Harvard, Minnesota Duluth advance to title game

DULUTH (AP) -- Harvard and Minnesota Duluth won't be able to dominate the next game like both did Friday in the women's Frozen Four.

The two teams play each other for the championship on Sunday.

Julie Chu and Angela Ruggiero each scored two goals, and the Crimson bounced back from a lopsided loss to Dartmouth last weekend in the ECAC title game with a 6-1 victory over Minnesota in the first semifinal.

It was the largest margin of victory in the three years the NCAA has sponsored the tournament.

"I think they wanted to come out and prove something," Gophers coach Laura Halldorson said. "I was afraid that loss might've been the best thing for Harvard."

Minnesota Duluth, which has the only two titles in women's hockey history, beat Dartmouth 5-2 in the second semifinal. The two games drew 4,801 people, more than the total figure in each of the tournament's first two years.

Lauren McAuliffe and Tracy Catlin also scored for the second-seeded Crimson (30-2-1), with McAuliffe's goal coming 23 seconds after Chu's late in the first period. And goalie Jessica Ruddock -- who made 17 saves -- bounced back from a poor performance in the 7-2 loss to the Big Green last Sunday.

"Last week did a lot for us," Ruggiero said. "We had very intense practices this week, and we came into this weekend with a lot of determination."