No. 1 Gophers defeat UND in women's hockey

Dani Cameranesi and Milica McMillen each scored two goals as the No. 1-rated Gophers women's hockey team defeated No. 9 North Dakota 5-2 on Friday night at Ridder Arena.

Freshman Cara Piazza got the game-winner for Minnesota (6-0-1, 4-0-1 WCHA). Her third goal of the season gave the Gophers a 3-1 lead at 11:54 of the third period. She is a 5-7 forward from Darien, Ill.

"It was a hard-fought win here tonight," Gophers coach Brad Frost said. "Another WCHA battle, just like all of our games are. The 5-2 score can be a little misleading, but we're happy with the three points."

The score was 3-2, until empty-net goals by Cameranesi and then McMillen in the final 2 minutes, 1 second.

North Dakota (4-3, 3-2) took an early 1-0 lead on Andrea Dalen's goal. Cameranesi scored her then-team-leading seventh goal in the middle of the opening period to tie the score at 1-1. A power-play goal by McMillen, a junior defenseman, at 11:19 of the second period put Minnesota ahead 2-1.

"North Dakota got out to a quick start there," Frost said. "I actually thought we started well. With them getting that one, I liked our response getting it back.

"[And] that power-play goal was huge for us to get up to 2-1 in the second. I thought they really outplayed us in the second period, but we were fortunate to get out of there with the lead going into the third."

McMillen's empty-netter for a 4-2 cushion was unassisted. She now had five goals this season.

The Gophers came into the series with its blue-liners leading the nation in scoring, averaging 4.2 points per game.

Minnesota held North Dakota's power-play unit, which entered the game as No. 2 in the nation at 29.4 percent, to 0-for-4. The Gophers converted on one of their three opportunities on the power play.