Penalty Box Post
Tuesday, November 24, 2020
PPC membership registration OPEN for all tiers!!
Registration is now open for all membership tiers of the Power Play Club for the 2020-2021 season. We have simplified things with a single basic membership tier. A donation of $50 of more to the Power Play Club Fund at the University of Minnesota Foundation will enroll your household into the club for the season. If you have already enrolled as a Locker Sponsor for 2020-2021, you do not need to register again.
To make your donation online, go to the Power Play Club Fund web page here. If you prefer to submit your donation by check, you can download the registration form here, fill it out, and mail it and your check to Laura Halldorson at the address listed on the form.
Locker Sponsorships still available!! We are always looking for additional Locker Sponsors to support the Gopher Women's Hockey program. With a donation of $600 or more, Locker Sponsors are recognized with their name(s) listed on the locker of their designated player or coach. If you are interested in being a Locker Sponsor, do not use the links above, but instead please contact Susan "Rennie" McPherson at susanmcp@drsusanmcp.com.
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Revisiting Give to the Max Day – Again, our thanks to all of our generous donors who contributed to Give to the Max Day last Thursday, November 19. We received a couple of late – but still very welcomed – donations, bringing our collected total to $14,175 ! With the initial $10K combined gift from four anonymous donors and their secondary pledge of another $10K, the overall total raised for the Gopher Women's Hockey program was $34,175 !
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#3 Minnesota Golden Gophers at #6 Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs
Friday, November 27 at 6:07 p.m.
Saturday, November 28 at 3:07 p.m.
AMSOIL Arena, Duluth
Following a split in its season-opening series, the Gopher Women's Hockey team hits the road for the first time in 2020-2021, heading to the North Shore for a rivalry matchup against the UMD Bulldogs at AMSOIL Arena. The action begins Friday, Nov. 27 at 6:07 p.m. and continues Saturday, Nov. 28 at 3:07 p.m.
Streaming on FloHockey – Minnesota Duluth home games, along with games hosted at Bemidji State, Minnesota State, and St. Cloud State, are being streamed this season by FloHockey, the primary carrier of WCHA Women's Hockey. Subscription and schedule information can be found at FloSports.tv.
Last year against Minnesota Duluth – The Gophers went 2-1-1 against Bulldogs last season, though UMD earned the extra point in the WCHA standings after the 2-2 tie in the first game in Duluth. Minnesota responded with a 4-3 victory in the next day's rematch. At Ridder Arena, the teams traded shutouts, with the Gophers winning 5-0 on January 31 and the Bulldogs returning the favor, 2-0, on February 1.
Amy Potomak, Alex Woken, and Emily Oden led Minnesota with four points apiece against UMD. Potomak's points all came in the game on January 31, recording a first-period natural hat trick and adding a later assist. Woken posted 2 goals and 2 assists in the season series, while Oden dished out four helpers. Catie Skaja also lit the lamp twice, with both goals coming in the Gophers' win in Duluth. Sydney Scobee made 104 saves, posting a .937 save percentage and 1.72 goals-against average in the four contests. Gabbie Hughes, Sydney Brodt, and Maggie Flaherty were the only three Bulldogs to record multiple points against Minnesota; Hughes led the way with five points on a goal and 4 assists, while Brodt (3g, 1a) and Flaherty (4a) each tallied four points. Maddie Rooney made 135 saves with a .925 SV% and 2.72 GAA.
Analyzing the Bulldogs – Minnesota Duluth finished fourth in the WCHA regular-season standings for the third-straight year and saw their season end in the conference semifinals, falling to Wisconsin. They finished with an 18-12-6 overall mark and an 11-8-5-3 record in conference play. They enter the series against the Gophers after sweeping Minnesota State on the road this past weekend.
Gabbie Hughes (#17) enters her junior season after leading the team in all three scoring categories in 2019-2020, lighting the lamp 20 times and adding 31 assists for 51 points. Senior defender Ashton Bell (#26) was named to the Preseason All-WCHA Team after tallying 32 points on 11 goals and 21 assists last year. Senior Anna Klein (#19) netted 13 goals while dishing out 14 assists for 27 points last season. U.S. Women's Under-18 Team members Katie Davis (#11) and Clara Van Wieren (#25) join the squad this year as freshmen.
Goaltending is a bit of an unknown for Minnesota Duluth following the graduation of Olympian Maddie Rooney. Swedish junior Emma Söderberg (#30) returns as the only Bulldog netminder having seen action entering this season, but only in a limited amount; she is 4-1-0 in five career starts with 4 other relief appearances, posting a .928 save percentage and 1.80 goals-against average. Senior Hanna Markel (#1) has served only as an emergency backup the past three seasons, and Chicago native Jojo Chobak (#31) joins the team as a freshman.
Last weekend for Minnesota Duluth Due to COVID-19 testing protocols, the Bulldogs are the only team to face opposition from both Big Ten and Northern Sun schools to begin the season. They started on the road at Minnesota State, earning the weekend sweep with 5-0 and 7-3 victories over the Mavericks. Ashton Bell led UMD in total scoring in the series with a goal and 4 assists, Anna Klein tallied 3 goals and an assist, Anneke Linser netted two goals with two assists, and Kylie Hanley & Clara Van Wieren each added two goals and an assist. Emma Söderberg earned both wins between the pipes, recording her first career shutout on Friday and making a combined 44 saves. Madison Oelkers led Minnesota State with a goal an an assist in Saturday's contest.
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Gophers split opening weekend with Ohio State
Grace Zumwinkle scores the opening goal of Sunday's game against the Buckeyes. (Photo by Susan "Rennie" McPherson)
Despite getting a combined 69 saves from Lauren Bench on 71 shots in her first two games as a Gopher and the team taking 1-0 leads in both contests, Minnesota settled for a series split against Ohio State to open the 2020-2021 season, winning 4-0 in game one but falling 2-1 in game two. Bench was the story of the opener as it was also her birthday; she stopped all 36 shots she faced for the shutout. Grace Zumwinkle lit the lamp on the first shift of the season just 28 seconds into the contest, a new team record for earliest goal to start a season. Josey Dunne recorded her first goal for the Maroon & Gold in the second period, Zumwinkle netted her second of the game with under 5 minutes to play, and Taylor Wente scored a long empty-netter. In the rematch, Zumwinkle buried her third goal of the weekend to put Minnesota up three minutes into the game, but Liz Schepers knotted the score for the Buckeyes just 21 seconds later, Tatum Skaggs gave OSU the lead six minutes after that, and goaltender Andrea Brändli shut the Gophers down for the duration. In the series, Anne Cherkowski also recorded her first points as a Gopher with a pair of assists, and Madeline Wethington also dished out two assists. Emma Maltais assisted on both OSU goals, and Brändli recorded a combined 39 saves over the weekend.
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Around NCAA Division I women's hockey...
Upcoming WCHA games – Two other series also feature Friday evening and Saturday afternoon games. Wisconsin gets its season underway with a road trip to Columbus to face Ohio State, while St. Cloud State hosts Minnesota State. Bemidji State is idle.
Other notable news – With their tight geographical footprint, Hockey East teams have gone through a series of schedule adjustments in just the past 7 days; the latest change now pits Boston College against Providence in a home-and-home series this weekend (instead of B.C. vs. Vermont and Providence vs. Northeastern). Meanwhile, College Hockey America announced its first half league schedule, with 16 games in total; following Lindenwood at Penn State & RIT at Syracuse this weekend, the six CHA teams will then be paired up to play four consecutive games – two at home and two on the road – against the same opponent over the first two weekends of December.
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Follow the Gopher women's hockey team and all Univ. of Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletics at www.gophersports.com. You can also find the Gopher women's hockey team on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GopherWomensHockey and on Twitter at twitter.com/GopherWHockey.