Power Play Club

#2 Minnesota Golden Gophers (.667 pts%, 9-5-1-1, 0-1 in OT)
vs. #4 Ohio State Buckeyes (.619 pts%, 9-5-0-0, 1-0 in OT)
Friday, February 12 at 4:07 p.m.
Saturday, February 13 at 1:07 p.m.
Ridder Arena

The Gopher Women's Hockey team completes the home portion of its 2020-2021 schedule with unprecedented 5th and 6th regular-season games against the Ohio State Buckeyes, squaring off at Ridder Arena. The teams also get an early start on the weekend as the puck drops on Friday, February 12, at 4:07 p.m., and action continues Saturday, February 13 at 1:07 p.m. CT.

Video and audio streaming – Video from both games will be streamed online via BTN+; subscription packages by conference, school, or sport are available here. Free audio streaming will also be available both days through Golden Gophers All-Access, starting roughly 20 minutes before game time. Friday's audio play-by-play will also be simulcast starting at 4:00 p.m. on KFAN+ 96.7FM in the Twin Cities, and on the KFAN+ channel on iHeart.com and the iHeart Radio app.

This season against Ohio State – The Gophers and Buckeyes split each of their two previous series. In November at Ridder Arena to open the regular season, Minnesota took game 1 by a 4-0 score but OSU came back with a 2-1 decision the next day. Just two weeks ago in Columbus, the Gophers again won the first game of the series, 7-4, but were held to a single goal in the rematch and fell to the Buckeyes, 3-1. Grace Zumwinkle leads all Minnesota scorers with 4 goals and an assist in the four contests; Abigail Boreen is the only other Gopher with multiple goals against OSU, having lit the lamp twice, while Taylor Heise & Emily Oden each have a goal & two assists. Emma Maltais, Liz Schepers, and Tatum Skaggs have scored two goals apiece against Minnesota this season; Maltais also dished out 5 assists for 7 points in the four contests, Schepers recorded two helpers for 4 points, and Skaggs also tallied an assist for 3 points. Between the pipes, Lauren Bench played the first 3 games for the Gophers, going 2-1 with a 2.03 goals-against average and a .942 save percentage, while Makayla Pahl stopped 41 of 43 shots – a .953 SV% – on January 30. OSU netminder Andrea Brändli also played the first three games of the season series, posting a 3.39 GAA and .863 SV%, but Amanda Thiele earned the win on Jan. 30 by stopping 29 of 30 shots – a .967 SV%.

Analyzing the Buckeyes – Following their split against Minnesota two weeks ago, Ohio State dropped to #4 in the U.S. College Hockey Online poll and also fell to fourth in the WCHA standings (behind Minnesota Duluth). While they maintained their #3 ranking in the USA Hockey Magazine / USA Today poll for an additional week, they fell to #4 after being idle this past weekend.

A trio of Buckeyes are now tied for the team's scoring lead with 11 points apiece. Freshman Jenna Buglioni (#10) has OSU's goal lead with 7 while dishing out 4 assists, senior Tatum Skaggs (#11) increased her season totals to 6 goals and 5 helpers, and sophomore Jennifer Gardiner (#12) has 5 goals and 6 assists. Seniors Liz Schepers (#21; 4g, 6a) and Emma Maltais (#17; 2g, 8a) have each also reached the 10-point mark.

As mentioned prior to their last series, defense and goaltending have been critical for Ohio State. Junior Andrea Brändli (#20) is 7-5-0 in her 12 starts with 2 shutouts, though – following the game on Jan. 29 against the Gophers – her goals-against average increased to 1.98 and her save percentage decreased to .921. Freshman Amanda Thiele (#35) won her both of her two starts and also made one relief appearance; she's stopped 53 of 55 shots for a 0.90 GAA and .964 SV%.
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Gophers “split” Border Battle series against Wisconsin

The Gophers celebrate earning the third point in the WCHA standings with a 1-0 shootout win following a 2-2 tie against Wisconsin on Saturday. Makayla Pahl stopped all three Badger shooters. (Photo courtesy of the U. of M. / GopherSports.com)

Though Minnesota fell 4-3 in overtime to Wisconsin in the opener of their Border Battle series and could only salvage a 2-2 tie in the rematch, a 1-0 shootout win by the Gophers meant that they evenly split the WCHA standings points with the Badgers, taking 3 apiece. Madeline Wethington and Grace Zumwinkle gave Minnesota a 2-0 lead five minutes into the 2nd period on Friday night; Wisconsin's Daryl Watts cut the Gophers' lead to 2-1, but Crystalyn Hengler converted on a power play to push the advantage back to two six minutes into the 3rd stanza. However, Caitlin Schneider scored for the Badgers less than 3 minutes later, Britta Curl knotted the score with an extra-attacker tally with 25.5 seconds remaining to send the game to overtime, and Watts lit the lamp 2:03 into the extra session. Lauren Bench recorded an offensive assist on Wethington's goal but took the loss with 25 saves. Makayla Pahl made the start between the pipes for Minnesota on Saturday, but saw Sophie Shirley and Maddi Wheeler score to give Wisconsin a 2-0 lead in the latter portion of the 2nd period. However, it was the Gophers with the comeback as Abigail Boreen blasted a shot past Badgers goaltender Kennedy Blair 1:33 later, and Zumwinkle got her stick on an Olivia Knowles shot that found the back of the net in the 3rd stanza to knot the score. Another overtime ensued but neither team tallied, resulting in the official tie. Heading to a shootout, Taylor Wente beat Blair in the first round, and that was all Pahl needed as she stopped all three Badger shooters to take the third conference standings point. In regulation and overtime, Pahl made 21 saves. Blair recorded 56 saves in the series.
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NCAA cancels D-III Championships, issues new D-I guidance

The NCAA's Division III Administrative Committee approved the recommendation from the Division III Championships Committee to cancel all winter championships due to low participation numbers among member schools, as announced last Wednesday, February 3. Specifically affected are the championships for men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s swimming and diving, men’s and women’s indoor track and field, men’s and women’s ice hockey, and wrestling.

As noted in the press release, the D-III Championships Committee determined participation numbers in all nine winter sports are well below the established threshold to provide a national championships experience, necessitating the decision. For ice hockey, the threshold was 70% of normally-participating schools.

Meanwhile, the Division I Council Coordination Committee announced last Thursday the approval of contingency plans to reduce championship bracket sizes for D-I winter and spring sports, along with spring National Collegiate Championships. The contingency plan for team sports comes into play if participation for automatic-qualifying conferences falls to 50% or lower. At this time, men's and women's ice hockey meet the threshold to maintain full brackets for their respective tournaments.
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Gopher Women's Hockey alumnae news...
NWHL suspends season; PWHPA announces game at MSG

The National Women's Hockey League season was interrupted for the second-straight year. The league announced on Twitter and Facebook last Wednesday that, in agreement with the Olympic Regional Development Authority, the remainder of the 2021 NWHL Season and Playoffs in Lake Placid had been suspended. As noted in the announcement, the suspension was due to new positive COVID-19 tests and the resulting safety concerns for the players, their respective staff and the community. We send our thoughts to Gopher Women's Hockey alumnae Sydney Baldwin, Winny Brodt Brown, Amanda Leveille, Meghan Lorence, and Chelsey (Brodt) Rosenthal, all of whom were playing with the Minnesota Whitecaps.

On the flip side, the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association announced last Wednesday a partnership with the NHL's New York Rangers and the playing of the first game of the 2021 Secret® Dream Gap Tour at historic Madison Square Garden. The game is scheduled for Sunday, February 28, at 7 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. CT, though additional details are to be announced. It's the first women's hockey game in history to be played at MSG.

The PWHPA followed that up with an announcement that another "All-Star" team comprised of players from the Minnesota, New Hampshire, and Calgary regional training hubs is headed back to the U.S. Premier Hockey League's "Hub City Tampa" bubble this month. From the press release: “During the course of their stay, the team will face off in five exhibition games against USPHL teams. Four of those games will be against Tier-2 NCDC opponents, while one game will be against the Tier-3 Premier League. In addition to game action, the PWHPA All-Star team will again take part in on-ice practice sessions and off-ice training.”

The All-Star team includes Gopher Women's Hockey alumnae Amanda Kessel, Gigi Marvin, Hannah Brandt, and Kelly Pannek. Action begins today – Wednesday, February 10 – when they face the Northern Cyclones Premier team at 2 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. CT. The schedule for the PWHPA All-Stars is available on the USPHL's website here, video from all 5 contests will be available on the HockeyTV subscription streaming service – with the game on Saturday, Feb. 13 available for free, and The Women's Hockey Tribune will have recaps of all the action.
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Around the WCHA...

St. Cloud State, Minnesota State split – SCSU freshman goaltender Sanni Ahola made 38 saves, including 25 in the third period, and Emma Gentry scored twice en route to a 4-0 shutout victory for the Huskies over MSU in the opening contest of their weekend series. However, four different Mavericks lit the lamp in the rematch, with Kennedy Bobyck recording the game-winning goal, in a 4-2 win over the Huskies and a series split. Laura Kluge also tallied two goals and Taylor Lind dished out 3 assists for St. Cloud State over the weekend.

Upcoming games – Bemidji State and Wisconsin kick off the action this coming weekend with a pair of afternoon games Friday & Saturday in Madison. However, the league announced yesterday that the scheduled series between Minnesota State & Minnesota Duluth in Mankato has been postponed, as MSU has paused all team activities for seven days due to COVID-19 protocols. St. Cloud State is idle.

Standings – 1. Wisconsin, .778 pts%, 28 points in 12 games (9-2-1-0, 1-1 in OT); 2t. Minnesota, .667, 30 pts in 15 gms (9-5-1-1, 0-1); Minnesota Duluth, .667, 24 pts in 12 gms (8-4-0-0, 1-1); 4. Ohio State, .619, 26 pts in 14 gms (9-5-0-0, 1-0); 5. Minnesota State, .370, 20 pts in 18 gms (7-10-1-0, 2-0); 6. Bemidji State, .274, 11.5 pts in 14 gms (2-10-2-1, 2-4, 1 shootout no-decision); 7. St. Cloud State, .265, 13.5 pts in 17 gms (4-12-1-0, 1-1, 1 shootout no-decision).

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