The Penalty Box Post
Wednesday, February 8th
Goals for a Goal – Gophers light lamp 139 times
With another 5 goals scored last weekend against Ohio State, one coming on a power play, the Gopher Women's Hockey has lit the lamp 139 times – including 28 power play conversions – with two weekends to go in 2022-2023 regular season!!
We again thank everyone who has committed to turn each Gopher goal scored during the regular season & postseason into donations to the team for Ridder Arena improvements through our Goals for a Goal program. We continue to accept pledges as the playoffs approach, with the option to double the per-goal amount for power play tallies. To make a pledge, fill out this online form (preferred) or download the PDF version, print it, and mail it in to the listed address. Thanks, and GO GOPHERS!
Senior Weekend / Border Battle
#3 Minnesota Golden Gophers (23-4-2, 20-2-2-1 WCHA)
vs.
#8 Wisconsin Badgers (21-8-1, 17-6-1-0 WCHA)
Friday, February 10 at 6:00 p.m.
Saturday, February 11 at 7:30 p.m.
Ridder Arena
The Gopher Women's Hockey team hosts its final home series of the 2022-2023 regular season with a critical WCHA matchup, hosting the Wisconsin Badgers in the Border Battle! The rivals square off at Ridder Arena on Friday, February 10 at 6:00 p.m. and Saturday, February 11 at 7:30 p.m.
Senior Day recognition and a GOLD OUT on Saturday – We join the Gophers in encouraging fans to arrive by 7:15 p.m. on Saturday for the pregame recognition of the senior class: Olivia King, Makayla Pahl, Madeline Wethington, and a special recognition for Grace Zumwinkle. Additionally, fans are urged to wear gold-colored apparel as we cheer on the team in its regular-season home finale.
Tickets for this weekend are limited with less than 200 remaining for each game. We encourage fans to order tickets in advance at z.umn.edu/8duy.
Television coverage this weekend – In case you cannot make it to Ridder Arena or you wish to record the action for replay viewing, both games this weekend will be televised live. Friday's game will be shown on Bally Sports North Extra (channel guide) while Saturday's game will be on Big Ten Network (channel guide). As always, online video streaming of both games is also available on the B1G+ subscription service.
Last time against Wisconsin – The Gophers were able to only earn two points in the WCHA standings when they faced the Badgers in Madison in November; the squads played to a 3-3 tie in the opener with Minnesota earning the shootout bonus point, but Wisconsin took game two, 4-1. Vivian Jungels and Laila Edwards gave the Badgers 1-0 and 2-1 leads in the first game but Peyton Hemp responded both times to knot the score, her first coming shorthanded. Grace Zumwinkle put the Gophers up 3-2 in the second period, but Britta Curl tied it up with a late extra attacker goal. Following a scoreless overtime period, Abbey Murphy netted the only goal of the subsequent shootout. Wisconsin's Nicole LaMantia and Minnesota's Taylor Heise traded first-period power-play goals in the rematch, but the Badgers rattled off the next three goals, coming from Sarah Wozniewicz, Kirsten Simms & Jesse Compher. Between the pipes, Skylar Vetter made a combined 76 saves for the Gophers; Wisconsin's Cami Kronish stopped 64 shots, though she entered Sunday's game in relief after starter Jane Gervais left with an injury only 3½ minutes into the contest.
Analyzing the Badgers – Following a 16-2-1 start to the season, Wisconsin has been a sub-.500 team, going 5-6-0, since the calendar flipped to 2023, scoring only a cumulative 2 goals in the six losses. Though they remain third in the WCHA standings with a 10-point lead over Minnesota Duluth, they are ranked #8 in the national polls and are 7th and 8th in the two mathematical rankings.
Junior Casey O'Brien (#26) leads Wisconsin in total scoring with 36 points on 14 goals & 22 assists. Redshirt sophomore Lacey Eden (#6) and redhsirt senior Britta Curl (#17) are tied with a team-high 16 goals apiece; Eden has dished out 18 assists for 34 points, while Curl has 12 helpers for 28 points. Freshman defender Caroline Harvey (#4) has recorded a team-leading 23 assists while lighting the lamp 9 times herself for 32 points. Graduate player Sophie Shirley (#9) is the fourth Badgers with 30 points, tallying 10 goals and 20 assists.
Redshirt senior Cami Kronish (#30) has seen a majority of the action between the pipes this season; including her relief appearance against the Gophers, she has a 13-6-1 record with 6 shutouts and leads the WCHA with a 1.25 goals-against average & .936 save percentage. Redshirt sophomore Jane Gervais (#1) is 8-2-0 with two shutouts and one no-decision, posting a 1.59 GAA and .926 SV%. Freshman Chloe Baker (#32) has yet to see any official action.
Last weekend for Wisconsin – A Kohl Center "Fill the Bowl" crowd of 14,430 saw the visiting St. Cloud State Huskies earn their first win over the Badgers in nearly 8 years; SCSU netminder Jojo Chobak stopped all 39 shots she faced and Jenniina Nylund scored in the first period for the 1-0 shutout upset. The Huskies took another 1-0 lead in the rematch on a Courtney Hall goal, but Wisconsin responded with Jesse Compher, Caroline Harvey, and Laila Edward lighting the lamp. St. Cloud State closed to 3-2 on a Taylor Lind short-handed goal, but they could not find an equalizer and the Badgers salvaged the split.
Gophers split with top-ranked Ohio State
Minnesota Women's Hockey retained the top spot in the WCHA standings entering the final two weeks of the regular season, getting a split against the nationally top-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes at Ridder Arena.
The Gophers withstood an early attack by the Buckeyes in the opener and took a 1-0 lead in the first period when Peyton Hemp netted a pass from Josefin Bouveng. Abigail Boreen scored another backdoor goal on a Taylor Heise feed, and Abbey Murphy lit the lamp on the power play to push the lead to 3-0. Ohio State closed within one early in the third after goals by Gabby Rosenthal and Jenn Gardiner (PP), but Murphy was the recipient of Taylor Heise's third assist of the night, burying the puck to put the Gophers back up by two. Skylar Vetter stymied OSU the rest of the way, finishing with 31 saves and earning the 4-2 victory. Raygan Kirk made 23 saves for the Buckeyes.
The rematch started similarly, with Madeline Wethington tallying her second goal of the season for the 1-0 Gopher lead. However, things went downhill quickly for Minnesota as OSU's Sloane Matthews scored less than 3 minutes later and Hadley Hartmetz lit the lamp 19 seconds after that on a deflection off a defender. The Gophers remained within one through the second period, but the Buckeyes broke the game open in the third stanza on goals by Rosenthal, Kenzie Hauswirth, and Paetyn Levis, getting a 5-1 win and the series split. Vetter made another 27 saves, and Amanda Thiele stopped 32 shots for Ohio State. Gardiner dished out two assists to finish the weekend with 4 points (1g, 3a).
Zumwinkle garners national award for January play
Fifth-year co-captain Grace Zumwinkle earned another award for her play during the month of January, being named National Co-Player of the Month by the Hockey Commissioners Association. As we noted last week, Zumwinkle recorded a WCHA-high 16 points on 8 goals & 8 assists while posting a +14 plus-minus rating. She became the sixth Gopher to reach the career 100-goal mark and improved to fifth on the program's all-time goal list with 105; additionally, she took sole possession of 10th place on Minnesota's all-time career points list with 195 (105G, 90A). Congratulations, Grace!!
Around the WCHA...
Bulldogs earn 4 points in Mankato, clinch home ice – Minnesota State took a 3-1 lead on UMD in their series opener after goals by Kelsey King & Charlotte Akervik. However, Mary Kate O'Brien pulled the Bulldogs within one, Gabbie Hughes netted the unassisted, game-tying goal with 3:53 left in regulation, and Hughes tallied her third point of the game on Mannon McMahon's overtime gamewinner for the 4-3 victory. The teams played to a scoreless tie in the rematch; Emma Soderberg (UMD) and Alexa Berg (MSU) both earned shutouts, making 20 & 32 saves, respectively. Maggie Flaherty netted the only goal of the subsequent shootout to give Minnesota Duluth the bonus point, completing the four point weekend. With that result, the Bulldogs became the fourth and final team to clinch home ice for the WCHA best-of-3 quarterfinals.
Tommies, Beavers split in Bemidji – Allie Monrean, Lauren Stenslie & Anna Solheim lit the lamp and Saskia Maurer stopped all 32 shots she faced as St. Thomas shutout Bemidji State in their opener, 3-0. However, Khloe Lund tallied a goal and 3 assists in the rematch, Reece Hunt, Taylor Nelson & Claire Vekich also lit the lamp, and Abbie Thompson made 30 saves for the Beavers to earn their second conference win of the season, 4-1.
This weekend – All four league series this week include Friday evening and Saturday afternoon games. St. Thomas and Ohio State get things underway in Columbus, St. Cloud State visits Minnesota Duluth, and Minnesota State hosts Bemidji State in Mankato.
Standings (* indicates team has clinched home ice for WCHA quarterfinals):
1. Minnesota* – 62 points (.861 pts%), 20-2-2-1, 1-0 in OT (23-4-2 overall)
2. Ohio State* – 60 points (.833 pts%), 20-3-1-1, 3-1 in OT (25-3-2 overall)
3. Wisconsin* – 53 points (.736 pts%), 16-5-1-0, 1-2 in OT (21-8-1 overall)
4. Minn. Duluth* – 43 points (.597 pts%), 14-8-2-1, 4-2 in OT (20-8-2 overall)
5. St. Cloud State – 29 points (.403 pts%), 9-15-0-0, 0-2 in OT (16-15-0 overall)
6. Minnesota State – 24 points (.333 pts%), 7-16-1-0, 0-2 in OT (13-16-1 overall)
7. St. Thomas – 11 points (.153 pts%), 3-20-1-1, 0-0 in OT (8-21-1 overall)
8. Bemidji State – 6 points (.083 pts%), 2-22-0-0, 0-0 in OT (5-24-1 overall)
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