St. Thomas and Hamline, two MIAC teams, both won Saturday afternoon at home in NCAA Division III women's hockey quarterfinal games. They will meet in the semifinals on Friday at a site and time to be determined. This is the first time two MIAC have reached their division's Frozen Four.
The Tommies (25-1-2) had the more difficult game, edging Wisconsin-Eau Claire 4-3 on three goals in the third period. Sarah Moy and Anna Erickson scored 1:31 apart to put St. Thomas ahead 3-2 at 5:32. Rachel Werdin's empty-net goal with 29 seconds left made it 4-2 before the Blugolds scored with 15 seconds to play.
Molly Garin scored three goals and Bre Simon added a goal and three assists in the Pipers' 5-1 win over Wisconsin-River Falls 5-1 at Tria Rink. The Pipers scored three power-play goals and one shorthanded.
Garin, a freshman from Mound, scored once in each period to lead Hamline (22-3-3). Jaela O'Brien, a freshman, stopped 25 shots to help the Pipers return to the NCAA semifinals for the second year in a row.
Walks lead to U loss
The Gophers lost 6-5 to San Diego in the Seattle Baseball Showcase on two bases-loaded walks in a time-shortened eight-inning game at T-Mobile Ballpark.
Minnesota (2-10) scored twice in the seventh inning to take the lead. Riley Smith's RBI single tied the score at 4-4 and Andrew Wilhite followed with an RBI double.
U softball splits
The No. 22 Gophers softball team played two games in the Longhorn Invitational, losing 5-3 to No. 9 Texas in the first and then beating Texas Southern 7-4 in the second.
