Power Play Club

Looking ahead #1... Give to the Max Day, November 21

Give to the Max Day, the annual day of giving to nonprofit and educational organizations in the state of Minnesota, is scheduled for Thursday, November 21. The Power Play Club is partnering with the Golden Gopher Fund again this year to fundraise for Gopher Women's Hockey. Funds collected on Give to the Max Day for the team will go towards (1) Hockey Day Minnesota jerseys & apparel, (2) nutritional needs, and (3) analytics software. Additionally, gifts made on GTMD in support of this initiative will receive double (x2) Gopher Score Points toward future Gopher Loyalty Program benefits. Watch for additional details by email and on social media over the next eight days!

Looking ahead #2... Brunch with the Coaches, January 4

The Power Play Club's annual Brunch with the Coaches returns Saturday, January 4 at 8:45 a.m., before the second day of the East-West Showcase. We will be joined by and hear from Bemidji State University assistant coach and Beavers alumna Emma Sobieck, plus GWH head coach Brad Frost.

Tickets for the brunch are $30 per person. Cash or checks – made payable to the Power Play Club – are preferred. You can register at the PPC table on the Ridder Arena concourse during Gopher home games through December, or download the form here and mail it in with your payment to the address listed by December 28.

Looking ahead #3... GWH schedule change, Jan. 24 vs. BSU

The U. of M. Intercollegiate Athletics Department and Gopher Women's Hockey team have announced that the home game on Friday, January 24 at Ridder Arena against Bemidji State will now start at 12 PM.

All tickets previously issued will be valid for the new start time. Any fans who are unable to attend the 12 PM matchup can exchange their ticket for another game by contacting the ticket office at 1-800-U-GOPHER or gophersports@umn.edu.

Goals for a Goal - Supporting Women’s Gopher Hockey

The Gophers have tallied 37 goals, nine (9) of which have come on the power play! Help us turn those into donations to the GWH program through our Goals for a Goal pledge-per-goal program! Submit your pledge at z.umn.edu/GoalsForAGoal, with the option to double the pledge for power play tallies!

GO GOPHERS!!

#3/3 Minnesota Golden Gophers (8-3-1, 4-3-1-0 WCHA)
at #4/4 Univ. of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs (6-3-1, 5-2-1-1)
Friday, November 15 at 6:00 p.m.
Saturday, November 16 at 3:00 p.m.
AMSOIL Arena – Duluth

Coming off an idle weekend, the Gopher Women's Hockey team is on the road again, this time headed up Interstate 35 for a national #3-vs.-#4 rivalry matchup against the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs at AMSOIL Arena. The series begins Friday evening, November 15 at 6:00 p.m., then continues on Saturday, November 16 at 3:00 p.m.

Game coverage – Both games will be televised in the Twin Cities and surrounding area on Fox 9+ and will have video streaming through the B1G+ subscription service (Friday / Saturday). Free audio play-by-play for both contests will be streamed (Friday / Saturday) and live stats will be available via GopherSports.com.

Last year against Minnesota Duluth – The Gophers claimed 11 of the 12 available WCHA standings points in their four 2023-2024 meetings against the Bulldogs, sweeping the November series in Duluth by matching 3-1 scores, playing to a 1-1 tie in the February series opener at Ridder Arena and taking the shootout 1-0, then winning 4-2 to conclude the regular season.

Abbey Murphy & Peyton Hemp each tallied five points and combined for 7 of the Gophers' 11 goals against UMD; Murphy lit the lamp four times with one assist, while Hemp added 3 goals and 2 helpers. Josefin Bouveng and Ava Lindsay each dished out three assists across the four contests, and Madison Kaiser & Emma Kreisz each posted a goal and an assist. Ella Huber scored once during the second game between the teams and netted the lone shootout goal after the tie in the third game. Mary Kate O'Brien recorded two goals and an assist for the Bulldogs (all coming at Ridder), Mannon McMahon added a goal & an assist, and Clara Van Wieren dished out two helpers.

Between the pipes, Skylar Vetter & Lucy Morgan each started two games; Vetter stopped 58 of 60 shots in her two starts for a .967 save percentage and 0.96 goals-against average, while Morgan made 51 saves on 54 shots for a .944 SV% and 1.50 GAA. Ève Gascon played three of the four games for Minnesota Duluth, making 88 saves but yielding 8 goals, resulting in a 2.72 GAA and .917 SV%. Hailey MacLeod stopped 26 of 27 shots (.963 SV%) for UMD in the tie in Minneapolis.

Analyzing the Bulldogs – Minnesota Duluth finished fourth the WCHA in 2023-2024 with a 15-11-2 conference record, 13 points behind the Gophers but 9 ahead of fifth-place St. Cloud State. They shut out the Huskies in the league quarterfinal series, but were in-turn shut out by Ohio State in the Final Faceoff semifinals. Receiving an NCAA Tournament bid, they topped UConn 1-0 in a double-overtime nail biter, but were again blanked by the Buckeyes in the quarterfinal round, ending their season.

The Bulldogs got a measure of revenge to open 2024-2025 when they swept the Buckeyes in Columbus, but they lost three of their next four, splitting a non-conference series at Colgate and being swept at Wisconsin. Since then, though, they've gone 3-0-1 with a sweep of St. Thomas and a win & tie against Minnesota State.

After finishing behind graduate students Reece Hunt & Mannon McMahon in scoring in 2023-2024, Clara Van Wieran (#25) and Olivia Wallin (#14) are now both grad students themselves and top UMD's scoring table so far this year; Van Wieran leads with 10 points on 5 goals & 5 assists, while Wallin has 8 points on 3 goals & 5 helpers. Freshman Caitlin Kraemer (#11) has gotten attention with two WCHA Rookie of the Week honors and one Rookie of the Month award; she has 5 goals plus an assist. Another fifth-year player, Olivia Mobley (#15), transferred in from Ohio State and has posted 6 points so far for UMD on 4 goals & 2 assists.

Sophomore Ève Gascon (#1) is back between the pipes for Minnesota Duluth and is 5-2-0 with one shutout this season, posting a .932 save percentage and 2.15 goals-against average. Senior Tindra Holm (#30) joined the Bulldogs this season, transferring from Long Island; she is 1-1-1 in her three starts, with her win coming by shutout, an .878 SV% and 2.95 GAA. Redshirt freshman Anna Byczek (#31) has yet to see any official action.

Last action for Minnesota Duluth – As with most of the WCHA teams, the Bulldogs were idle this past weekend. As mentioned above, they defeated Minnesota State, 4-1, in the opener of the series two weekends ago but played the Mavericks to a 3-3 tie in the rematch. Caitlin Kraemer lit the lamp twice, Olivia Wallin dished out two assists, and Ève Gascon stopped 20 of 21 shots in the victory. Wallin & Clara Van Wieran scored to put UMD up 3-2 with 1:40 left in regulation of the second game, but Shelbi Guttormson responded for MSU to even the score just 21 seconds later for the final result. Neither team scored in the first seven rounds of the subsequent shootout, but Tova Henderson found the back of the net for the Bulldogs in round 8 for the bonus standings point.

Darwitz, Wendell-Pohl inducted into Hockey Hall of Fame

We send another round of congratulations to Minnesota Women's Hockey alumnae Natalie Darwitz and Krissy Wendell-Pohl following their induction Monday night (November 11) into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, after being named to the Class of 2024 in June.

Darwitz's induction to the HHOF in Toronto follows her induction into the IIHF Hall of Fame in May. In 55 combined games at the Olympics & World Championships, Darwitz scored 43 goals and dished out 40 assists for 83 points with Team USA. Over her three-year, 99-game Gopher career, she tallied 246 points on 102 goals and 144 assists, enough to still be #1 in the U. of M. records for points-per-game & assists-per-game (with 2.48 & 1.45, respectively)

Across 39 combined Olympic and World Championship contests, Wendell-Pohl recorded 25 goals and 44 assists for 69 points, also with Team USA. Playing 101 games in the Maroon & Gold, her 237 points on 106 goals and 131 assists put her second (behind Natalie) on the points-per-game & assists-per-game lists (with 2.35 & 1.30, respectively) and also second for goals-per-game (1.05, trailing Nadine Muzerall's 1.08).

Congratulations, Krissy and Natalie, on these well-deserved honors!!

International break recap...

Canada takes 2 games to 1 lead in Rivalry Series – The U.S. National Team struck for five goals in the opening period of Game 1 of the Rivalry Series, going on to win the contest over Canada, 7-2. Game 2 ended up going down to the wire as the Canadians looked to be in control, leading 4-1 with under eight minutes to play, before the Americans rallied to tie the score, 4-4, and force overtime followed by a shootout; however, Canada won in the "game-winning shots," 2-0. They then controlled Game 3, defeating Team USA 4-1 to take a two games to one lead in the five-game series.

Gophers in the Rivalry Series: Abbey Murphy & Grace Zumwinkle each tallied two goals and an assist for Team USA; Murphy scored both her goals and Zumwinkle dished out her assist in Game 1, and the two reversed that in Game 2. Kelly Pannek recorded one assist, coming on the lone U.S. goal in Game 3. Chloe Primerano did not score during the run of play for Canada, but netted the shootout-clinching goal in Game 2 (video courtesy of TSN).

Euro Hockey Tour / Lidl Hockey Games – Meanwhile, two tournaments were occurring in Europe. In the Euro Hockey Tour / Lidl Hockey Game event being hosted by Sweden, Czechia took first place with wins in all three of their games against the host Swedes (2-1, OT), Finland (2-1), and Switzerland (3-0). The Finns finished second after defeating Switzerland (3-0) and Sweden (3-1), while the Swedes salvaged third place with a 2-1 win over the Swiss. Gopher forward Josefin Bouveng played in all three games for Sweden but did not score.

Deutschland Cup – Hosting another four-team round-robin tournament, Germany took first place with wins over France (4-1), Slovakia (2-1), and Hungary (3-1). The Hungarians finished second thanks to victories over the Slovaks (4-3) and the French (4-3, OT). France claimed third with a 5-3 win over Slovakia.

Around the WCHA...

Tommies split with Lindenwood – The lone WCHA team in action this past weekend, St. Thomas posted a 7-2 victory to open their non-conference series against Lindenwood; Nicole Vallario, Rylee Bartz & Cara Sajevic each tallied a goal and an assist, Ella Boerger dished out three helpers, and Sadie Lindsay netted her first goal as a Tommie. But the Lions responded with a 6-1 victory of their own in the rematch; Morgan Neitzke became the first player in Lindenwood program history to reach 100 career points with a goal & two assists in the game, and Josey Dunne scored her first goal as a Lion.

Upcoming games – In addition to the Gophers vs. the Bulldogs, the other three series in the league also feature Friday evening and Saturday afternoon action. Eyes will be on Columbus as Ohio State hosts Wisconsin in a #1-vs.-#2 matchup. Elsewhere, St. Thomas visits Bemidji State and Minnesota State heads to St. Cloud State.

Follow the Power Play Club online at www.powerplayclub.org, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PowerPlayClubMN, or on X at x.com/powerplayclub.

Follow the Gopher women's hockey team and all Univ. of Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletics at gophersports.com. You can also find the Gopher women's hockey team on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GopherWomensHockey and on X at x.com/GopherWHockey.