2005 WCHA Tournament The 2005 WCHA Tournament took place between March 11 and March 19 , 2005 for the Men ' s Division I league . The Women ' s Division I tournament took place March 3 to March 6 . Each added another chapter to the history of the WCHA Playoffs . Men ' s Tournament . The regular season championship was shared by the Denver Pioneers and Colorado College Tigers , but Denver was given the # 1 seed . The seeds for the men ' s tournament were : First Round . The first round was played March 11 - 13 at the site of the higher seeds . The teams played a best - of - three series . Play - in Game . The five winners from the first round advanced to the WCHA Final Five at the Xcel Energy Center in St . Paul , Minnesota . The two lowest remaining seeds competed in the play - in game on March 17 . Semifinal round . On March 18 , North Dakota , winner of the play - in game , faced Denver , the highest remaining seed in the semifinal round , while the other two remaining teams , Colorado College and Minnesota , faced each other . Championship game . On March 19 , the winners of the semifinal round faced off in the WCHA Championship game , while the losers took part in the WCHA Third Place game . 16 , 507 watched as intra - state rivals Denver and Colorado College played a tight , low - scoring affair for the WCHA Championship . The game ' s lone goal was scored late in the second period by Pioneers senior forward Luke Fulghum on the power play , lifting Denver to its second WCHA title in four years , the fourth time the Pioneers have lifted the Broadmoor Trophy . Denver was awarded an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament . Denver , Colorado College , Minnesota , North Dakota , and Wisconsin would all move on to represent the WCHA in the NCAA Tournament . All - Tournament Team . Most Valuable Player : F Brett Sterling , Colorado College Women ' s Tournament . The Women ' s WCHA Tournament took place at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis , Minnesota . The Minnesota Golden Gophers won the regular season championship and hosted the WCHA Tournament . The seeds were : Quarterfinals . The top two seeds , Minnesota and Minnesota - Duluth , played their opponents on March 3 , earning themselves an extra day of rest before the semifinal round after beating lower ranked teams in North Dakota and Bemidji State respectively , though not without scares in both cases . The other four teams faced off on March 4th . Ohio State defeated Minnesota State to move on to the Semifinal round , facing Minnesota , and Wisconsin defeated St . Cloud State to earn the right to face Minnesota - Duluth . Semifinal Round . On March 5th , Minnesota , the highest remaining seed , took on quarterfinal winners Ohio State , while the # 2 seed Minnesota - Duluth faced off against # 3 Wisconsin . Finals . The losing teams from the semifinals , Minnesota - Duluth and Ohio State , faced off in the early game on March 6 . Minnesota defeated Wisconsin 3 - 2 in overtime following a dramatic comeback by the Badgers . The game winning goal was scored by Minnesota ' s Krissy Wendell during a rare five - on - three power play in overtime , and the Gophers ' Natalie Darwitz was named Tournament MVP . Minnesota was awarded the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament . Minnesota - Duluth and Wisconsin recieved at - large bids .