Power Play Club

Goals for a Goal: Total increases to 130 goals!

The Power Play Club's Goals for a Goal campaign is collecting pledges for every goal scored by the Gopher Women's Hockey Team, with the resulting donations used to support Ridder Arena improvements. Goals scored in the postseason are included in the count, and so far the team has recorded 130 goals, 36 of which have come on the power play!!

If you have not yet made a pledge, you still have the opportunity to do so online. The Golden Gopher Fund will send out invoices following the completion of the season. Thanks, and GO GOPHERS!!

Laitinen, A. Wethington named WCHA season award finalists

GWH sophomore Nelli Laitinen was named a top-three finalist for WCHA Defender of the Year on Monday, and senior Audrey Wethington was announced as a finalist for WCHA Outstanding Student-Athlete of the Year yesterday.

Laitinen has scored six goals, dished out 15 helpers, and blocked 56 shots this season; she was named to the All-WCHA Second Team last week. On the ice, Wethington has 15 points on 4 goals & 11 assists; off the ice, the biology major earned her 3rd WCHA Scholar-Athlete honor, which goes to student-athletes averaging 3.50 on a 4.0 scale for their previous two semesters or three quarters of instruction. Congratulations, Nelli & Audrey!!

The 2023-2024 WCHA Forward of the Year, Defender of the Year, Goaltender of the Year and Rookie of the Year, as presented by Sterling Trophy, will be announced later today (Wednesday, March 6). The Coach of the Year, Outstanding Scholar-Athlete, and overall 2023-2024 WCHA Player of the Year will be announced tomorrow, Thursday, March 7.

2024 Kwik Trip WCHA Final Face-off at Ridder Arena

Semifinals – Friday, March 8
#1 Ohio State (1st seed) vs. #8 MN Duluth (4th seed) – 1:00 p.m.
#5 Minnesota (3rd seed) vs. #2 Wisconsin (2nd seed) – 4:30 p.m.

Championship – Saturday, March 9 at 2:00 p.m.

Ridder Arena hosts the WCHA Final Faceoff for the ninth-consecutive year, featuring four of the top eight teams in the nation and repeating the pairings from last season. Top ranked and top seeded Ohio State will face Minnesota Duluth in the first semifinal this Friday, March 8, at 1:00 p.m. The 3rd-seeded Golden Gophers will face 2nd-seeded Wisconsin in a fifth round of the Border Battle this season, playing in the second semifinal at 4:30 p.m. The winners will advance to the championship game on Saturday, March 9, at 2:00 p.m.

Gopher sports calendar – Please note that the Gopher Men's Hockey team will be hosting a Big Ten Conference quarterfinal series against Penn State this weekend, with Game 1 on Friday at 6:00 p.m. and Game 2 Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at 3M Arena at Mariucci. Additionally, Gopher Men's Swimming & Diving is hosting a meet at the Jean Freeman Aquatic Center on Saturday with the finals scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Final Faceoff attendees should please plan accordingly.

Tournament television/video coverage – Continuing the WCHA's partnership, all three Final Faceoff contests will have video streaming on the B1G+ subscription service. Additionally, all three will also be broadcast on FOX 9+ in the Twin Cities, with streaming of that station through Hulu with Live TV, Sling TV, fuboTV, and YouTube TV.

Ticket information – All-session packages and single-session tickets can be purchased from the University of Minnesota Ticket Office through GopherSports.com or by calling 1-800-U-GOPHER during normal business hours (M-F, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.).

All-session packages are $40 for reserved chairback seating, $30 for adult general admission (bench) seating, $22.50 for general admission for seniors, students & youth, and $12 per ticket for general admission groups of 10 or more.

Semifinal Friday tickets are $24 for reserved chairback seating, $17 for adult general admission (bench) seating, $14.50 for general admission for seniors, students & youth, and $8.50 per ticket for general admission groups of 10 or more.

Championship Saturday tickets are $27 for reserved chairback seating, $21 for adult general admission (bench) seating, $15.50 for general admission for seniors, students & youth, and $10 per ticket for general admission groups of 10 or more.

How they got here:

Gophers eliminate Minnesota State in three games to advance

Scoring on three of their four 3rd-period shots on goal, 6th-seeded Minnesota State upset Minnesota 5-4 in Game 1 of their WCHA quarterfinal series. However, the Gophers responded with a five-goal first-period outburst in Game 2 en route to a 7-1 victory and posted stout defense to shutout the Mavericks 3-0 in Game 3 to win the series and advance.

Minnesota's first forward line accounted for 11 of the team's 14 goals. Josefin Bouveng led the Maroon & Gold with a 10-point weekend, lighting the lamp twice on Saturday & twice more on Sunday while dishing out 6 assists across the three games. Ella Huber tallied a team-high five goals in the series, netting a hat trick Friday and tallying Sunday's game-winning goal; she also recorded two assists for a 7-point performance. Abbey Murphy found the back of the next twice on Saturday while getting six assists as well (two in each game). Jamie Nelson led the Mavericks with two goals & an assist, all coming on Friday.

Between the pipes, Skylar Vetter took Friday's loss despite a 23-save effort; Lucy Morgan started Saturday & Sunday, stopping 28 of the combined 29 shots she faced to earn the two wins. MSU's Hailey Hansen made 32 saves in just under four periods of action but got tagged for nine goals; Suzette Faucher entered in relief Saturday and started Sunday, stopping 57 of 61 shots.

Wisconsin took second in the WCHA standings with a 23-5-0-0 (2-1 in OT) conference record, plus a perfect 6-0-0 mark in non-conference action. Lauren Stenslie lit the lamp twice for 7th-seeded St. Thomas in Game 1 of their quarterfinal series, but the Badgers got two goals & an assist from Kirsten Simms and a goal & two assists from Britta Curl to earn a 4-2 victory. Wisconsin routed the Tommies 9-1 in Game 2 to sweep the series; Curl added two goals & two assists to finish with a 7-point weekend, Casey O'Brien also tallied 2 goals & 2 assists, and Simms dished out 3 helpers. Former Gopher goaltender Olivia King saw her collegiate career come to an end, making 51 saves for St. Thomas.

Ohio State earned their second-straight WCHA regular-season championship with a dominant 26-2-0-0 (2-0 in OT) conference record plus a 3-1-0 mark in non-conference play. The Buckeyes routed 8th-seeded Bemidji State in the quarterfinals, 10-1 and 8-0. Jenna Buglioni posted a 3-goal, 3-assist series, Jenn Gardiner added 3 goals & 2 assists, Cayla Barnes and Joy Dunne each tallied 2 goals & 2 assists, and Kiara Zanon dished out 5 helpers. Olivia Dronen netted the lone goal for the Beavers, scoring unassisted.

Minnesota Duluth finished fourth in the conference standings, posting a 15-11-2-0 (1-0 in OT) mark in WCHA play and going 3-1-2 in non-conference action. The Bulldogs shut out St. Cloud State in the quarterfinals, winning 5-0 and 2-0. Reece Hunt tallied points on all five UMD goals in the opener, scoring the first goal herself and assisting on the other four, and Hailey MacLeod stopped all 20 shots she faced. Bulldog captain Mannon McMahon, having recorded two assists Friday, scored both goals on Saturday; that was plenty as Ève Gascon posted a 27-save shutout performance. Huskies goaltenders Sanni Ahola and Jojo Chobak combined for 55 saves.

Final Faceoff Semifinal Matchups

Minnesota vs. Wisconsin – Both the Gophers and Badgers are nearly certain to receive NCAA Tournament bids regardless of this weekend's results, but, while Wisconsin is likely to host a regional, Minnesota needs at least one win if not two (plus outside help) to avoid having to go on the road to open the “Big Dance”.

Wisconsin went 3-1-0 against Minnesota in the regular season, taking 8 of the 12 conference standings points. At Ridder Arena in December, the Gophers won the opener 5-3 but the Badgers salvaged a split with a 5-1 victory. Last month at Madison, Minnesota battled back in the Friday game to force overtime but lost in the extra period, 4-3; Wisconsin completed the weekend sweep with a 4-0 Saturday shutout. Josefin Bouveng led the Gopher scoring in the season series with 4 points on 3 goals & an assist, Abbey Murphy tallied 2 goals & 2 assists, and Nelli Laitinen added a goal and 2 helpers. Kirsten Simms recorded 4 goals & 4 assists for the Badgers, Lacey Eden tallied 3 goals and 2 assists, and Britta Curl and Maddi Wheeler each added two goals & an assist. Wisconsin had a 143-92 shots-on-goal advantage in the series. Lucy Morgan earned Minnesota's lone win in two starts, posting an .896 save percentage and 3.50 goals-against average, while Skylar Vetter recorded an .882 SV% and 4.44 GAA. Badger freshman Ava McNaughton stopped 40 of 41 shots over her two games for a 0.50 GAA and .976 SV%, but Jane Gervais yielded the other 8 Gopher goals, resulting in an .843 SV% and 3.99 GAA.

Ohio State vs. Minnesota Duluth – As with last year, the Buckeyes are comfortably in the NCAA Tourney field and the Bulldogs appear to be safely in as well but could use a good weekend showing.

While UMD held Ohio State to only 11 goals in their season series – an average under three per game – the Bulldogs were shut out in three of the four contests and outshot by a combined 149-60. The Buckeyes earned 5-2 and 2-0 victories in Duluth in October, then blanked the Bulldogs 3-0 and 1-0 in Columbus in January. Hannah Bilka led OSU with 5 points against UMD on 2 goals & 3 assists, Hadley Hartmetz tallied a hat trick in their first meeting and later added an assist, and Sloane Matthews recorded a goal and 3 assists. Katie Davis and Reece Hunt scored the Bulldogs' goals. Raygan Kirk stopped all 30 shots she faced for the Buckeyes and Amanda Thiele made 28 saves (.933 save percentage and 1.00 goals-against average). UMD netminder Ève Gascon made 103 saves across three games, posting a 2.36 GAA and .936 SV%, while Hailey MacLeod stopped 35 of 38 shots in her lone start (.921 SV%).

Current Pairwise Rankings

Top 10 plus other teams still active in respective conference tournaments
1. Ohio State (31-3-0 overall record, 69.731 NPI)
2. Wisconsin (31-5-0, 65.984)
3. Clarkson (31-3-2, 64.752)
4. Colgate (29-6-1, 64.256)
5. Minnesota (27-8-2, 62.767)
6. Cornell (24-6-1, 61.184)
7. St. Lawrence (27-9-0, 60.466)
8. Minnesota Duluth (20-12-4, 58.981)
9. Quinnipiac (25-11-1, 58.461)
10. Connecticut (23-7-5, 56.739)
12. Northeastern (24-10-3, 54.643)
14. Penn State* (22-12-3, 54.569)
17. Boston College (15-13-7, 52.404)
18. New Hampshire (18-15-2, 52.894)
30. Stonehill (20-15-4, 47.730)
32. Franklin Pierce (18-15-1, 47.829)

The NCAA Tournament Selection Show is scheduled for Sunday, March 10 at Noon ET / 11 a.m. CT and will be televised on ESPNews. * Penn State has already qualified as the CHA Playoff Champion. The playoff champions from the ECAC, Hockey East, NEWHA, and WCHA also earn autobids to the 11-team field. Rankings and NPI calculations courtesy of USCHO.com.

Follow the Power Play Club online at www.powerplayclub.org, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PowerPlayClubMN, or on Twitter at twitter.com/powerplayclub.

Follow the Gopher women's hockey team and all Univ. of Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletics at gophersports.com. You can also find the Gopher women's hockey team on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GopherWomensHockey and on Twitter/X at twitter.com/GopherWHockey.