Saturday events – Tour of Ridder and Teddy Bear Toss
We provide one more reminder that our behind-the-scenes tour of Ridder Arena this Saturday, December 9, will start in the ticket lobby around 1 p.m. Once again, this is an exclusive event for enrolled PPC members; you can still register for the 2023-2024 season through our membership page on powerplayclub.org.
And bring a new stuffed animal (or several) to Saturday's game for the annual Teddy Bear Toss presented by White Bear Mitsubishi! You'll have an opportunity to toss your bagged animal(s) onto the ice at the first intermission, with all the collected animals donated to the Masonic Children's Hospital. Thank you for supporting this great program!!
PPC and GWH events to open season's “second half”...
Brunch with the Coaches – Saturday, January 6 at 9:45 a.m. – Join us early in the new year in the 3M Arena at Mariucci Club Room as we welcome University of Connecticut women's hockey head coach Chris MacKenzie (pictured) and our own Brad Frost. We look forward to hearing from Coach MacKenzie about playing in Hockey East and battling for a league title & an NCAA Tournament berth. Entering December, the Huskies sit atop the Hockey East standings. Register by Saturday, December 30 using the downloadable form (PDF) available here, which can be submitted by mail to the listed address or at the Power Play Club table at Ridder Arena this weekend. Tickets are $30 per person and Power Play Club membership is not required.
Skate with the Gophers – postgame on January 6 – Skate with the Gophers returns following the Saturday contest against UConn. Stick around to skate on the Ridder ice, play games on the concourse and get autographs from Gopher players. All participants must register here by Friday, December 29. Attendance at the game is required.
Locker Sponsor gathering – January 13 – We thank all of our Power Play Club members for supporting Gopher Women's Hockey. Our special event for Locker Sponsors with the team is scheduled for Saturday, January 13, before that afternoon's game against Ohio State. More details will be shared as that date approaches.
Goals for a Goal: Gophers' goal total reaches 68 (19 on PP)
With an 18 goal outburst last weekend against Bemidji State and one more at St. Cloud State, the Gopher Women's Hockey team has lit the lamp 68 times this season, with 19 of those coming while on the power play! Help us to convert each of those goals into donations back to the team through our Goals for a Goal program. Pledge a dollar amount for every goal the Gophers score during the regular season and postseason, with the option to double your pledge for power play goals. Pledges can be submitted electronically through this online form. Thanks, and GO GOPHERS!!
#2 Minnesota Golden Gophers (13-2-1, 9-2-1-1 in WCHA)
vs. #3 University of Wisconsin Badgers (13-3-0, 9-3-0-0)
Friday, December 8 at 6:00 p.m.
Saturday, December 9 at 2:00 p.m.
Ridder Arena
Gophers. Badgers. The 2023-2024 edition of the women's hockey Border Battle begins at Ridder Arena. The national top-three series opens tomorrow (Friday) night, December 8, at 6:00 p.m. and continues Saturday, December 9, at 2:00 p.m. at Ridder Arena.
Limited tickets remain for this weekend's games but you can still get yours here. The ticket office website shows there are “Not Many Left” for Friday's game and those for Saturday's contest are “Almost Gone”. We look forward to seeing many Maroon & Gold-clad fans in the stands for the Border Battle!!
Saturday's game televised – FOX 9+ will be televising Saturday's matchup between the Gophers and Badgers. For a channel guide, go to fox9.com/plus.
Other game coverage – If you cannot get to Ridder Arena, video coverage will also be streamed on the B1G+ subscription service for both contests, and audio play-by-play can be found on GopherSports.com for Friday and Saturday starting 15 to 20 minutes before each game.
Last year against Wisconsin – The Gophers and Badgers met six times in 2022-2023, including a pair of postseason games. Wisconsin was 2-0-2 in the four regular-season meetings, with a 3-3 tie and 4-1 victory in Madison and a 2-2 tie and 7-5 win at Ridder Arena; the teams split the two shootouts after the ties. The Gophers earned a 4-1 victory in the WCHA Final Faceoff semifinals, but the Badgers ended Minnesota's season with a 3-2 overtime win in the NCAA Frozen Four semis.
Taylor Heise led the Gophers with 9 points in the six Border Battle games on 5 goals & 4 assists, while Grace Zumwinkle added 7 points on 2 goals & 5 assists. Catie Skaja tallied two goals & four assists, including a 3-point performance in the WCHA semifinal, while Abbey Murphy netted 3 goals and dished out 2 assists. Jesse Compher recorded 8 points for the Badgers in the head-to-head meetings with 3 goals & 5 assists, while Casey O'Brien posted 2 goals & 4 assists for 6 points. Laila Edwards tallied 5 points on 3 goals & 2 assists while Lacey Eden dished out 5 helpers. Kirsten Simms also lit the lamp 3 times with an assist. Gopher goaltender Skylar Vetter posted a .905 save percentage with a 3.11 goals-against average, but Cami Kronish recorded a .929 SV% and 2.52 GAA for Wisconsin.
Analyzing the Badgers – Wisconsin is looking to repeat as NCAA Champion after becoming the first school to win the title as an unseeded team playing four games in the national tournament last March. But despite having four players in the top ten for Division I points-per-game, a loss this past weekend – their third this season – dropped them below the Gophers in the latest polls.
Graduate player Britta Curl (#17) leads the Badgers in total scoring with 32 points, finding the back of the net 12 times and dishing out a team-high 20 assists. Sophomore Kirsten Simms (#27) and redshirt junior Lacey Eden (#6) have each lit the lamp 13 times; Simms has 17 assists for 30 points, while Eden has recorded 12 helpers for 25 points. Senior Casey O'Brien (#26) has also passed the 20-point mark, recording 24 on 7 goals & 17 assists. Sophomore defender Caroline Harvey has only 19 points with two goals and 17 assists, but she's only played in 9 games and returned from injury last weekend.
Redshirt junior Jane Gervais (#1) and freshman Ava McNaughton (#30) have split starts between the pipes for Wisconsin. Gervais is 7-1-0 with four shutouts, posting a .928 save percentage and 1.38 goals-against average, while McNaughton has a 6-2-0 mark with 2 shutouts, a .933 SV% and 1.44 GAA. Redshirt freshman Chloe Baker (#32) made a 20-minute relief appearance against Bemidji State earlier this season, stopping all 7 shots she faced.
Last action for Wisconsin – Facing Minnesota Duluth at LaBahn Arena, the Badgers peppered Bulldogs netminder Ève Gascon with 51 shots, getting a goal & an assist from Britta Curl, goals from Kelly Gorbatenko and Lacey Eden, and a 20-save shutout performance from Jane Gervais to win the opener 3-0. The two teams played a scoreless first 40 minutes of the rematch before Clara Van Wieren & Mannon McMahon put UMD up 2-0 at the 5:13 mark of the third period. Cassie Hall pulled UW within one 2:20 later, but Jenna Lowry restored a two-goal lead for the Bulldogs with 5:20 to play. Casey O'Brien scored for the Badgers with an extra attacker, but UMD earned the weekend split with a 3-2 victory behind 42 saves from Hailey MacLeod and a 3-assist performance from Ida Karlsson. Curl added two assists on Sunday for a 4-point (1g, 3a) weekend while Ava McNaughton made 23 saves.
Gophers earn shootout standings point after tie in St. Cloud – Skylar Vetter stopped 29 of 30 shots on goal and Peyton Hemp lit the lamp for the 7th time this season, but Minnesota had to settle for a 1-1 overtime tie at St. Cloud State after Addi Scribner knotted the score and Sanni Ahola made 27 saves through the extra period for the Huskies. With the tie, the game went to a shootout to award the “bonus” point in the WCHA standings; Ella Huber and Allie Franco found the back of the net for the Gophers, while Vetter stopped both shots she faced from the Huskies at the other end of the ice for a 2-0 decision.
Abbey Murphy, Ava Lindsay earn weekly league honors
We send our congratulations to Gopher Women's Hockey players Abbey Murphy and Ava Lindsay on earning WCHA Hockey Player of the Week honors!!
Lindsay was named Rookie of the Week, her first weekly honor from the league, netting 3 goals & dishing out 2 assists for 5 points with a +5 plus-minus rating against Bemidji State.
Murphy picked up her second-straight Forward of the Week award after tallying 8 points against the Beavers. She recorded 2 goals and an assist Friday, then added another 2 goals and 3 assists on Saturday. She also had a +7 plus-minus rating for the series.
GWH alumna Savannah Norcross signs with PWHL New York
Gopher Women's Hockey alumna Savannah Norcross signed a one-year contract with PWHL New York, as announced by the team on X (formerly Twitter) this past Tuesday, December 5.
Norcross becomes the seventh Gopher to sign a PWHL contract, following Lee Stecklein, Kelly Pannek, Taylor Heise & Grace Zumwinkle with PWHL Minnesota and Hannah Brandt & Emily Brown with PWHL Boston. Congratulations, Savannah!!
Around the WCHA...
Upcoming games – As we noted earlier this week, “first half” action before the holiday break concludes with all eight teams in another round of league play. Bemidji State visits St. Thomas and St. Cloud State hosts Minnesota Duluth on Friday & Saturday, while Minnesota State faces Ohio State in a Saturday-Sunday series in Columbus.
Standings:
1. Ohio State – 31 points (.861 pts%), 11-1-0-0, 2-0 in OT (14-2-0 overall)
2. Minnesota – 30 points (.833 pts%), 9-2-1-1, 0-1 in OT (13-2-1 overall)
3. Wisconsin – 28 points (.778 pts%), 9-3-0-0, 0-1 in OT (13-3-0 overall)
4. St. Cloud State – 22 points (.611 pts%), 7-4-1-0, 0-0 in OT (12-5-1 overall)
5. Minn. Duluth – 21 points (.583 pts%), 7-5-0-0, 0-0 in OT (10-5-1 overall)
6. Minnesota State – 9 points (.333 pts%), 3-9-0-0, 1-1 in OT (7-10-0 overall)
7. Bemidji State – 3 points (.167 pts%), 1-11-0-0, 1-1 in OT (1-14-1 overall)
8. St. Thomas – 0 points (.000 pts%), 0-12-0-0, 0-0 in OT (6-13-0 overall)
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