Tickets still available for Brunch with the Coaches on Jan. 4
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.
Goals for a Goal
Help us convert every goal scored by the Gopher Women's Hockey team into a donation back to the squad through our Goals for a Goal pledge-per-goal program! At the holiday break, the Gophers have tallied 61 goals, fifteen (15) of which have come on the power play! Submit your pledge at z.umn.edu/GoalsForAGoal, with the option to double the pledge for power play tallies! GO GOPHERS!!
Gophers conclude 2024 with road sweep of St. Thomas
A short trip across town proved to be no issue for the Gopher Women's Hockey team as they earned a weekend sweep of the St. Thomas Tommies at Saint Thomas Ice Arena, winning 5-0 and 6-2.
Josefin Bouveng netted Minnesota's first two goals of the weekend, with Abbey Murphy assisting on both. Murphy then lit the lamp twice herself a short time later, and Chloe Primerano, already with an assist, also found the back of the net. Both teams found the scoresheet in the first period of the rematch; Peyton Hemp opened the scoring for the Gophers, the Tommies' Rylee Bartz evened things up later in the stanza, but Nelli Laitinen put Minnesota back in the lead just 26 seconds after that. Sydney Morrow converted on a power play and Hemp netted her second goal of the game in the second frame, and Murphy went down to one knee to bury a pass from Morrow in the third. Former Gopher Sadie Lindsay lit the lamp for St. Thomas, but Primerano added another power-play goal in the final seconds of the contest.
Murphy, Primerano earn WCHA Player of the Week honors;
Clark records first collegiate shutout between the pipes
We send congratulations to Gophers Abbey Murphy and Chloe Primerano for earning honors as WCHA Forward and Defender of the Week, respectively, for their performances at St. Thomas.
Murphy tied her career high on Friday night with 5 points on her 2 goals & 3 assists, then added her 3rd goal of the weekend and two more helpers on Saturday to complete an 8-point series. As noted above, Primerano lit the lamp once in each game but also recorded an assist in each contest as well to finish with 4 points on the weekend.
We also congratulate freshman goaltender Hannah Clark. With a 14-save performance Friday night, Clark recorded the first shutout of her collegiate career. She added another 20 saves on Saturday to earn her ninth victory of the season.
Other notable performances – Nelli Laitinen & Sydney Morrow each dished out two assists to go with their respective goals, finishing with 3 points apiece. Ella Huber recorded 3 assists in the series.
Euro Hockey Tour Six Nations Tournament – December 11-15;
nine Gophers selected to play on respective national teams
We again congratulate and send best wishes to the nine (9) Gopher Women's Hockey representatives selected to play on their respective national teams at the Six Nations Tournament, part of the 2024-2025 Women's Euro Hockey Tour. The event begins tomorrow, December 11, and runs through Sunday, December 15, in Tampere, Finland.
Eight current Gophers departed to join their national squads following the series against St. Thomas. Peyton Hemp, Ella Huber, Sydney Morrow, and Abbey Murphy were named to the U.S. Collegiate Select Team, Nelli Laitinen & Krista Parkkonen were selected for Finland's Women's National Team, Josefin Bouveng was named to Team Sweden, and Natálie Mlýnková was selected for the Czech National Team. Future Gopher Tereza Plosová will join Mlýnková on Team Czechia. Canada's National Development Team and the Swiss National Team will make up the field. Though the four European squads are considered as "senior" national teams, they will trend younger since a large majority of PWHL players are not participating.
Tournament format – The Six Nations Tournament will feature 2 three-team groups, with Finland, Switzerland, and the U.S. in Group A and Canada, Czechia, and Sweden in Group B. Following three days of intra-group round-robin play, the bottom teams from each group will play each other twice while the other four squads play in semifinals and medal contests. Here's the schedule of games (times shown are U.S. Central):
Group B: Sweden vs. Canada – Wednesday (12/11) at 7 a.m.
Group A: Finland vs. USA – Wednesday (12/11) at 11 a.m.
Group A: Switzerland vs. USA – Thursday (12/12) at 7 a.m.
Group B: Canada vs. Czechia – Thursday (12/12) at 11 a.m.
Group B: Czechia vs. Sweden – Friday (12/13) at 7 a.m.
Group A: Finland vs. Switzerland – Friday (12/13) at 11 a.m.
Group A 3rd place vs. Group B 3rd place (game 1) – Saturday (12/14) at 3:30 a.m.
Semifinal #1 – Saturday (12/14) at 7 a.m.
Semifinal #2 – Saturday (12/14) at 11 a.m.
Group A 3rd place vs. Group B 3rd place (game 2) – Sunday (12/15) at 3:30 a.m.
Bronze medal game – Sunday (12/15) at 7 a.m.
Gold medal game – Sunday (12/15) at 11 a.m.
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