Penalty Box Post
December 16, 2020
Holiday break recap...
The Gopher Women's Hockey team enters the holiday break atop the WCHA standings with a 5-1-0 conference mark and 15 points. That said, they are one of only four league teams to have played 6 games to-date, as Bemidji State, Ohio State, and Wisconsin have had their schedules limited by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Having so few games played, it is difficult to make any inferences from collected statistics. Still, Minnesota is currently ranked #2 in the latest national polls and received first-place votes. Defense is also the name of the game for the Gophers so far, yielding only 7 goals in their 6 contests and posting a perfect penalty kill on 16 opposing power plays so far. Redshirt senior goaltender Lauren Bench is 4-1-0 in her 5 starts with one shutout, a 1.21 goals-against average, and a .965 save percentage.
On the offensive end, the Gophers have lit the lamp 18 times, averaging 3.00 goals per game. Twelve (12) different players have netted a goal this season, with Grace Zumwinkle scoring 5 and Abigail Boreen adding 3. Emily Oden, Crystalyn Hengler, and Madeline Wethington have each dished out four assists. Zumwinkle has one helper to go with her goals for a team-leading 6 points, followed by Oden with 5 (1g, 4a), and then Hengler and Wethington with four apiece. One area of potential concern is power play scoring, as Minnesota has capitalized just twice in 17 opportunities, an 11.8% rate.
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Gophers sweep Minnesota State to conclude December games;
Hengler, Bench earn Player of the Week honors
The Gopher Women's Hockey team extended its winning streak to four games, sweeping Minnesota State in a hone-and-home series, 5-1 in Mankato and 2-1 at Ridder Arena.
Abigail Boreen put the Gophers up 1-0 eleven minutes into the first game last Thursday night, but the score remained unchanged into the 3rd stanza with the Mavericks holding a 29-13 shot advantage after 40 minutes. Olivia Knowles doubled the Gopher lead 2:21 into the final period, but MSU's Sydney Langseth narrowed the gap at the 5:34 mark. However, Boreen scored unassisted for her first career two-goal game, and Grace Zumwinkle and Taylor Heise added two more within the next 72 seconds. Lauren Bench earned the victory (more on that momentarily).
After recording her first collegiate assist and point the previous night, Audrey Wethington added her first career goal in Friday's rematch against MSU, redirecting her sister Madeline's shot and putting the Gophers up 1-0 after 20 minutes. Zumwinkle doubled the lead with a power-play tally in the second period, but Brittyn Fleming pulled Minnesota State back within one just before the second intermission. However, the Gopher defense remained resolute in the final stanza, holding the Mavericks to 5 shots on goal (and only 19 for the game); Makayla Pahl made 18 saves in her first collegiate start to earn the victory.
Following the past weekend's action, Gopher Women's Hockey junior Crystalyn Hengler and Lauren Bench were named WCHA Defenseman & Goaltender of the Week, presented by Sterling Trophy.
Hengler recorded three assists against Minnesota State, a career high in a two-game series, and led all NCAA defenders in assists and points over the weekend. She also had a +3 plus-minute rating for the two contests, second-best among WCHA defensemen. Her assist on Friday came on Grace Zumwinkle's game-winning power-play goal.
Bench received her third Goaltender of the Week award following the third Gopher Women's Hockey series. In Thursday's game in Mankato, Bench stopped 40 of the 41 shots she faced to preserve the 5-1 victory.
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GWH alumni & professional news...
Pannek joins coaching staff at Benilde-St. Margaret's – As announced on Twitter on Monday, Gopher Women's Hockey alumna and Olympic gold medalist Kelly Pannek has joined the girls' hockey coaching staff at her high school alma mater, Benilde-St. Margaret's School in St. Louis Park. We send our congratulations and best wishes to Kelly on this opportunity.
Scotiabank partners with PWHPA, sponsors Calgary region – Scotiabank, a supporter of hockey across Canada, was announced as a sponsor for the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) last Thursday, Dec. 10. As part of the agreement, players in the PWHPA's Calgary region will officially be part of Team Scotiabank in the organization's Secret® Cup tournament. The announcement was shared broadly on Twitter by a number of the Calgary players, including GWH alumna Sarah Potomak.
NWHL to play abbreviated "bubble season" in Lake Placid, partnership with Stathletes – Meanwhile, we're catching up on some news from National Women's Hockey League. On November 25, the league announced it will be playing an abbreviated season in Lake Placid, NY at the 1980 Rink-Herb Brooks Arena between January 23 & February 5, 2021. Only 15 "regular-season" games in total will be played, with each pair of teams meeting once in a round-robin format; that will be followed by a single-elimination playoffs involving all six squads. The Minnesota Whitecaps feature Gopher alumnae Winny (Brodt) Brown, Amanda Leveille, Meghan Lorence, and Chelsey (Brodt) Rosenthal, plus co-head coach Ronda Engelhardt and assistant coach Laura Slominski.
On December 7, the NWHL also announced a partnership with Stathletes, a Canada-based hockey analytics company, to “provide data and insights to the league’s teams throughout the NWHL’s 2021 season in Lake Placid.”
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Around the WCHA...
Recent results – Bemidji State and St. Cloud State played in the first two overtime games in league play since the change to a 3-on-3 format for the extra period immediately following regulation. The teams split the two contests, both by 3-2 scores, with Emma Gentry scoring the gamewinner for the Huskies in the first game and Clair DeGeorge netting the deciding goal for the Beavers in the rematch. Gentry earned WCHA Rookie of the Week honors for her 2-goal, 1-assist performance in series, DeGeorge led all scorers with 3 goals and an assist, and SCSU's Jenniina Nylund added two goals and an assist.
Upcoming games – Bemidji State will visit Minnesota State to conclude the scheduled WCHA games, playing a pair of weekday matinee games tomorrow (Thursday) and Friday; puck drop is set for 2:07 p.m. both days.
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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.