Power Play Club

Locker Sponsor update – Invoices coming soon

We again encourage those of you who committed to be Locker Sponsors to watch your email inboxes, as sponsorship donation invoices – including remittance instructions – are expected over the next few days. Thank you for your support.

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

Save the Date!! 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 will again be participating in this effort as part of its fundraising for the Gopher Women's Hockey team. More details will be provided over the next two weeks as the event approaches, and we kindly ask for your contributions to this effort.

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.

Goals for a Goal

Just over one-third of the way through the regular season, the Gophers have now tallied 37 goals, with nine (9) coming on the power play! Help us turn those into donations to the GWH program through our Goals for a Goal pledge-per-goal program! Use the online form at z.umn.edu/GoalsForAGoal to submit your pledge for each goal scored this year, with the option to double your pledge for power play tallies! Following the conclusion of the playoffs, you will receive an email with your pledge total and giving instructions. Thanks and GO GOPHERS!!

Bouveng, Murphy, Primerano, 3 GWH alums in int'l action

We send wishes of good luck to Minnesota Women's Hockey senior Abbey Murphy, junior Josefin Bouveng, freshman Chloe Primerano, and alumnae Taylor Heise, Kelly Pannek, and Grace Zumwinkle as they play with their respective national teams.

Heise, Murphy, Pannek and Zumwinkle will be suiting up for the U.S. National Team as they take on Team Canada and a debuting Primerano to open the 2024-2025 Rivalry Series. Canada has reverse-swept the Americans each of the last two years, coming back to win both series 4 games to 3 after trailing 3-0. This season, the series features only five games, with the teams playing the first three of those this week:

Tomorrow (Wedneday, Nov. 6) at 9 p.m. CT at Tech CU Arena in San Jose, CA
Friday, Nov. 8 at 8 p.m. CT at the Maverik Center in West Valley, UT
Sunday, Nov. 10 at 6 p.m. CT at Idaho Central Arena in Boise, ID

All three Rivalry Series games will be televised on NHL Network.

Euro Hockey Tour – Bouveng will be playing for Sweden's National Team as they host the second weekend of the 2024-2025 Euro Hockey Tour in the city of Södertälje. The team is scheduled to play...

vs. Czechia, tomorrow (Wednesday, Nov. 6) at 6 p.m. local / 11 a.m. U.S. Central
vs. Switzerland, Friday, Nov. 8 at 6 p.m. local / 11 a.m. Central
vs. Finland, Saturday, Nov. 9 at 4 p.m. CT local / 9 a.m. Central

Gophers sweep Beavers behind power-play performance

The Gophers Women's Hockey team went a combined 4-for-7 on the power play as Natalie Mlynkova and Abbey Murphy each lit the lamp twice with the advantage in 2-1 and 4-1 victories on the road against Bemidji State. Mlynkova also scored once at even strength for a three-goal weekend, Emma Kreisz found the back of the net as well, and Hannah Clark made 27 saves on a combined 29 shots for the two wins.

Mlynkova's first power-play goal and her even-strength tally came in the first period of Friday's contest to put the Gophers up 2-0, outshooting the Beavers 14-1 during the first 20 minutes. However, BSU clamped down and outshot Minnesota 18-13 over the remainder of the contest, getting their own power-play goal from Izy Fairchild in the second period to pull within one. The Gophers killed off seven minutes of penalty time in the final stanza, including a major infraction followed by another two-minute minor in which the Beavers pulled goalie Kaitlin Groess for a 6-on-4 attack; however, Bemidji State was unable to find the equalizer.

The Gophers put up a four-spot in the opening period Saturday with Murphy's two power-play conversions, Mlynkova's third goal (2nd on the PP), and Kreisz's tally, outshooting the Beavers 16-4. Morgan Smith scored for BSU in the second period, though that was one of only six shots they put on goal over the final 40 minutes.

Murphy and Ella Huber also finished with 3-point weekends; Murphy assisted on one of Mlynkova's goals to go with her own two, while Huber dished out three helpers. Audrey Wethington & Sydney Morrow each recorded two assists in the series.

Huber joins 100-point club; Puppe, Johnson record firsts

With the second of her three assists on the weekend, senior co-captain Ella Huber joined the Gopher Women's Hockey 100-point club!! Huber now has 101 points on 39 goals and 62 assists in the Maroon & Gold. Congratulations, Ella!!

At the other end of the spectrum, we send congratulations to another pair of Gophers each recording firsts with the team. Freshman Ayla Puppe (left) tallied the first point of her collegiate career, assisting on Kreisz's goal on Saturday. Later in the contest, junior netminder Sophia Johnson made her collegiate debut for the Gophers, relieving Clark with 3:19 to play. Congratulations, Ayla and Sophia!!

Around the WCHA...

Ohio State sweeps St. Thomas, needing OT Saturday – Joy Dunne tallied two goals & two assists, and Jordyn Petrie & Jenna Buglioni each added a goal and two assists as the Buckeyes opened their road series with a 5-1 win over the Tommies. In the rematch, UST netminder Dani Strom stopped 39 shots to keep the contest scoreless through regulation, but OSU's Emma Peschel lit the lamp 21 seconds into the extra period for a 1-0 Ohio State victory and weekend sweep.

Wisconsin improves to 12-0-0, shutting out St. Cloud State – Laila Edwards tallied 3 goals and an assist, Caroline Harvey recorded a goal & 3 helpers, Cassie Hall added two goals and an assist, and Ava McNaughton stopped all 56 shots she faced to shut out the Huskies in St. Cloud, 6-0 and 4-0, maintaining a perfect record on the season.

UMD gets 5 points in win, tie at MSU – Caitlin Kraemer lit the lamp twice, Olivia Wallin dished out two assists, and Ève Gascon stopped 20 of 21 shots as Minnesota Duluth defeated Minnesota State in Mankato, 4-1, to open their weekend series. The rematch saw the Mavericks take 1-0 and 2-1 leads, but Wallin & Clara Van Wieran scored to put the Bulldogs up 3-2 with 1:40 left in regulation; however, Shelbi Guttormson responded for MSU to even the score again just 21 seconds later and it finished in a 3-3 overtime tie. Neither team scored in the first seven rounds of the subsequent shootout, but Tova Henderson found the back of the net for UMD in round 8 for the bonus standings point.

Upcoming games – St. Thomas is the only WCHA team in action this week, hosting a non-conference series against Lindenwood with games Thursday night and Friday afternoon.

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.