Goals for a Goal
With 12 games remaining in the regular season, the Gopher Women's Hockey team has tallied 85 goals, twenty-one (21) of which have come on the power play! We ask for your help in fundraising for the team through our Goals for a Goal pledge-per-goal program, converting each time the Gophers light the lamp into a donation back to the program. Submit your pledge at z.umn.edu/GoalsForAGoal, with the option to double the pledge for power play tallies! GO GOPHERS!!
Ticket reminders for next two weekends
Cub Family 4 Packs, January 17 – Gopher Women's Hockey is offering Cub Family 4 Packs for this Friday's (Jan. 17) game against Minnesota State at Ridder Arena. For $54, you'll receive 4 game tickets, 4 boxed candy, snacks or popcorn, 4 regular (20 oz.) fountain sodas or bottled waters, PLUS a $5 coupon off $50 at Cub Foods. You can purchase your 4 Pack here.
SOLD OUT!! January 24 Field Trip Day game vs. BSU – The Gopher Women's Hockey "Field Trip Day" game at Ridder Arena against Bemidji State on Friday, January 24 at noon is sold out. If you are still in need of tickets to the game, you are encouraged to check the SEATGEEK secondary market. Those attending the game are encouraged to plan accordingly and arrive early to avoid parking and entry congestion.
Hockey Day Minnesota game vs. Bemidji State, January 25 – The second game of the upcoming series against the Beavers will be played as part of Hockey Day Minnesota on Saturday, January 25 at 11:30 a.m. at Valleyfair Amusement Park in Shakopee. Tickets can be purchased at here. Please note those for Saturday are $79 each, though that covers the full slate of games being played that day plus admission into the Hockey Day Village and Valleyfair itself.
#3 Minnesota Golden Gophers (17-5-1, 11-4-1-0 WCHA)
vs. Minnesota State Univ. Mavericks (10-11-1, 4-11-1-0 WCHA)
Friday, January 17, 2025 at 6:00 p.m. – Ridder Arena
Saturday, January 18, 2025 at 2:00 p.m. - Mayo Clinic Health System Events Center – Mankato
With five games down since the start of the calendar year, the Gopher Women's Hockey team heads into a home-and-home series against the Minnesota State University Mavericks. Action begins at Ridder Arena on Friday, January 17, at 6:00 p.m. before moving to the Mayo Clinic Health System Events Center in Mankato on Saturday, January 18, at 2:00 p.m.
Game coverage – Both contests will have video streaming on the B1G+ subscription service (Friday / Saturday), and Saturday's game will also be televised on Fox 9+. Free audio play-by-play on GopherSports.com continues Friday & Saturday, and live stats can be found here.
Last time against Minnesota State – While the Gophers earned a sweep of their previous series against the Mavericks, also played home-and-home, by scores of 8-2 and 3-2, the contest in Mankato required overtime. Natalie Mlynkova opening the scoring just 43 seconds into Friday's contest at Ridder, her first of four points (2 goals, 2 assists) on the weekend including an assist on Saturday's OT game-winner by Peyton Hemp. Hemp's goal at the 2:01 mark of the extra period Saturday was the third time she lit the lamp in the series, earlier converting a pair of power plays (one in each game). Josefin Bouveng & Abbey Murphy each added a goal and three helpers, Ella Huber tallied a goal and two assists, and Lauren O'Hara, Madison Kaiser, and Ava Lindsay also scored. Hannah Clark made 18 saves Friday, while Skylar Vetter stopped 13 shots Saturday and also earned an offensive assist on Lindsay's goal. Whitney Tuttle and Madison Mashuga each recorded a goal and two assists in the series for MSU, Hailey Hansen made 27 saves Friday, and Jessie McPherson stopped 34 shots Saturday.
Analyzing the Mavericks – Minnesota State has seen some successes throughout this season, including a perfect 6-0 record in non-conference play, 4-1 upsets over both St. Cloud State and Ohio State, a 3-3 tie against UMD and taking the Gophers to overtime. However, they have struggled at times as well, including being swept in their conference opening series against St. Thomas. Their 4-11-1-0 mark in league play is boosted by three of their losses coming in OT, but their 16 points still puts them sixth in the standings.
Senior Madison Mashuga (#22) is MSU's leader in total points (21) and assists (13) while lighting the lamp 8 times herself. Junior Taylor Otremba (#24) joins Mashuga as a 20-point scorer, recording 10 goals and 10 assists. Grad student Jamie Nelson (#10) is third in scoring with 16 points on 6 goals and 10 assists. Junior Whitney Tuttle (#7) holds the Mavericks' lead in goals with 11 – bolstered by a four-goal game two weekends ago at Lindenwood – while dishing out 4 assists for 15 points.
Sophomore Hailey Hansen (#33) has started 14 of MSU's 22 games, posting a 7-6-1 record with 2 shutouts, a 2.61 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage. Grad student Jessie McPherson (#91) is 2-3-0 in her 5 starts with a 2.60 GAA and .897 SV%, while senior Suzette Faucher (#31) is 1-2-0 with a shutout in her three starts, posting a 3.05 GAA and .886 SV%. Junior Avery Stilwell (#1) remains listed on the MSU roster as their fourth netminder.
Last weekend for Minnesota State – Hailey Hansen made a combined 92 saves for the Mavericks in their series at Wisconsin, including 50 on Sunday, but they came up short as the Badgers earned a sweep, 6-2 and 3-1. Alexis Paddington led MSU with a goal & an assist, Jamie Nelson dished out two helpers, and Madison Mashuga & Claire Vekich also scored. Lacey Eden recorded 4 points for UW with a goal and an assist in each game, Casey O'Brien added two goals and an assist, Laila Edwards dished out 3 helpers, and Ava McNaughton stopped 47 of 50 shots.
Gophers sweep St. Thomas in return to WCHA play
Emma Kreisz dished out four assists on Friday and Gracie Graham tallied a combined one goal & three assists as the Gopher Women's Hockey team earned a home sweep of the St. Thomas Tommies, 4-2 and 5-1.
Following a scoreless first period in the opening contest, Minnesota lit the lamp in all three facets of play in the second stanza as Audrey Wethington netted her first goal of the season on a power play, Ava Lindsay scored short-handed, and Emma Conner added an even-strength goal. The Tommies closed within 3-2 in the third period on goals by Nora Sauer and Maddie Clough (PP), but they pulled their goaltender for an extra attacker despite being short-handed and Allie Franco tallied her first goal of the season with a power-play empty-netter.
Graham got the Gophers on the board early on Saturday, scoring on the team's first shot on goal just 1:17 into the contest. She follow it up with an assist as Sydney Morrow lit the lamp on the next shot just 46 seconds later, making it 2-0. UST's Nicole Vallario cut Minnesota's lead to 2-1 later in the first period, but Natalie Mlynkova, Abbey Murphy, and Peyton Hemp (PP) found the back of the net in the third for the four-goal victory.
Lindsay had two assists to go with her goal, Nelli Laitinen recorded 3 assists, and Hannah Clark made a combined 34 saves to earn the two wins. Dani Strom stopped 60 shots for the Tommies.
Recognition, recognition, and more recognition...
With her 4-point (1g, 3a) performance this past weekend against St. Thomas, Gopher Women's Hockey freshman Gracie Graham was named WCHA Defender of the Week. It is the first award of her collegiate career. Congratulations, Gracie!!
Gopher Women's Hockey graduate student Audrey Wethington was one of 14 men's and women's players named as nominees for the 2025 Hockey Humanitarian Award by the HHA Foundation yesterday. The honor is given to “a student-athlete who makes significant contributions not only to his or her team but also to the community-at-large through leadership in volunteerism.”
Finalists will be named in February, and the award will be presented during the Men's Frozen Four Weekend on Friday, April 11.
Congratulations, Audrey!!
Back on the ice, we give a shout-out to Gopher freshman Hannah Clark upon being named to the 'Watch List' for 2025 Women's Goalie of the Year by the Hockey Commissioners Association. The initial list is comprised of those with a goals against average of 2.10 or lower or a save percentage of .920 or higher, and will be pared down before the winner is announced in March. Congratulations and good luck, Hannah!!
Finally, we give another shout-out to the entire Gopher Women's Hockey team for their work in the classroom, posting a composite 3.57 grade-point average for the Fall 2024 term! Additionally (named as pictured at right), Krista Parkkonen, Audrey Wethington, Gracie Graham, Maggie Nicholson, and Ayla Puppe recorded perfect 4.0 marks, and they were joined by Allie Franco, Peyton Hemp, Nelli Laitinen, Sydney Morrow, Lauren O'Hara, and Chloe Primerano on the Dean's List!!
Excellent work, ladies!!
IIHF U-18 Women's World Championship wrap-up:
Canada shuts out U.S. for gold; Primerano, Fanale honored
In their only meeting at the 2025 IIHF U-18 Women's World Championship, Canada shut out Team USA 3-0 in the Gold Medal Game to claim the title behind a 14-save performance from Marilou Grenier and goals by Caileigh Tiller, Dorothy Copetti & Stryker Zablocki. Goaltender Morgan Stickney made 26 saves for the Americans.
Captaining the Canadian squad, current Gopher defender Chloe Primerano posted 10 points in the tournament on 4 goals and 6 assists. Added with her single-tournament record 16 points (8g, 8a) last year, she became the all-time leader for scoring by a defender in IIHF U18 Women's Wolrd Championship play. Including another 10 points tallied in other competitions, her total of 36 became the new all-time record for the most scored with Canada's U18 Women's National Team.
Future Gopher Bella Fanale, serving as captain of Team USA, was the top-scoring American at the tournament, lighting the lamp 5 times and adding 4 assists for 9 points. Over three U18 Women's Worlds, she finishes with 13 points on 6 goals & 7 assists.
Both Primerano and Fanale were recognized for their play at this year's tournament. Primerano was named the Best Defender, Fanale earned the award as the Best Forward, and both were named to the media's All-Star Team. Congratulations, Chloe & Bella!!
Around the WCHA...
Buckeyes shut out the Beavers – Ohio State goaltenders Amanda Thiele and Hailey MacLeod combined to stop all 30 shots the faced from Bemidji State. Meanwhile, Jocelyne Amos lit the lamp 4 times Friday and dished out 3 assists Saturday for a 7-point series as the Buckeyes posted 6-0 and 4-0 wins for the weekend sweep. Kaitlin Groess made 38 saves for BSU on Friday and Eva Filippova stopped 40 shots Saturday.
Bulldogs shut out the Huskies – Minnesota Duluth netminder Ève Gascon posted back-to-back 24-save clean sheets and Olivia Mobley lit the lamp three times as they swept St. Cloud State by matching 3-0 scores. Emilia Kyrkkö stopped 31 shots for SCSU on Friday and Sanni Ahola made 29 saves Saturday.
Upcoming games – With the other three series also being played this Friday and Saturday, Bemidji State visits St. Cloud State, Minnesota Duluth hosts Ohio State, and Wisconsin travels to St. Thomas. After the weekend, Ohio State heads to Mercyhurst for a Tuesday night non-conference matchup.
Standings:
1. Wisconsin – 49 points (.907 pts%), 16-1-1-0, 0-0 in OT (22-1-1 overall)
2. Minn. Duluth – 34 points (.708 pts%), 10-4-2-2, 0-0 in OT (15-5-2 overall)
3. Minnesota – 33 points (.688 pts%), 11-4-1-0, 1-0 in OT (17-5-1 overall)
4. Ohio State – 33 points (.611 pts%), 10-5-3-2, 2-0 in OT (15-5-3 overall)
5. St. Cloud State – 18 points (.375 pts%), 5-8-3-1, 1-0 in OT (10-8-4 overall)
6. Minnesota State – 16 points (.333 pts%), 4-11-1-0, 0-3 in OT (10-11-1 overall)
7. St. Thomas – 9 points (.188 pts%), 2-13-1-1, 0-1 in OT (5-15-2 overall)
8. Bemidji State – 6 points (.125 pts%), 2-14-0-0, 0-0 in OT (4-18-1 overall)
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