2023 WCHA women's ice hockey tournament

2023 WCHA Women's ice hockey tournament
2023 WCHA Women's ice hockey tournament
Dates	February 24– March 4, 2023
Teams	8
Finals site	Ridder Arena; Minneapolis, Minnesota
Champions	Minnesota (8th title)
Winning coach	Brad Frost (5th title)
MVP	Abbey Murphy (Minnesota)
	WCHA Women's Ice Hockey Tournaments ← 2022 2024 →

The 2023 WCHA Ice Hockey Tournament was the 24th edition of the WCHA Tournament. It was played between February 24 and March 4, 2023. It was hosted by the University of Minnesota at Ridder Arena. Minnesota won the championship game over Ohio State, 3–1, making it their eighth title. As the tournament winner, Minnesota received the conference's automatic bid to the 2023 NCAA Division I women's ice hockey tournament.

Format

The tournament included all eight teams in the conference. Teams were ranked according to their finish in the conference standings. All quarterfinal games were best two of three and were played at the highest seeds home sites, and starting with the semifinals, single-elimination played at Ridder Arena. The tournament champion will receive an automatic bid into the 2023 NCAA National Collegiate women's ice hockey tournament.^[1]

Standings

2022–23 Western Collegiate Hockey Association standings v t e
	Conference								Overall
	GP	W	L	T	SOW	PTS	GF	GA	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA
#2 Ohio State †	28	23	4	1	1	70	119	52	40	33	6	2	169	71
#3 Minnesota *	28	22	3	3	1	68	126	52	39	30	6	3	177	72
#1 Wisconsin	27	19	6	2	1	60	113	46	40	29	10	2	169	67
#7 Minnesota Duluth	28	17	8	3	2	54	87	44	39	26	10	3	125	53
#12 St. Cloud State	28	11	16	1	0	36	57	82	37	18	18	1	87	96
Minnesota State	28	9	18	1	0	30	55	92	36	15	20	1	91	105
St. Thomas	28	3	24	1	1	12	30	110	36	8	27	1	53	130
Bemidji State	28	2	26	0	0	6	23	130	36	5	30	1	40	154
Championship: March 4, 2023 † indicates conference regular season champion; * indicates conference tournament champion Rankings: USCHO.com; updated March 19, 2023

Bracket

Quarterfinals February 24, 25					Semifinals March 3			Championship March 4

8	Bemidji State	1	1	—

1	Ohio State	4	2	—
					1	Ohio State	2

					4	Minnesota-Duluth	1
5	St. Cloud State	0	1	—

4	Minnesota-Duluth	1	5	—
								1	Ohio State	1

								2	Minnesota	3
7	St. Thomas	0	2	—

2	Minnesota	7	6	—
					2	Minnesota	4

					3	Wisconsin	2
6	Minnesota State	0	1	—

3	Wisconsin	3	4	—

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

Results

Quarterfinals

(8) Bemidji State at (1) Ohio State

February 24, 2023^[2]
5:00 PM

Bemidji State

1–4
(0–1, 1–2, 0–2)

Ohio State

The Ohio State University Ice Rink, Columbus, Ohio
Attendance: 586

Game reference

Hannah Hogenson

Goalies

Amanda Thiele

Referees:
Chris Binkley
Gui Bradshaw
Linesmen:
Tyler Iffland
Tim Katrinak

	0–1	1:38 – Sophie Jaques (Maltais)
Makenna Deering (Hunt, Anderson) – 25:43	1–1
	1–2	39:59.8 – Jaques (Maltais, Webster)
	1–3	52:40 Jaques (Levis, Webster)
	1–4	58:59 – en – Emma Maltais (Webster)

4 min

Penalties

2 min

13

Shots

45

February 25, 2023^[3]
2:00 PM

Bemidji State

1–2
(0–1, 0–0, 1–1)

Ohio State

The Ohio State University Ice Rink, Columbus, Ohio
Attendance: 688

Game reference

Hannah Hogenson

Goalies

Amanda Thiele

Referees:
Chris Binkley
Gui Bradshaw
Linesmen:
Tyler Iffland
Tim Katrinak

	0–1	2:00 – Sloane Matthes (Hauswirth)
	0–2	56:17 – Jennifer Gardiner (Rosenthal, Jaques)
Claire Vekich (Lund, Hunt) – pp – 57:37	1–2

2 min

Penalties

6 min

16

Shots

30

(7) St. Thomas at (2) Minnesota

February 24, 2023^[4]
6:00 PM

St. Thomas

0–7
(0–3, 0–2, 0–2)

Minnesota

Ridder Arena, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Attendance: 1,224

Game reference

Saskia Maurer

Goalies

Skylar Vetter

Referees:
Tyler Olson
Duncan Ryhorchuk
Linesmen:
Marcel DuBois
Brian Jansen

	0–1	1:04 – Grace Zumwinkle (Murphy, Laitinen)
	0–2	12:58 – Grace Zumwinkle (Murphy, Oden)
	0–3	19:51.5 – pp – Abbey Murphy (G. Zumwinkle, Heise)
	0–4	20:56– Taylor Heise (Skaja, Ostertag)
	0–5	36:02– Peyton Hemp (Norcross, Huber)
	0–6	54:29– Madeline Wethington (G. Zumwinkle, Laitinen)
	0–7	54:53– Taylor Heise (Norton)

2 min

Penalties

4 min

14

Shots

51

February 25, 2023^[5]
2:00 PM

St. Thomas

2–6
(0–1, 1–3, 1–2)

Minnesota

Ridder Arena, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Attendance: 1,289

Game reference

Saskia Maurer

Goalies

Skylar Vetter

Referees:
Tyler Olson
Duncan Ryhorchuk
Linesmen:
Marcel DuBois
Brian Jansen

	0–1	1:42 – Grace Zumwinkle (Huber)
Brieja Parent (Vallario) – 21:46	1–1
	1–2	27:42 – Crystalyn Hengler (Kaiser)
	1–3	27:57 – Taylor Heise (Skaja, Boreen)
	1–4	29:18 – Abbey Murphy (Oden, G. Zumwinkle)
Maija Almich – 42:40	2–4
	2–5	46:24 – Taylor Heise (Boreen, Skaja)
	2–6	59:16.2 – Catie Skaja (Hengler, Boreen)

8 min

Penalties

6 min

24

Shots

57

(6) Minnesota State at (3) Wisconsin

February 24, 2023^[6]
7:00 PM

Minnesota State

0–3
(0–0, 0–3, 0–0)

Wisconsin

LaBahn Arena, Madison, Wisconsin
Attendance: 1,823

Game reference

Alexa Berg

Goalies

Cami Kronish

Referees:
Tyler Olson
Duncan Ryhorchuk
Linesmen:
Marcel DuBois
Brian Jansen

	0–1	22:49 – Kirsten Simms
	0–2	25:58 – Caroline Harvey (Wheeler)
	0–3	33:43 – Sarah Wozniewicz (O'Brien, Shirley)

8 min

Penalties

10 min

21

Shots

42

February 25, 2023^[7]
3:00 PM

Minnesota State

1–4
(1–0, 0–2, 0–2)

Wisconsin

LaBahn Arena, Madison, Wisconsin
Attendance: 2,273

Game reference

Alexa Berg

Goalies

Cami Kronish

Referees:
Tyler Olson
Duncan Ryhorchuk
Linesmen:
Brian Jansen
Marcel DuBois

Sydney Langseth (Butorac, Nelson) – 17:39	1–0
	1–1	30:31 – Britta Curl (Compher, L. Edwards)
	1–2	31:54 – Laila Edwards (Curl, C. Edwards)
	1–3	41:37 – Sarah Wozniewicz (Eden, Simms)
	1–4	48:36 – pp – Lacey Eden (O'Brien)

14 min

Penalties

6 min

27

Shots

51

(5) St. Cloud State at (4) Minnesota-Duluth

February 24, 2023^[8]
3:00 PM

St. Cloud State

0–1
(0–0, 0–0, 0–1)

Minnesota-Duluth

AMSOIL Arena, Duluth, Minnesota
Attendance: 758

Game reference

Jojo Chobak

Goalies

Emma Soderberg

Referees:
Robert Ludwig
Mike Kaehler
Linesmen:
Aaron Neville
Glendon Seal

0–1

57:26 – pp – Maggie Flaherty (Soderberg)

4 min

Penalties

6 min

23

Shots

33

February 25, 2023^[9]
5:00 PM

St. Cloud State

1–5
(0–1, 0–3, 1–1)

Minnesota-Duluth

AMSOIL Arena, Duluth, Minnesota
Attendance: 871

Game reference

Sanni Ahola

Goalies

Emma Soderberg

Referees:
Robert Ludwig
Mike Kaehler
Linesmen:
Aaron Neville
Glendon Seal

	0–1	14:39 – Naomi Rogge (Hanley)
	0–2	22:12 – Kylie Hanley (Baskin, Henderson)
	0–3	38:58 – pp – Mary Kate O'Brien (Hanley, Jobst-Smith)
	0–4	39:41.5 – Taylor Anderson (Hughes)
Taylor Lind (Wolfe, Hall) – pp, ea – 47:35	1–4
	1–5	57:51 – en – Naomi Rogge

9 min

Penalties

6 min

24

Shots

48

Semifinals

(4) Minnesota-Duluth vs. (1) Ohio State

March 3, 2023^[10]
1:00 PM

Minnesota-Duluth

1–2
(0–0, 0–2, 1–0)

Ohio State

Ridder Arena, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Game reference

Emma Söderberg

Goalies

Amanda Thiele

Referees:
Tyler Olson
Duncan Ryhorchuk
Linesmen:
Mike Mueller
Doug Durgin

	0–1	30:50 – Brooke Bink
	0–2	31:48 – Emma Maltais
Nina Jobst-Smith (Hanley, Baskin) – ea – 17:12	1–2

8 min

Penalties

2 min

27

Shots

36

(3) Wisconsin vs. (2) Minnesota

March 3, 2023^[11]
5:00 PM

Wisconsin

2–4
(0–1, 2–1, 0–2)

Minnesota

Ridder Arena, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Attendance: 2,334

Game reference

Cami Kronish

Goalies

Skylar Vetter

Referees:
Robert Ludwig
Mike Kaehler
Linesmen:
Tyler Iffland
Glen Hagberg

	0–1	5:19 – Madison Kaiser (Hemp)
21:54 – Casey O'Brien	1–1
	1–2	26:13 – Madeline Wethington (Skaja, Heise)
32:35 – pp – Nicole LaMantia (Compher, O'Brien)	2–2
	2–3	43:44 – pp – Abbey Murphy (Skaja, G. Zumwinkle)
	2–4	58:41 – en – Catie Skaja (Heise)

4 min

Penalties

8 min

25

Shots

32

Championship

(2) Minnesota vs. (1) Ohio State

March 4, 2023
2:00 pm

Minnesota

3–1
(1–0, 2–1, 0–0)

Ohio State

Ridder Arena, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Attendance: 2,616

Game reference

Skylar Vetter

Goalies

Amanda Thiele

Referees:
Sarma Pone
Chris Binkley
Linesmen:
Glendon Seal
Aaron Neville

Savannah Norcross (Hemp, Norton) – 14:55	1–0
Abbey Murphy (Heise, G. Zumwinkle) – pp – 32:38	2–0
	2–1	38:56 – sh – Gabby Rosenthal (Webster)
Peyton Hemp (Kaiser) – pp – 37:58	3–1

4 min

Penalties

7 min

35

Shots

35

Tournament Awards

All-Tournament Team

F: Abbey Murphy* (Minnesota)
F: Peyton Hemp (Minnesota)
F: Taylor Heise (Minnesota)
D: Madeline Wethington (Minnesota)
D: Sophie Jaques (Ohio State)
G: Skylar Vetter (Minnesota)

* Most Outstanding Player

References

^ "Kwik Trip WCHA Final Faceoff". wcha.com. Retrieved 2023-02-25.
^ "Jaques' Hat Trick Pushes Buckeyes Past Beavers, 4-1". Ohio State Buckeyes. February 24, 2023. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
^ "Ohio State Advances to WCHA Final Faceoff With 2-1 Win Over Bemidji State". Ohio State Buckeyes. February 25, 2023. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
^ "Gophers Blank Tommies in Game One". University of Minnesota Athletics. February 24, 2023. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
^ "Gophers Sweep St. Thomas, Advance to WCHA Final Faceoff". University of Minnesota Athletics. February 25, 2023. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
^ "No. 6 Badgers blank Mavericks 3-0". Wisconsin Badgers. February 24, 2023. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
^ "No. 6 Badgers stampede Mavericks 4-1". Wisconsin Badgers. February 25, 2023. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
^ "No. 7 Bulldogs Blank No. 12 St. Cloud State 1-0 in WCHA First Round Opener". UMD Athletics. February 24, 2023. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
^ "No. 7 Bulldogs Sweep the WCHA First Round 5-1 Triumph over No. 12 St. Cloud State". UMD Athletics. February 25, 2023. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
^ "Ohio State Beats Minnesota Duluth, Advances to Final Faceoff Championship Game". Ohio State Buckeyes. March 3, 2023. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
^ "Minnesota Defeats Wisconsin, Advances to WCHA Title Game". University of Minnesota Athletics. March 3, 2023. Retrieved March 4, 2023.

[1] "Kwik Trip WCHA Final Faceoff". wcha.com. Retrieved 2023-02-25.

[2] "Jaques' Hat Trick Pushes Buckeyes Past Beavers, 4-1". Ohio State Buckeyes. February 24, 2023. Retrieved March 4, 2023.

[3] "Ohio State Advances to WCHA Final Faceoff With 2-1 Win Over Bemidji State". Ohio State Buckeyes. February 25, 2023. Retrieved March 4, 2023.

[4] "Gophers Blank Tommies in Game One". University of Minnesota Athletics. February 24, 2023. Retrieved March 2, 2023.

[5] "Gophers Sweep St. Thomas, Advance to WCHA Final Faceoff". University of Minnesota Athletics. February 25, 2023. Retrieved March 2, 2023.

[6] "No. 6 Badgers blank Mavericks 3-0". Wisconsin Badgers. February 24, 2023. Retrieved March 2, 2023.

[7] "No. 6 Badgers stampede Mavericks 4-1". Wisconsin Badgers. February 25, 2023. Retrieved March 2, 2023.

[8] "No. 7 Bulldogs Blank No. 12 St. Cloud State 1-0 in WCHA First Round Opener". UMD Athletics. February 24, 2023. Retrieved March 2, 2023.

[9] "No. 7 Bulldogs Sweep the WCHA First Round 5-1 Triumph over No. 12 St. Cloud State". UMD Athletics. February 25, 2023. Retrieved March 2, 2023.

[10] "Ohio State Beats Minnesota Duluth, Advances to Final Faceoff Championship Game". Ohio State Buckeyes. March 3, 2023. Retrieved March 4, 2023.

[11] "Minnesota Defeats Wisconsin, Advances to WCHA Title Game". University of Minnesota Athletics. March 3, 2023. Retrieved March 4, 2023.

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