The Ohio State women’s ice hockey team ended its season Saturday in a 5-4 double-overtime loss to Minnesota in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association semifinal game in Minneapolis, Minn.

After beating last year’s national champion, Wisconsin, in two overtime matches on Feb. 26 and 27, the Buckeyes earned their first WCHA semifinal game appearance since 2007.

Freshman goaltender Chelsea Knapp stopped a season-high 43 shots on goal for the Buckeyes while senior co-captain Raelyn LaRocque ended her college career with two goals on the afternoon.

Both OSU and Minnesota scored one goal each in the first two periods. Coming off a power play, a pass from freshman forward Hokey Langan gave sophomore Brittany Carlson the shot from the blue line just 6:35 into the game.

But Minnesota took advantage of a Buckeye penalty in the second period and scored their first to tie it up 1-1.

The final eight minutes of the third period registered six goals, three apiece for the Buckeyes and the Golden Gophers, to tie it at the end of regulation.

After a Minnesota goal, LaRocque scored her first goal off a rebound shot by sophomore Natalie Spooner. While on the penalty kill, Spooner skated past three Gophers and took the shorthanded shot between the Minnesota goaltender’s legs and scored for the lead.

The Gophers took back the lead with two goals of their own, but OSU never quit.

While on the power play, the Buckeyes called a timeout with just one minute left on the clock. Pulling Knapp from the goal for the extra skater, OSU led with a 6-on-4 matchup in the final minute of regulation.

LaRocque netted her second of the night off a rebound shot by sophomore Laura McIntosh with just 18 seconds left in the game. LaRocque’s goal sent the game into overtime, the fourth overtime game in a row for the Buckeyes.

A scoreless 20 minutes led to double-overtime. But after 83 minutes on the ice, the Buckeyes fell to Minnesota with a backhanded goal by the Gophers just 3:31 into double overtime.

OSU tied for fifth in the WCHA standings and ended the season with a 17-15-5 overall record and 12-13-3-1 in the WCHA.