Power Play Club

Brunch with the Coaches – January 4 at 8:45 a.m.

Once again, the Power Play Club's annual Brunch with the Coaches will be held 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. If you still would like to register, please download the form here and mail it with your payment to the address listed by December 28; checks should be made payable to the Power Play Club.

GWH Field Trip Day – January 24 at Noon vs. Bemidji State

We provide another reminder that the Gopher Women's Hockey home game on Friday, January 24 at Ridder Arena against Bemidji State will start at 12 PM, and that the contest will be “Field Trip Day” presented by Kwik Trip.

Tickets will be completely free to students 8th grade and under, faculty/staff, and administrators. Interested leaders should complete the interest form by this Sunday, December 1 to request tickets. There is no limit to tickets per school, but requests are subject to availability and will be fulfilled on a first-come, first-served basis. Transportation is not included.

For all other fans: With the influx of students expected for the game, you are encouraged to purchase your tickets early. Single game tickets are available on the U. of M. Ticket Office website.

Goals for a Goal

Just under halfway through the regular season, the Gophers have tallied 50 goals, twelve (12) 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!!

Gophers split with Huskies, retain #3 national ranking

The Gopher Women's Hockey team settled with a split in their home-and-home against St. Cloud State last weekend, winning the opener at Ridder Arena 5-2 before falling 3-1 at Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud.

Ella Huber opened the scoring Friday just 23 seconds into the contest, redirecting a shot from Sydney Morrow past Huskies netminder Emilia Kyrkkö. SCSU evened the scored later in the first period as Abby Promersberger tallied on a power play, but Ava Lindsay put Minnesota back in the lead 86 seconds after that, burying a rebound. Abbey Murphy extended the lead to 3-1 in the second stanza, blasting home a shot moments after appearing to have lost control of the puck. Ally Qualley pulled St. Cloud State back within one on another power play, but Murphy netted her own power-play goal 24 seconds into the third period and tacked on an empty-netter late to complete her second career hat trick. Huber assisted on Murphy's first two goals, and Peyton Hemp & Nelli Laitinen also each dished out two helpers. Hannah Clark earned the win for the Gophers with 25 saves.

Minnesota came out firing in the rematch Saturday, getting 23 shots on goal in the first period, but SCSU goaltender Sanni Ahola stopped all of them to keep the contest scoreless after 20 minutes. Promersberger opened the scoring for the Huskies midway through the second, and Brieja Parent & Avery Farrell lit the lamp in the first 3:09 of the third to push St. Cloud State's lead to 3-0. Natalie Mlynkova tallied for the Gophers with 13:33 to play, assisted by Hemp & Lindsay, to avoid a shutout, but they got no closer. Clark took the loss despite another 25-save effort, while Ahola finished with 38 saves and the victory.

Despite Saturday's loss, the Gophers remained ranked #3 in both the latest U.S. College Hockey Online (USCHO) Division I Women's Poll and the USA Hockey / The Rink Live Women's Poll. St. Cloud State improved to #8 in both polls.

Peyton Hemp reaches milestone scoring mark

With her second assist in Friday's game against St. Cloud State, co-captain and senior Peyton Hemp became the latest member of the Gopher Women's Hockey program to join the 100-Point Club!!

Adding her third assist of the weekend on Saturday, Hemp now has 101 points on 47 goals and 54 assists.

Congratulations Peyton!!

Six Gophers headed to December Euro Hockey Tour event

Five current Gopher Women's Hockey players and an incoming 2025-2026 freshman have been named to represent their respective countries at the next Euro Hockey Tour event, the Six Nations Tournament being played December 11 through 15 at the Tampere Ice Stadium / Hakametsä Arena in Tampere, Finland.

Forwards Peyton Hemp, Ella Huber & Abbey Murphy and defender Sydney Morrow were named to the U.S. Collegiate Women's Select Team roster by USA Hockey last Thursday, November 21. Meanwhile, teammate Natálie Mlýnková and future Gopher Tereza Plosová were selected to play on the Czech Women's National Team. Unfortunately, no Gophers were chosed to play on Canada's National Women's Development Team, whose roster was released yesterday. Announcements from the national federations of Sweden and Finland are still pending and expected within the next seven days. We send congratulations to Peyton, Ella, Abbey, Sydney, Natálie and Tereza on being selected, and wish them good luck at the tournament!!

Around the WCHA...

#4 Bulldogs sweep Beavers in Duluth – Olivia Wallin recorded a hat trick plus an assist and Tova Henderson lit the lamp twice as Minnesota Duluth defeated Bemidji State 8-1 Friday night at AMSOIL Arena. Henderson netted her third goal of the weekend, Wallin dished out another assist, and Tindra Holm earned her first shutout as a Bulldog in a 2-0 victory Saturday for the series sweep. Olivia Mobley added two goals & an assist in the series for UMD, while Shelby Breiland netted the lone goal for BSU.

#1 Wisconsin earns home sweep of St. Thomas – Six different Badgers lit the lamp Friday as they topped the Tommies 6-1 to open their series in Madison. Cassie O'Brien then tallied 2 goals and 2 assists Saturday after a pair of helpers in Friday's game to complete a six-point weekend and a sweep with a 5-2 victory. Kirsten Simms recorded four points for Wisconsin on a goal & 3 assists, while Maddie Brown scored both goals for the Tommies on Saturday and Chloe Boreen recorded a goal and an assist in the series.

Mavericks take 4 points from visiting #2 Buckeyes – After being held off the scoreboard for two periods, Jocelyne Amos gave Ohio State a 1-0 lead early in the third stanza in their opener at Minnesota State, but Alexis Paddington knotted the score for MSU with an extra attacker and 46.4 seconds remaining in regulation. OSU earned the victory 2-1 when Joy Dunne scored 2:29 into overtime, despite a 36-save performance from MSU netminder Hailey Hansen. Hansen stopped another 30 of 31 shots in the rematch Saturday, Taylor Otremba tallied two goals and an assist, and Madison Mashuga recorded a goal & 3 helpers as the Mavericks never trailed in a 4-1 upset victory over the Buckeyes.

Upcoming games – The holiday weekend features several non-conference series and a tournament for one WCHA team, all being played Friday & Saturday. Minnesota Duluth is the only team playing at home, hosting Vermont. In road action, Wisconsin visits Maine, St. Cloud State takes on Union, and Minnesota State faces Dartmouth. St. Thomas is participating in the SMASHVILLE Women's Collegiate Hockey Showcase in Bellevue, Tennessee, taking on Clarkson on Friday and either Merrimack or Penn State on Saturday.

Following the weekend, Ohio State visits Mercyhurst on Monday night (December 2) to complete their split home-and-home series (OSU won 5-1 in Columbus on October 22).

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.