The Penalty Box Post
Tuesday, November 23rd
Note: This Post was added to the News Page on December 1st - it was sent to Power Play Club Members on Novemeber 23rd. We apologize for the late posting!
Smashville Women's Collegiate Hockey Showcase
Ford Ice Center Bellevue – Nashville, Tennessee
Semifinals – Friday, November 26
#8 Colgate (13-4-1) vs. Boston Col. (8-5-0) – 1:00 pm CT
#3 Minnesota (11-3-0) vs. Mercyhurt (11-4-2) – 4:30 pm CT
Saturday, November 27
Third Place Game – 1:00 p.m. CT
Championship – 4:30 p.m. CT
Following their 10th-straight victory, Minnesota Women's Hockey returns to the site of its Thanksgiving 2019 trip, Ford Ice Center Bellevue in Nashville, Tennessee, for the 2021 Smashville Women's Collegiate Hockey Showcase. The #3 Gophers will face the unranked Mercyhurst University Lakers on Friday, November 26 at 4:30 p.m. CT, following the first contest of the tournament featuring the #8 Colgate University Raiders against the Boston College Eagles at 1:00 p.m. CT. Action continues Saturday, November 27, with the 3rd Place Game at 1:00 p.m. and the Championship at 4:30 p.m. CT.
Last time against Mercyhurst, Boston College, and Colgate – The Gophers hosted the Lakers to open the 2018-2019 regular season, sweeping the two-game series 4-2 and 5-0; Grace Zumwinkle recorded 2 goals and an assist, while Patti Marshall, Kelly Pannek, and Sarah Potomak each added a goal and two assists. Minnesota faced Boston College in the 2019 Country Classic in Nashville, playing to a 2-2 tie; Delaney Belinskas & Kelly Browne both scored short-handed and Maddy McArthur made 41 saves for the Eagles, while Taylor Wente & Grace Zumwinkle lit the lamp for the Gophers. Minnesota swept Colgate on the road earlier this season, winning 5-3 and 3-2 last month while getting a 4-point series from Abigail Boreen (1g, 3a) and 3 points apiece from Taylor Heise (2g, 1a) & Catie Skaja (1g, 2a).
Analyzing the Lakers & recent action – Mercyhurst is 3-1-0 in CHA conference action and 8-3-2 in non-conference play, but they've only faced one ranked team so far this year in the form of Colgate, who swept them 5-2 and 4-2. The Lakers earned their own sweep this past weekend, extending RIT's losing streak 3-1 and 6-1 with a hat trick on Friday by Chantal Ste-Croix and another on Saturday by Vanessa Upson. Upson (#24), only a freshman, leads Mercyhurst in points (20) and and goals (11). Fifth-year Kristy Pidgeon (#15; 7g, 8a) and sophomore Sara Boucher (#14; 6g, 9a) each have 15 points, while senior Liliane Perreault (#34) is the team's assist leader with 12 while lighting the lamp twice herself. Between the pipes, junior Jenna Silvonen (#30) is 5-2-2 with a 1.75 goals-against average, a .922 save percentage, and two shutouts, while junior Ena Nystrøm (#31), a transfer from RPI, is 6-2-0 with one shutout, a 1.81 GAA and .935 SV%.
Analyzing the Eagles & recent action – Boston College is 6-4-0 in Hockey East play and 2-1-0 in non-conference competition, but 0-3-0 against ranked teams. This past weekend, they defeated Holy Cross at home, 4-2, with two goals by Kelly Browne and a goal & assist from Abby Newhook, but lost at cross-town rival Boston University, 5-4, despite another goal by Browne and a goal & assist from Caroline Goffredo. Newhook (#21), a freshman, has the team's goal lead with 7 while adding 4 assists; junior Hannah Bilka (#19) also has 11 points on 4 goals and 7 assists. Senior Abigail Levy (#39), a transfer from Minnesota State, has been the lone Eagles goaltender to see action so far this season, posting a 2.37 goals-against average and .938 save percentage; fellow senior Maddy McArthur (#35) is a seasoned veteran with 67 career starts, a 2.23 GAA and a .913 SV%, but has not played this year.
Analyzing the Raiders & recent action – After starting the season 8-0-0, Colgate is 5-4-1 in their past 10 games. They, too, have struggled against ranked competition, going 1-3-1 including the series against Minnesota and their home games this past weekend hosting Princeton and Quinnipiac. The Raiders played the Tigers to a 1-1 tie on Friday night before being shut out by the Bobcats 4-0 on Saturday; junior Kaitlyn O'Donohoe scored Colgate's lone goal. Junior Danielle Serdachny (#9) is the team leader in points (26) and assists (17) while netting 9 goals. Sophomores Dara Greig (#77) and Kalty Kaltounkova (#98) are tied for the goals lead with 11 apiece; they each also have 13 assists for 24 points. Sophomore goaltender Kayle Osborne (#31) has a 9-3-1 record this season with 1 shutout, a 2.08 goals-against average, and .903 save percentage; freshman backup Hannah Murphy (#83) is 4-1-0 with a shutout, a 2.00 GAA, and a .839 SV%.
Gophers' winning streak hits 10 with sweep of St. Cloud State
Taylor Heise opened Minnesota's series against St. Cloud State with her third short-handed goal of the season, also marking third-straight game in which she tallied first. She finished the series leading the Gophers with 2 goals and 3 assists as the team swept the Huskies and extended their winning streak to 10 games with 6-2 and 5-1 victories.
SCSU's Emma Gentry tied the opening contest at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center later in the first period, but Audrey Wethington, Olivia Knowles, Abigail Boreen, and Heise lit the lamp in the second stanza to open a 5-1 lead, and the Huskies' Addi Scribner and Gophers' Gracie Ostertag traded power play goals in the final 20 minutes. Emily Brown, Ostertag, and Boreen put Minnesota up 3-0 after one period at Ridder Arena on Saturday, and Emily Oden made it 4-0 before Mackenzie Bourgerie tallied for St. Cloud State. Crystalyn Hengler added a power play goal in the final frame. Oden dished out 3 assists in the series to accompany her goal, and Catie Skaja recorded 4 helpers.
Between the pipes, Makayla Pahl made 23 saves on Friday while Skylar Vetter stopped 20 shots on Saturday. Huskies netminder Sanni Ahola made a combined 66 saves in the two contests.
Stecklein records an assist as Team USA earns first win of "My Why Tour" in come-from-behind fashion
The U.S. Women's National Team defeated Canada 3-2 in overtime on Sunday in Kingston, Ontario, after trailing 2-0 after two periods. Marie-Philip Poulin and Sarah Fillier scored in the first five minutes of the second stanza, but Gopher alumna Lee Stecklein assisted on Hayley Scamurra's goal 2:44 into the third frame to cut the American deficit to 2-1, and Hilary Knight evened the score just 82 seconds later. Going into a five-minute 3-on-3 overtime period, Knight needed just 54 seconds to bury a feed from Kendall Coyne Schofield past Canadian goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer for the victory. Maschmeyer finished with 21 saves in the game, while Nicole Hensley stopped 18 shots for Team USA.
The two teams will have a quick turn-around, facing each other again tonight (Tuesday, November 23) at TD Place Arena in Ottawa, ON. Game time is 7 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. CT with television coverage on NHL Network.
Around the WCHA...
Last weekend – Minnesota State turned to freshman Avery Stilwell, a member of the MSU tennis team with high school goaltending experience, to play in net on the road at Ohio State. Stilwell made a combined 84 saves, but the Buckeyes earned the series sweep with 6-3 and 9-0 victories behind 3 goals & 4 assists from Clair DeGeorge and 2 goals & 4 assists from Paetyn Levis.
Gabbie Hughes, Anneke Linser, and Clara Van Wieran each recorded a goal & 4 assists and Emma Söderberg stopped a combined 43 of 44 shots to give Minnesota Duluth a road sweep of Bemidji State, 9-0 and 4-1.
Maddi Wheeler and Makenna Webster each tallied 2 goals & 4 assists as Wisconsin also earned a road sweep, defeating St. Thomas 7-1 and 5-1. Sunday's contest saw Badgers goaltender Jane Gervais earn a win in her first career start while the Tommies' Saskia Maurer made 60 saves.
Upcoming games – Four other WCHA teams are in non-conference action with all games on Friday and Saturday. Bemidji State hosts Lindenwood, St. Cloud State heads to east-central New York to face RPI, and Ohio State & Minnesota Duluth will each play Penn State & St. Lawrence in the D1 in D.C. Tournament in Arlington, VA. Minnesota State, St. Thomas, and Wisconsin are idle.
Copyright © 2021 Power Play Club, All rights reserved. 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.