, ending their 21-game unbeaten streak against UMD. Could another streak, twice as long, end?

Pannek's goal extended her points streak to 20 games. And she now has 49 points — 11 more than anyone else.

Backup Gophers goalie Emma May, a sophomore from Cretin-Derham Hall, got the win, stopping seven shots in her first career start.

"[May] did everything that we needed her to do," Gophers coach Brad Frost said.