The Penalty Box Post
Wednesday, January 19
Goals for a Goal – Gophers roll past 100 goal mark!!
The Gopher Women's Hockey team netted 11 goals – including 3 on the power play – against Minnesota State, increasing their season total to-date to 104 goals, with 16 on the power play!!
Our Goals for a Goal campaign collects pledges for every goal scored throughout the regular season and postseason, converting them into contributions to support Minnesota's participation in a tournament in Las Vegas in the 2022-2023 regular season. The program includes an option to double your pledge for power-play tallies. We encourage you to make your pledge online, or download the pledge form here and mail it in to the Golden Gopher Fund.
#5 Minnesota Golden Gophers (17-6-1, 12-5-1-1 WCHA)
vs. #1 Wisconsin Badgers (18-1-3, 13-1-2-1 WCHA)
Friday, January 21 at 6:00 p.m. CT
Saturday, January 22 at 4:00 p.m. CT
Ridder Arena
The Gopher Women's Hockey team looks to rebound from a tough Saturday loss, but they will be challenged as they host the top-ranked Wisconsin Badgers in the 114th and 115th all-time editions of the Border Battle. The action begins at Ridder Arena on Friday evening, January 21 at 6:00 p.m. and continues Saturday, January 22 at 4:00 p.m.
GOLD OUT on Friday – Fans coming to Friday's game at Ridder Arena are encouraged to wear gold attire to support the Gophers!
Last time against Wisconsin – Minnesota never trailed in its road series against the Badgers in early December. Taylor Heise and Emily Oden put the Gophers up 2-0 through one period of their opening game. Wisconsin came back with a second-stanza goal by Casey O'Brien and the tying tally by Maddi Wheeler in the third, but Catie Skaja converted a Badger turnover into an unassisted go-ahead goal just 9 seconds later. Lauren Bench made 31 saves to earn a 3-2 victory. The two teams traded goals in the rematch; Peyton Hemp scored for the Gophers in the first period, O'Brien tied things up in the second, Emily Zumwinkle put Minnesota back ahead in the third, and O'Brien netted her third goal of the weekend to draw the Badgers even again. A scoreless overtime resulted in a 2-2 tie, with Bench making another 37 saves in the game. The subsequent shootout needed 8 rounds before Zumwinkle won it to give Minnesota the extra point in the WCHA standings; Heise (1st round) and Emily Brown (4th) scored for the Gophers, while Daryl Watts (2nd) and Nicole LaMantia (4th) found the back of the net for the Badgers. Hemp and Oden each recorded an assist to accompany their respective goals.
Analyzing the Badgers – Wisconsin continues to be at the top of the WCHA, with only the one loss and two ties in their 16 conference games. Combined with a 5-0-1 non-conference record, the Badgers have maintained the #1 national ranking since the start of the season.
Wisconsin has a trio of players each recording 30+ points so far. Sophomore Casey O'Brien (#26) has a team-leading 21 goals and 38 points, dishing out 17 assists in the process. Classmate Makenna Webster (#8) is the Badgers' assists leader with 20 while lighting the lamp 15 times herself for 35 points. Fifth-year and past Patty Kazmaier Award winner Daryl Watts (#19) also has 15 goals plus 19 assists for 34 points. Another sophomore, Maddi Wheeler (#28), is the fourth Badger with double-digit goals, lighting the lamp 10 times and dishing out 12 assists.
Little has changed goaltending-wise for Wisconsin since the last Border Battle meeting. Fifth-year goaltender Kennedy Blair (#29) has been the only Badger between the pipes in their last 6 games; her record this season now stands at 16-1-3 with 5 shutouts, a 1.20 goals-against average and a .942 save percentage. As before, redshirt junior Cami Kronish (#30) has not yielded a goal in 4 periods of action, making a combined 14 saves, while redshirt freshman Jane Gervais (#1) has stopped 23 out of 25 shots over 5 periods of action for a 1.20 GAA and .920 SV%.
Last action for Wisconsin – The Badgers have not played since January 2 following a scheduled bye week and the cancellation of their home series this past weekend against St. Thomas. In their last games, a top-five non-conference series against Quinnipiac in Madison, Nicole LaMantia recorded a goal & 2 assists and Casey O'Brien scored a shorthanded, unassisted goal to break a 2-2 tie en route to a 5-2 victory in the opener. However, Bobcats goaltender Corinne Schroeder stopped 41 of 42 shots in the rematch; Sarah Wozniewicz scored early in the second period for the Badgers, but Maddy Samoskevich lit the lamp for QU later in the stanza and the game finished in a 1-1 overtime tie.
Gophers split with Minnesota State
Minnesota found itself trailing after MSU scored the opening goal of both their games this past weekend. However, the results after that were very different between the two contests. The Gophers netted the next 7 goals on Friday night in Mankato, including a first-period hat trick from Amy Potomak, en route to a 7-2 victory. Emily Zumwinkle, Taylor Heise, Madeline Wethington, and Emma Conner also lit the lamp, though Kelsey King scored in the final minute for the Mavericks. Skylar Vetter stopped 29 of 31 shots for the Gophers, while Calla Frank made 41 saves for MSU.
On Saturday at Ridder Arena, Minnesota State took a 3-1 lead into the first intermission after two goals by Charlotte Akervik and one by Kennedy Bobcyk, though Abigail Boreen converted a power play for Minnesota. In the second stanza, Makayla Pahl replaced Lauren Bench in net for the Gophers, Savannah Norcross scored on a laser shot high short-side, and a 2-on-0 passing play from Catie Skaja to Ella Huber and back to Skaja for a tap-in goal knotted the game 3-3 after 40 minutes. Going to the third, Jessica Kondas put the Mavericks ahead again with 12:20 to play, but Boreen netted her second power-play goal of the game to tie the score 4-4 with 8:27 left. Neither team scored again in regulation, but MSU broke their 53-game losing streak to the Gophers when King scored with 1:11 left in 3-on-3 overtime. Frank made another 41 saves for the Mavericks; Bench recorded 5 saves in the first period, and Pahl stopped 22 shots over the remainder of the contest.
King finished with a 5-point series, dishing out 3 assists to go with her two goals. Potomak (3g, 1a), Heise (1g, 3a), and Norcross (1g, 3a) recorded 4-points apiece, while Audrey Wethington also tallied 3 assists.
Vetter earns second-straight weekly conference award!!
Gopher freshmen Skylar Vetter earned a second-straight weekly conference award, being named WCHA Rookie of the Week for her career-high 29-save performance and .935 save percentage Friday night against Minnesota State, following being named Goaltender of the Week on January 10. As noted in the separate press release from the U. of M., Vetter is the 6th goaltender in GWH program history to earn a Rookie of the Week award. Congratulations, Skylar!!
Gophers add Finland native Laitinen to 2022-2023 freshman class
Gopher Women's Hockey and head coach Brad Frost announced Monday that Finnish defender Nelli Laitinen has signed with the team as the third member of the 2022-2023 recruiting class, joining Allie Franco and Madison Kaiser. Laitinen has already played in two IIHF Women's World Championships with the (senior) Finland National Team along with two U18 Women's World Championships. She is currently playing club hockey with Kiekko-Espoo, the two-time defending regular-season champions and current leaders of the Finnish Women's League. Welcome, Nelli!!
Finland Olympic Team to be named Thursday
The Finnish Hockey Association will announce the rosters for the 2022 Finland Olympic Men's and Women's Hockey Teams tomorrow – Thursday, January 20 – at 7 p.m. Eastern European Time / 11 a.m. U.S. Central Time. Gopher Women's Hockey alumna Noora Räty and newly-signed recruit Nelli Laitinen have been participants in the recent Finnish training camps. We will share more information following the announcement.
Around the WCHA...
Last weekend – In addition to the cancellation of the St. Thomas-Wisconsin series, the games between Ohio State and St. Cloud State in St. Cloud were also called off. The WCHA again indicated it will be making every effort to reschedule all in-conference series.
Minnesota Duluth, coming out of an unscheduled prior weekend off, swept visiting Bemidji State, 8-2 and 3-0. Anna Klein led the Bulldogs with 3 goals and 2 assists, Naomi Rogge added 3 goals and one assist, and Elizabeth Giguere recorded a goal and 3 helpers. Emma Söderberg posted a 28-save shutout on Saturday for UMD, while BSU's Kerrigan Dowhy made 29 saves.
Upcoming games – Barring more unplanned cancellations, St. Cloud State visits Bemidji State and Ohio State hosts Minnesota Duluth in a pair of Friday-Saturday series. St. Thomas and Minnesota State will play a home-and-home series, starting Friday night at the St. Thomas Ice Arena before taking things outside on Sunday afternoon as part of Hockey Day Minnesota festivities at Blakeslee Stadium in Mankato.
Standings: 1t. Wisconsin – 14-1-3-1, 2-0 in OT, 40 points (18-1-3 overall); Ohio State – 13-3-0-0, 0-1 in OT, 40 points (17-3-0 overall); Minnesota – 12-5-1-1, 0-2 in OT, 40 points (17-6-1 overall); 4. Minnesota Duluth – 10-6-0-0, 1-1 in OT, 30 points (13-7-0 overall); 5. Minnesota State – 6-11-1-1, 1-1 in OT, 20 points (10-11-1 overall); 6. Bemidji State – 4-12-2-0, 1-0 in OT, 13 points (7-12-3 overall); 7. St. Cloud State – 2-11-1-1, 1-1 in OT, 8 points (7-12-1 overall); 8. St. Thomas – 2-13-1-0, 0-0 in OT, 7 points (4-15-1 overall).
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