The Penalty Box Post
Wednesday, November 2nd
#1/1 Minnesota Golden Gophers (7-0-1, 7-0-1 in WCHA)
vs.
#5/#5 Univ. of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs (7-3-0, 3-3-0)
Friday, November 4 at 6:00 p.m. CT
Saturday, November 5 at 2:00 p.m. CT
Ridder Arena
After taking 4 of 6 standings points in a critical road series last weekend and earning the #1 ranking in both national polls, the Gopher Women's Hockey team returns to Ridder Arena to face a familiar rival, the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs. The two teams will square off starting Friday, November 4, at 6:00 p.m. CT and continue on Saturday, November 5, at 2:00 p.m.
Last season against Minnesota Duluth – The Gophers and Bulldogs split their four regular-season meetings in 2021-2022. In Duluth last October, Minnesota took the opener 3-1 before UMD responded with a 5-4 overtime victory in the rematch. At Ridder Arena in December, the Bulldogs won 3-2 but the Gophers earned a series split with a 2-1 victory. The squads next met in the WCHA semifinals, with the top-seeded Gophers earning a 5-1 win. However, UMD got the last laugh, ending the Gophers' season with a 2-1 come-from-behind victory in the NCAA Quarterfinals at Ridder.
Fourteen (14) different Gophers recorded points against the Bulldogs, with 10 of them lighting the lamp. Abigail Boreen led the way with 4 goals and 3 assists for 7 points. Peyton Hemp netted only one goal but dished out 4 assists for 5 points. Taylor Heise, Catie Skaja, and Audrey Wethington each recorded 2 goals & 2 assists, while Emily Oden also found the back of the net twice. For UMD, Gabbie Hughes and Elizabeth Giguere each recorded 7 points against Minnesota, including pairing up on the goal which elimiated the Gophers from the NCAA Tournament; Hughes had 4 goals & 3 assists, while Giguere posted 3 goals & 4 assists. Anna Klein added a goal & 4 assists, while Mannon McMahon recorded 2 goals & 2 assists. Gopher goaltender Lauren Bench played in 5 of the 6 contests, including both playoff games, posting a 2.41 goals-against average and .899 save percentage, while Mikayla Pahl stopped 24 of 25 shots (a .960 SV%) in the Gophers' final game of calendar 2021. With the front-heavy schedule, Emma Söderberg was in net for the Bulldogs for all four regular-season contests, then returned from the Olympics in time for the NCAA Tournament; she posted a .932 SV% and 2.20 GAA. Jojo Chobak stopped 34 of 38 shots (an .895 SV%) in the WCHA semifinal.
About the Bulldogs – Minnesota Duluth had moments of inconsistency in the 2021-2022 regular-season, suffering 9 losses with 8 of those in WCHA play, but still finished solidly in 4th in the league standings with a 19-8-1 conference record and 22-9-1 overall mark. They also needed a third game to advance past Minnesota State out of the WCHA quarterfinals after losing the second contest of that series. However, following their league semifinal loss to the Gophers, they went on a three-game run in the NCAA Tournament, defeating Harvard 4-0, upsetting the Gophers 2-1, and knocking off Northeastern 2-1 (2OT) in the national semifinal before falling to Ohio State 3-2 in the championship game.
Despite losing 3 of their last 4 games this year, UMD has retained the #5 ranking in the national polls, going 7-3-0 to start 2022-2023. They have also played overtime in the opening games of their last 4 weekends, posting a 3-1-0 record in those contests.
The Bulldogs entered the new season without two of their top-three scorers from last year, as both Elizabeth Giguere and Anna Klein graduated. But Gabbie Hughes (#17) returned for her fifth year; after tallying 59 points (22g, 37a) last season, she leads the team with 14 points on 3 goals & 11 assists in the current campaign. A big pick-up was the return of fifth-year defender Ashton Bell (#26) after she was centralized with Team Canada in 2021-2022; she has a team-leading 6 goals plus 4 assists this year. Senior Mannon McMahon (#16) is third in total scoring with 8 points on 3 goals & 5 assists, while sophomore Gabby Krause (#18) has lit the lamp 4 times and recorded an assist.
Fifth-year goaltender Emma Soderberg (#30) made a late announcement that she was returning to UMD for 2022-2023, entering with a career 33-16-0 record, 10 shutouts, a .932 save percentage and 1.87 goals-against average; having started all ten games for the Bulldogs so far this year, she has 2 shutouts, a .928 SV%, and 1.52 GAA. Freshman Hailey MacLeod (#35) stopped the single shot she faced in a 14-minute appearance in UMD's opening series against LIU. Graduate transfer Blanka Škodová (#31) has yet to play for UMD, but has a career 17-19-10 record over four years at Vermont, with 2 shutouts, a 2.32 GAA, and .901 SV%.
UMD splits with Wisconsin – Facing a second-straight top-five opponent in the form of the Badgers, the Bulldogs found themselves trailing in the opener on an unassisted goal by Lacey Eden; however, Gabbie Hughes knotted the score with 2:50 remaining in regulation, and Nina Jobst-Smith netted her second-career goal – her first of the season – to give Minnesota Duluth a 2-1 overtime victory. The rematch saw both teams hold leads, but the Wisconsin took a 4-2 third-period lead after Eden netted her 2nd goal of the weekend and Caroline Harvey lit the lamp twice. Ashton Bell scored for the Bulldogs with 9:01 to play, but they fell 4-3. Hughes and Jobst-Smith added assists Saturday to their goals on Friday. Emma Soderberg stopped 50 of 55 shots in the series for UMD; Cami Kronish had 23 saves for the Badgers on Friday, and Jane Gervais stopped 35 shots on Saturday.
Gophers earn 4 points with win, tie at Ohio State – Nelli Laitinen gave Minnesota a 1-0 lead at the first intermission of their opening game in Columbus. Jenna Buglioni (PP) & Sophie Jaques put the Buckeyes ahead 2-1 late in the second period, but Taylor Heise evened score 18 seconds into the third frame, Peyton Hemp reestablished the Gophers' lead with 9:51 to play, and Abigail Boreen added an insurance goal with 3:31 remaining for a 4-2 victory. Abbey Murphy (PP) and Josefin Bouveng scored 47 seconds apart early in the rematch, but Makenna Webster tallied her first goal as a Buckeye to make the score 2-1 Gophers after 20 minutes. Following a scoreless second stanza, Murphy pushed Minnesota's lead back to two (3-1) early in the third, but Ohio State rallied with goals by Jennifer Gardiner and Jaques (PP) to knot the score with 7:13 to play. Heise netted her second goal of the weekend, a short-handed tally 66 seconds later, to put Minnesota ahead 4-3, but Jaques converted on the same OSU power play 33 seconds after that. The teams skated the remaining 5:34 of regulation and a 5-minute overtime without additional scoring, completing the game as a 4-4 tie. Going to a shootout, Jaques put the Buckeyes up 1-0 in the 2nd round, Grace Zumwinkle scored in the 3rd round to even things up, but Buglioni lit the lamp in round 4 to take the bonus point in the WCHA standings. Skylar Vetter played both games in net for the Gophers, making a combined 70 saves; Amanda Thiele stopped 28 shots for OSU in the opener, and Raygan Kirk made 27 saves in the rematch. Heise & Murphy each finished the series with 3 points apiece (2g, 1a for each), while Catie Skaja and Gracie Ostertag each dished out 3 helpers.
Vetter earns trio of league awards; Heise, Murphy also honored
After stopping 70 shots against then-#1 Ohio State, recording a .921 save percentage in those two contests, Gopher sophomore netminder Skylar Vetter was named WCHA Goaltender of the Week on Monday, her second such honor in the past three series. Her effort was also recognized as the league's Howie's Hockey Tape Performance of the Week.
Following the weekly awards announcements, Vetter was named WCHA Goaltender of the Month for October yesterday. Vetter made a total of 144 saves in seven appearances, posting a 5-0-1 record in her 6 starts with a .935 save percentage and 1.57 goals against average. This is the first monthly award of her collegiate career.
Two other Gophers were honored by the league. Fifth-year co-captain Taylor Heise was named WCHA Forward of the Week, her first honor of the season and fourth FOTW award of her career, after recording two goals (one short-handed) & an assist against the Buckeyes. Sophomore Abbey Murphy was recognized as WCHA Forward of the Month, the first monthly award of her career, after recording a team-high 14 points (8g, 6a) for a league-leading 1.75 points per game; four of her goals came on the power play, one was short-handed, and she also posted a +9 plus-minus rating.
We send our congratulations to Skylar, Taylor, and Abbey on these honors!!
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