Seven periods of hockey were required to determine a winner in Saturday's NCAA Quarterfinal Game between Clarkson and Minnesota in Cheel Arena. The Golden Knights outlasted the Gophers in the second longest NCAA Hockey game in history as Assistant Captain Dominique Petrie found the game winning goal 5:44 into the fourth overtime period. In total, the game lasted 125 minutes 44 seconds of play and the 2pm puck drop concluded around 7:45pm EST, a treat for the outstanding crowd of over 2,000 that attended the game.

Minnesota struck twice early, taking a commanding lead with a pair of goals 1:21 apart. Josefin Bouveng got her team on the board at 7:26 by rebounding a bouncing shot from the blue line past Clarkson goaltender Michelle Pasiechnyk. A miscue between the Knights defenders in front led to a turnover at the top of the crease and Ella Huber scored at 8:47. Gophers' star forward Abby Murphy assisted on both goals, with Clarkson being outshot seven to none.

As Minnesota looked like they might cruise to a victory, the Golden Knights capitalized on their first power play opportunity to cut the lead in half. Per the standard this season, the Knights set up the play along the blue line between Alexie Guay and Nicole Gosling, then a right point shot by Haley Winn which pinballed off a Minnesota defender into the net. The Knights trailed the remainder of regulation, pulling Pasiechnyk with two minutes remaining. Petrie evened the score with an extra attacker goal assisted by Winn and Guay with 1:51 left in regulation. Pasiechnyk finished regulation with 20 consecutive saves after letting in the first period goals on consecutive shots. She then held off Minnesota for another 65 minutes adding 36 more saves in overtime to finish with a career high 61. Minnesota took a boarding penalty 5:10 into the fourth overtime, which the Knights found the game winner on 34 seconds later. Petrie crashed the net deflecting a shot by Gosling off her chest and onto her stick creating an open angle to the net electrifying celebration in Potsdam.

Clarkson's team seems to ooze confidence when trailing late in regulation. Dating back to the comeback tie against Brown on Nov. 17 which required two extra attacker goals in the final 60 seconds, the Knights have now successfully scored with the extra skater in three of four games Pasiechnyk has been pulled while also preventing any goals against their empty net. The most dramatic finishes have come during their playoff push including a late goal against Princeton in game one of the ECAC Quarterfinal en route to a 3-2 double overtime win and this week with the extra skater goal to stun Minnesota in the fourth overtime.

Before the start of the conference tournament, ECAC Coach of the Year Matt Desrosiers noted the importance of star players performing at their best, a request which his team has delivered in masses. Gosling, the team's leading point producer and ECAC Defenseman of the Year, has recorded five points in the five playoff games with one game-winning goal. Winn has eight points in five games and has tallied two three-point efforts during the playoffs including points on all three goals against Minnesota. Petrie has four points and three goals and led the Knights to victory after stepping into a top line role in the absence of Anne Cherkowski who was injured during the second period against Minnesota. Captain Brooke McQuigge has been a playmaker with each of her five points being assists. Finally, Pasiechnyk has shined during the postseason. The 2024 Commissioner's Association Goalie of the Year has provided the Knights wins in four of five appearances, boasting a 1.54 goals against average over that stretch.

The Frozen Four features the toughest task yet this season, as the Knights stare down a women's college hockey dynasty team on the Ohio State roster. The Buckeyes headline the nation with the best offense in the country, scoring an average of 5.3 goals per game which has led the team to a 33-4-0 record. After an upset loss in their conference championship against Wisconsin, the Buckeyes stormed into the NCAA Tournament by ending Minnesota Duluth's season with a 9-0 win to punch their Frozen Four ticket. Ohio State has five players scoring over one point per game, including former Clarkson Men's Hockey Captain Josh Dunne's sister Joy Dunne. Hannah Bilka leads the team in points with 47 on 22 goals and 25 assists. Bilka and Dunne both lead the scoring tied with 22 goals. The Buckeyes are trying to reach their third straight National Championship game with a win.

The Knights will be up against two former teammates on the Buckeyes blue line, Lauren Bernard and Stephanie Markowski. Bernard wore Clarkson's "A" during her sophomore season before transferring to Ohio State following the 2020-21 season during the pandemic. Lauren recorded 17 points in 56 games with Clarkson and has since notched 62 points in three seasons with Ohio State and won the 2022 National Championship. Markowski was a key piece of the Golden Knights' blue line over her four year career. With Clarkson, Steph appeared in 134 games recording 65 points with a career high 27 point season during 2022-23 as a senior. Her year was highlighted by scoring the double overtime game winning goal against Yale on March 3, 2023 to send the Knights to their first ECAC Championship game since 2019.

The Golden Knights will look to rely on their strong defense and star goaltender to spark some offense and hold off the top ranked team in the nation. Clarkson holds the top spot with the number one ranked defense and penalty kill, allowing 1.21 goals per game and stopping 92.1 percent of opposing power plays. The coaching model that great defense leads to great offense has been a strong system leading Clarkson back to the Frozen Four for the first time since 2019. The team will need to rely on their strength in order to come out ahead of Ohio State.

The 2024 Women's Frozen Four begins Friday, March 22 at 4pm as the Golden Knights battle the Buckeyes in Durham, NH. Clarkson's pregame coverage begins at 3:50pm on B99.3 FM. The game is streaming on ESPN+ in the United States and TSN+ in Canada. Clarkson looks to advance to their first National Title game since being crowned champions in 2018.