Minnesota-Duluth and St. Lawrence both needed overtime to advance beyond the first round of the NCAA women's national championships tournament.
Minnesota-Duluth and St. Lawrence both needed overtime to advance to the quarterfinals of the NCAA national championship tournament on the opening day of competition.
After sixty scoreless minutes, Minnesota-Duluth and UConn couldn't decide things in the first overtime either. The winner to send the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs to the NCAA quarterfinals came less than three minutes into the second overtime as captain Mannon McMahon pounced on a rebound and buried the double overtime winner with Olivia Wallin and Nina Jobst-Smith picking up assists. UConn netminder Tia Chan was spectacular in the loss making 48 saves, while WCHA All-Rookie team netminder Eve Gascon made 33 saves for the shutout. The Bulldogs will now face top ranked Ohio State.
They weren't the only team who needed extra time to advance from the first round of the NCAA tournament as St. Lawrence University also needed overtime to beat Penn State. Emma-Sofie Nordstrom made 36 saves in the shutout, while it was Kristina Bahl who lifted St. Lawrence midway through the first overtime. Penn State netminder Katie Desa made 43 saves in the loss. St. Lawrence advanced to play the reigning national champions Wisconsin.
In the final opening round game, Cornell cruised through beating Stonehill 7-1. It was Stonehill's first ever NCAA national championship tournament appearance. Stonehill's leader Alexis Petford scored the program's first ever national championship tournament goal in the loss and netminder Eve Stone made 48 saves on 55 shots. For Cornell, it was Patty Kazmaier final three nominee Izzy Daniel who led the way with a goal and three assists, while USA national team defender Rory Guilday scored a pair of goals. Also tallying for Cornell was Grace Dwyer, Gabbie Rud, Alyssa Regalado, and McKenna Van Gelder. Cornell will now face Colgate.