UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (AP) — Ohio State scored four goals in the final 10 minutes of the first period, and the No. 1 overall seed Buckeyes beat fifth-seeded Northeastern 5-0 on Friday in the first of two semifinals Friday night at Pegula Ice Arena.
Ohio State (36-4-0), which set the program's single-season wins record with 36, advanced to its fifth straight national title game and improved to 14-4 in the NCAA Tournament and 7-4 in the Frozen Four.
Northeastern (29-9-1) was making its fourth Frozen Four appearance in program history and first since 2023 when Ohio State defeated the Huskies 3-0. The Huskies dropped to 5-7-0 in the NCAA Tournament.
Five different players scored for the Buckeyes and 10 players recorded a point.
Joy Dunne, a Patty Kazmaier top-10 finalist, scored on a rebound 10 minutes into the game for her 27th goal of the season. Then Kaia Malachino and Sanni Vanhanen scored a minute apart for a 3-0 lead.
Emma Peschel beat the first-period buzzer with a slap shot to make it 4-0 and Sara Swiderski sent a shot from the blue line that deflected into the goal in the third.
Hailey MacLeod recorded her fifth shutout this season with 15 saves — five coming in the first 10 minutes. She ended a breakaway chance five minutes in and finished the frame with eight saves.
Northeastern goaltender Lisa Jönsson made 37 saves.
In the other semifinal, Kirsten Simms scored a power-play goal in the opening minute of overtime to give defending champion Wisconsin a 4-3 win over No. 3 Penn State.
Simms' 100th career goal set up the fourth straight championship matchup between Wisconsin and Ohio State on Sunday. She scored two dramatic goals in the national championship game last season — a game-tying penalty shot with 18 seconds remaining in regulation and the overtime winner — for Wisconsin's eighth title.
Tessa Janecke, a Patty Kazmaier top-three finalist, opened the scoring for Penn State and she scored on a breakaway with 4:59 left in regulation for a 3-all tie.
Wisconsin (33-4-2) tied it at 2-2 midway through the second period after Laila Edwards' second goal of the game.
Penn State (33-6-0), which was in the Frozen Four for the first time in program history, announced a women's Frozen Four attendance record at 5,176.
AP women’s hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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