Power Play Club

The Penalty Box Post
Wednesday, November 17th

You can help the Power Play Club raise $20,000!

Support Gopher Women’s Hockey on Give to the Max Day tomorrow, Thursday, November 18, 2021.
(Don’t know what Give to the Max Day is? Read about it here.)

If donors give at least $10,000 by the end of the day tomorrow, the Power Play Club board and volunteers will match it with a combined gift of $10,000.

All gifts of any size are welcome! Please give what you can, and spread the word. Donations can be made here.

Thank you for supporting Gopher Women’s Hockey!

Tour of Ridder Arena cancelled

More discussions with the Gopher Women's Hockey staff have led to the cancel-lation of this year's tour of Ridder Arena As with the in-person Chalk Talks and our Brunch with the Coaches, we look forward to bringing the tour back in 2022-2023.

We are still working to schedule online Chalk Talks over the remainder of the season. We thank you for your patience as we finalize the logistics.

GWH decals and PPC membership reminder

PPC members registered for the 2021-2022 season who have not yet claimed their Gopher Women's Hockey vinyl decal can do so at the PPC table during pregame or either intermission of any Gopher home game. (Limit one decal per registered membership -- thank you!)

A minimum donation of $50 is required for our basic membership tier, with online registration at give.umn.edu/giveto/powerplayclub (click the "Make A Gift" button on that page and follow the instructions) and an offline option using the downloadable form here (which should be mailed to the listed address with a check payable to the "University of Minnesota"). Our Locker Sponsorship tier is also still open with a minimum $600 donation (per locker); if you are interested, please contact Susan "Rennie" McPherson at lockersponsorship@powerplayclub.org.

PPC Board of Directors meeting tomorrow (Nov. 18) at 7 p.m.

A special meeting of the Power Play Club Board of Directors is scheduled for Thursday, November 18 at 7 p.m. The meeting will be held online via Zoom, with the primary agenda item of naming a new treasurer following the resignation of Alex Curry (as reported in last week's Penalty Box Post). As always, board meetings are open to all registered PPC members; please contact club president Bill Johnson at president@powerplayclub.org if you are interested in attending.

#3/3 Minnesota Golden Gophers (9-3-0, 5-3-0-0 in WCHA) vs. St. Cloud State Huskies (4-5-1, 2-5-1-1 in WCHA)
Friday, November 19 at 6:00 p.m. Herb Brooks National Hockey Center, St. Cloud
Saturday, November 20 at 3:00 p.m. Ridder Arena - U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Museum Women's Face-off Classic

The Minnesota Women's Hockey team returns to WCHA play, looking to extended its current 8-game winning streak when it faces St. Cloud State in a home-and-home series. The Gophers and Huskies start the weekend Friday, November 19, at 6 p.m. at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, then relocate to Ridder Arena on Saturday, November 20, at 3 p.m.

Special events on Saturday – As was announced in mid-September, Saturday's game has been designated as the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Museum Women's Face-off Classic. Minnesota assistant coach Natalie Darwitz, a 2018 inductee, will be one of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame members acknowledged. Additionally, former Minnesota Twin Kent Hrbek and GWH great & 2019 U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Inductee Krissy Wendell-Pohl will participate in a ceremonial puck drop before the contest; Hrbek is attending as part of the game's objective to bring attention to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as “Lou Gehrig's disease”. Additional special recognitions are planned, as reported by Let's Play Hockey on Monday.

Last season against St. Cloud State – Due to pandemic-driven scheduling adjustments, the Gophers and Huskies met in a three-game series last January. Minnesota came away with a sweep, winning 2-1 and 4-1 at Ridder Arena before earning a 4-0 shutout victory in St. Cloud. Grace Zumwinkle scored both Gopher goals in the opener, Abbey Murphy lit the lamp twice in the second game, and Taylor Heise recorded a 4-goal series – including a hat trick in the third contest – plus an assist. Murphy and Emily Oden assisted on all three Heise goals in St. Cloud. Catie Skaja and Taylor Wente each added a goal and an assist over the weekend. Lauren Bench started all three games, stopping 43 of 44 shots in 7 periods of action. Makayla Pahl made 14 saves on 15 shots in a two-period relief appearance in the second contest. Olivia Cvar and Laura Kluge each scored for the Huskies; Emma Polusny made 55 saves over the first four periods of the series, while Sanni Ahola also made 55 saves over the remaining five periods.

Analyzing the Huskies – St. Cloud State currently sits in fifth in the WCHA standings with 7 points and has its own two-game winning streak after defeating Minnesota State 3-2 (OT) and 4-1 two weekends ago. However, they also recorded a loss and a tie in their October series against St. Thomas, and they've been outscored 39-23 in their 10 games.

Junior Taylor Lind (#13) leads the Huskies in total scoring, having dished out 8 assists while lighting the lamp twice herself for 10 points. Sophomore Emma Gentry (#20) holds St. Cloud State's goal-scoring lead with 5 while adding two assists for 7 points. Fellow sophomore Mackenzie Bourgerie (#10) also has 7 points with 3 goals & 4 assists, and senior Jenniina Nylund (#81) has 6 points on 3 goals & 3 assists.

Sophomore Sanni Ahola (#1) has seen a majority of the game action for SCSU so far this season, going 3-3-0 in six starts plus a relief appearance, posting 4.21 goals-against average and a .887 save percentage. Emma Polusny (#32) has returned to the Huskies for a fifth season, starting the other four contests and also making a relief appearance; she has a 1-2-1 record with a 3.44 GAA and .906 SV%. Senior Karlie Ries (#30) remains the team's third goaltender with only one brief relief appearance in her collegiate career.

Gophers roll against RIT, push winning streak to 8 games

Minnesota shelled RIT goaltenders with 131 total shots on goal, including tying a program record with 72 on Saturday, but needed over 13 minutes in the opener and nearly 18 minutes in the rematch to find the back of the net. Taylor Heise opened the scoring in both contests with unassisted goals, Friday's coming shorthanded; she tallied twice more on Friday for a hat trick while dishing out 3 assists in the series for a 7-point weekend. The Gophers lit the lamp frequently with eleven others scoring after Heise broke through, posting their fourth-straight series sweep with 10-0 and 7-1 victories at Ridder Arena.

Peyton Hemp and Catie Skaja recorded 2 goals and 2 assists apiece. Emily Zumwinkle and Emma Conner each netted their respective first goals in Maroon & Gold, while Crystalyn Hengler tallied her first of the season; Conner and Hengler also dished out 3 assists apiece in the series. Makayla Pahl also recorded an offensive assist on Heise's second goal Friday. All four Gopher goaltenders played in the series, making a combined 19 saves, with Olivia King stopping 10 shots in 52 minutes of work. RIT's Hana Solinger scored in the third period on Saturday and Taylor Liotta made 82 saves in 77-1/2 minutes of action.

Expansion of NCAA Women's Hockey Tournament to 11 teams
receives initial approval from Competition Oversight Committee

The NCAA Division I Competition Oversight Committee last Wednesday approved expanding the National Collegiate Beach Volleyball and Women's Ice Hockey brackets. The Women's Hockey Tournament would expand from 8 to 11 teams, roughly 27% of the programs playing the sport which matches the selection rate for the Division I Men's Hockey Tournament.

Per the press release, the proposal has been sent to the Women's Ice Hockey Committee to determine the new bracket format and decide whether it will be implemented in 2022 or 2023. Their final recommendation will then be shared with the Division I Competition Oversight Committee and the Division I Council for final approval.

We will share additional information on this as it becomes available.

Around the WCHA...

Upcoming games – The other six WCHA teams return to action after being idle last weekend. Minnesota Duluth and Bemidji State get things underway in Bemidji on Friday afternoon and contrinue on Saturday afternoon. Minnesota State heads to Columbus to face Ohio State on Friday evening and Saturday afternoon. Meanwhile, St. Thomas hosts Wisconsin in a Saturday-Sunday series.

Follow the Power Play Club 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 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.