With their spot in the eight-team NCAA women's hockey tournament all but assured, the Gophers got the added boost Saturday of seeing one of the nation's best goal scorers return from injury.
Dani Cameranesi, who'd been out since mid-January with a lower body injury, played the whole game — creating chances into the second overtime — as the No. 5 Gophers and No. 2 Minnesota Duluth skated a marathon in the WCHA semifinals.
Even with Cameranesi, though, the Gophers still had the hardest time getting anything past UMD goalie Maddie Rooney.
The sophomore from Andover made 62 saves before Lara Stalder finally ended it with a disputed goal — reviewed for a possible high stick — which gave UMD a 2-1 triumph at Ridder Arena.
At 91 minutes and 29 seconds, it was the longest game in WCHA tournament history.
"I'm feeling great," Cameranesi said afterward. "I was actually joking that I missed too many games, so they wanted to throw two at me right away."
The Gophers (25-7-5) are still expected to receive an at-large NCAA berth when the field is announced Sunday at 8 p.m. In fact, most analysts predict they'll be heading to Duluth for next Saturday's quarterfinal.
UMD (25-5-5) snapped its 16-game winless streak at Ridder Arena and took a 3-2 lead against the Gophers in their season series.