The Penalty Box Post
Wednesday, October 13th
Traffic alert Friday evening...
All fans coming to Friday's Gopher Women's Hockey game should note that automotive and pedestrian traffic will be high around the university as the Gopher Men's Hockey team is also in action, hosting in-state rival St. Cloud State at 3M Arena at Mariucci at 7:00 p.m. Please allow for extra travel and parking time before the women's game at Ridder Arena at 6:00 p.m.
#5/6 Minnesota Golden Gophers (1-3-0, 1-3-0-0 in WCHA)
vs. Minnesota State Mavericks (5-1-0, 1-1-0-0 in WCHA)
Friday, October 15 at 6:00 p.m. CT
Ridder Arena
Saturday, October 16 at 4:00 p.m. CT
Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center, Mankato
The Minnesota Women's Hockey team plays the first of six home-and-home series on its 2021-2022 schedule, facing the Minnesota State University Mavericks. Action begins on Friday, October 15 at 6:00 p.m. at Ridder Arena, then shifts to Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center in Mankato for the second game on Saturday, October 16 at 4:00 p.m.
Last year against the Mavericks – As schedules flexed due to COVID-19 restrictions and postponements, Minnesota and Minnesota State were able to schedule a home-and-home series last December. Starting at Ridder Arena, Abigail Boreen put the Gophers up 1-0 with a first-period goal, and that remained the score through the second intermission. Olivia Knowles doubled the advantage 2:21 into the third stanza, but Sydney Langseth pulled the Mavericks back within one at the 5:34 mark. However, Boreen netted her second goal of the game four minutes later, and Grace Zumwinkle and Taylor Heise both lit the lamp over the next 72 seconds. Lauren Bench made a total of 40 saves to preserve a 5-1 victory. The next day in Mankato, Audrey Wethington again gave the Gophers a first-period lead and Zumwinkle doubled it in the second frame. Brittyn Fleming got MSU on the board 29 seconds before the second intermission, but the Gopher defense held the Mavericks to 5 third-period shots on goal, with Makalya Pahl stopping all of them to earn a 2-1 win and the series sweep. Pahl made 18 saves in the contest. Mavericks goaltender Lauren Barbro stopped a combined 52 shots over the two games. Crystalyn Hengler dished out 3 assists in the series.
Analyzing Minnesota State – The Mavericks finished the abbreviated 2020-2021 season fifth in the WCHA standings with a 33.3% standings points percentage (20 points in 20 games), going 7-2-1-0 in 10 contests against Bemidji State and St. Cloud State, but 0-10-0-0 against Minnesota, Minnesota Duluth, Ohio State, and Wisconsin. They have started the 2021-2022 campaign with a 5-1-0 record on two non-conference series sweeps and a split against Minnesota Duluth two weekends ago. With their recent results, MSU has been receiving votes in both national polls.
MSU's offense has clicked for the most part this season, scoring 29 goals in their 5 victories. Senior Brittyn Fleming (#19) leads the Mavericks in total scoring with 12 points on 3 goals and a team-high 9 assists. Junior Kelsey King (#10) went on a scoring tear last weekend (more on that momentarily); she has a team-leading 7 goals this year plus 3 assists for 10 points. Senior Brooke Bryant (#17) has lit the lamp 4 times while dishing out 2 assists, and Charlotte Akervik (#8) has 9 points on 2 goals and 7 assists.
In the net, junior Calla Frank (#77) leads Minnesota State; she is 4-1-0 this season despite a .865 save percentage and 3.39 goals-against average; entering the year, she was 12-18-4 in 34 career starts with 4 shutouts, a .911 SV% and 2.68 GAA. Sophomore Lauren Barbro (#37) is the primary backup; in her freshman season, she was 1-2-0 in 3 starts with one relief appearance, posting an .866 SV% and 3.57 GAA, and she stopped 27 shots with 3 goals allowed in her lone start to far this year. Sophomore Emerald Kelley (#55) is MSU's third goaltender, but she has yet to see any official action.
Last weekend: Mavericks sweep wild series vs. Lindenwood – Minnesota State found itself down 2-0 at the first intermission against Lindenwood last Friday afternoon in Mankato, but Kelsey King responded with a second-period natural hat trick to give the Mavs a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes. In the third stanza, King added an assist on Charlotte Akervik's goal before tallying her fourth of the game on a power play. Jessica Boland completed the scoring for a 6-2 victory, with Brittyn Fleming & Kennedy Bobyck each recording 3 assists. Saturday's rematch saw the Mavericks take a 5-1 lead through two periods; Clair Butorac lit the lamp twice, Fleming recorded a goal and an assist, and King tallied her 6th & 7th points of the series with a couple of helpers. However, the Lions roared back (pun intended) in the third period with 5-straight goals – including two by Sydney Rarick, a goal & an assist by Val Caldwell, and three assists from Sierra Burt – to go ahead 6-5 lead with 4:39 to play. But Sydney Langseth pulled Minnesota State even with 3:25 to go to force overtime, then won it for the Mavericks, scoring 1:02 into the extra period for the 7-6 decision. King was named WCHA Forward of the Week, while Alexis Paddington earned the Rookie of the Week honor with 2 assists. Calla Frank earned both wins in net for Minnesota State, making a combined 35 saves.
Gophers split with Minnesota Duluth, earn 4 points – In their first road test of the season, Minnesota took a 2-0 lead 20 minutes into its series at Minnesota Duluth; Audrey Wethington tipped home a shot by Peyton Hemp, then assisted on Ella Huber's first goal as a Golden Gopher later in the period. Elizabeth Giguere cut UMD's deficit in half in the second stanza, but the Gopher defense held firm in the third and Emily Oden launched a long shot that found the back of an empty net with 1:18 to play for a 3-1 Minnesota victory. The Gophers also got on the board first in Saturday's rematch when Taylor Heise scored just 39 seconds into the contest, but Gabbie Hughes scored twice on Bulldogs' power plays and Mannon McMahon lit the lamp with less than 20 seconds remaining in the period to give UMD a 3-1 lead at the first intermission. Anna Klein pushed the Minnesota Duluth lead to 4-1 just past the midway point of the second period, but Oden pulled the Gophers back within two just 27 seconds later. In the third, the Gophers put 20 shot on Bulldogs goaltender Emma Söderberg, with Abigail Boreen scoring to make a 4-3 contest with 3:38 left in regulation; Boreen then knotted the score with an extra attacker and 31.5 seconds on the clock to force overtime. But UMD controlled the puck for much of the extra period and Maggie Flaherty scored at the 2:09 mark to give the Bulldogs the 5-4 win and the split. Despite the result officially being a loss, Minnesota earned a standing point for taking the game to OT, giving them 4 points for the series. Boreen dished out an assist to go with her two goals, Hemp had three helpers on Saturday to give her 4 for the weekend, Heise also tallied a pair of assists to accompany her goal, and Lauren Bench made 42 saves in the series. For Minnesota Duluth, Hughes had an assist to go with her two goals, Giguere dished out 3 assists on Saturday accompanying her goal Friday, and Söderberg stopped 52 shots.
PWHPA All-Stars vs. U.S. National Team scrimmage update
As was announced on Saturday and shared in our Two-Minute Minor email on Monday, the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association has assembled the Secret® All-Star Team which will be scrimmaging against the U.S. National Team tomorrow, Friday, and Sunday (October 14, 15 & 17). Unfortunately, a report from the Ice Garden indicates that the scrimmages will be closed to the public and will not have any live streaming, though the PWHPA does plan on providing live updates on its Twitter account. Gopher alumnae Sarah Potomak and Sydney Scobee were named to the Secret® All-Star Team, while Megan Bozek, Hannah Brandt, Dani Cameranesi, Amanda Kessel, Abbey Murphy, Kelly Pannek, Lee Stecklein, and Grace Zumwinkle are training with the U.S. National Team.
Around the WCHA...
Recent action: Wisconsin sweeps St. Cloud State – Daryl Watts posted a 7-point series with 4 goals and 3 assists, Makenna Webster added 2 goals & 4 assists, Casey O'Brien recorded a goal and 3 assists, and Kennedy Blair was named WCHA Goaltender of the Week after stopping 36 of 37 shots as the Badgers cruised to a 6-0, 6-1 sweep of the Huskies in Madison. Allie Cornelius' goal for SCSU on Sunday broke up Blair's shutout streak of 242 minutes, 10 seconds.
Upcoming games – All eight teams are in conference action this weekend. Wisconsin and UMD kick things off in Duluth with a noon game on Friday, followed by a Sunday afternoon rematch. St. Cloud State and St. Thomas will play a home-and-home series, Friday afternoon in Mendota Heights and Saturday afternoon in St. Cloud. Meanwhile, Bemidji State is making the trip east to Columbus to face Ohio State on Friday evening and Saturday afternoon.
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