Goals for a Goal
Lighting the lamp four times this past weekend, the Gopher Women's Hockey team netted 123 goals in the regular season, with 28 coming on the power play!! Pledges for our Goals for a Goal pledge-per-goal program can still be submitted at z.umn.edu/GoalsForAGoal, with the option to double the amount for power play tallies! We thank you for your consideration of this campaign as we continue to provide assistance to the GWH program!
WCHA Playoff Quarterfinals (best-of-three) at Ridder Arena
#4/4 Minnesota Golden Gophers (25-9-1, 19-8-1-0 in WCHA)
vs. Minnesota State University Mavericks (13-19-2, 7-19-2-1)
Friday, February 28 at 6:00 p.m.
Saturday, March 1 at 2:00 p.m.
(if necessary) Sunday, March 2 at 3:00 p.m.
The Gopher Women's Hockey team enters the WCHA Playoff Tournament as the #3 seed, hosting the 6th-seeded Minnesota State University Mavericks in a best-of-three quarterfinal series at Ridder Arena, a rematch of last year's first round. Action begins Friday evening, February 28 at 6:00 p.m. and continues Saturday, March 1 at 2:00 p.m. If necessary, a deciding Game 3 will be played Sunday, March 2 at 3:00 p.m.
Other Gopher sports on campus – While not as busy as last weekend, we note that Minnesota is hosting the Big Ten Men's Swimming & Diving Championships at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center both Friday and Saturday, and Gopher Women's Tennis is hosting Wisconsin on Friday and both North Dakota & Boise State on Saturday at the Baseline Tennis Center.
Game coverage – All the games between the Gophers and Mavericks this weekend will be televised on Fox 9+ (channel finder). They will also have video streamed on the B1G+ subscription service (Friday / Saturday / Sunday). Free audio play-by-play on GopherSports.com continues Friday & Saturday (Sunday's link to be provided later), and live stats can be found here.
This season against Minnesota State – The Gopher Women's Hockey team earned a sweep of their four regular-season meetings, though the Mavericks swiped a league standings point by forcing overtime in one of the contests. Minnesota earned an 8-2 win at Ridder Arena before their 3-2 overtime victory in Mankato in October, then posted an 8-3 win at Ridder in January before completing the sweep 5-2 at the Mayo Clinic Health System Events Center. Josefin Bouveng and Abbey Murphy led the Gophers, each recording points in all four contests and finishing with 11 apiece. Bouveng lit the lamp five times – including a hat trick in the fourth game – and dished out 6 assists, while Murphy found the back of the net 3 times and tallied 8 helpers. Ella Huber added 8 points on 2 goals & 6 assists, and Peyton Hemp netted four goals – including the OT game-winner – plus an assist. JuliAnna Gazdik led MSU with a goal and 3 assists against the Gophers, while the trio of Madison Mashuga, Taylor Otremba & Whitney Tuttle each added a goal and two helpers, and Alexis Paddington lit the lamp twice. Gopher netminder Hannah Clark played the October opener and both games in January, stopping 62 of 69 shots (.899 save percentage, 2.33 goals-against average), while Skylar Vetter stopped 13 of 15 shots in the first game in Mankato (.867 SV%). MSU goalie Hailey Hansen started three of the four games as well and made 69 saves but yielded 18 goals in just over 8 periods of action (.793 SV%, 6.68 GAA); Jessie McPherson made the other start plus a 17-minute relief appearance, stopping 42 of 47 shots (.894 SV%, 3.80 GAA).
Analyzing the Mavericks – Minnesota State's 6th-place finish in the WCHA regular season standings comes after a slow start as they went 1-7-1 in their first 9 league games. They're also only 3-10-1 in conference play since flipping the calendar to 2025, with two of those wins coming this past weekend. MSU did get a tie against Minnesota Duluth in Mankato, a road win at St. Cloud State, and a 4-1 upset victory at home over Ohio State, and they were 6-0-0 in non-conference play against Long Island, Dartmouth & Lindenwood.
Senior Madison Mashuga (#22) and grad student Jamie Nelson (#10) lead the Mavericks with 27 points apiece; Mashuga has 10 goals & 17 assists, while Nelson has a team-high 21 helpers with 6 goals of her own. Junior Taylor Otremba (#24) trails right behind with 26 points on 12 goals & 14 assists, and senior Claire Vekich (#25) leads MSU's goal scorers with 14 while tallying 11 assists for 25 points. Two more Mavs have also each recorded double-digit goals and passed the 20-point mark: junior Whitney Tuttle (#7; 13g, 9a) and senior Alexis Paddington (#14; 12g, 9a).
Sophomore Hailey Hansen (#33) has started 22 of Minnesota State's 34 games, posting a 9-12-1 record with 3 shutouts, a 2.88 goals-against average, and a .900 save percentage. Grad student Jessie McPherson (#91) is 3-5-1 in her nine starts with a 3.06 GAA and .895 SV%. Senior Suzette Faucher (#31) had 3 starts, going 1-2-0 with her win coming by shutout; including a pair of relief appearances, she has a 2.67 GAA and .903 SV%. Meanwhile, junior Avery Stilwell (#1) remains on the MSU roster as an emergency backup.
Recent action for Minnesota State – Playing a home-and-home series against St. Thomas, seven different Mavericks lit the lamp on Senior Night in Mankato on Friday in an 8-3 victory; Kamryn Van Batavia led MSU with two goals & an assist, while Claire Vekich and Taylor Otremba each added a goal and two helpers. Ella Boerger tallied a pair of power play goals for the Tommies. Minnesota State then spoiled St. Thomas' Senior Day game in Mendota Heights with a 3-0 shutout win to complete the weekend sweep; Vekich recorded another goal & assist, Madison Mashuga and Kianna Roeske also lit the lamp, and Hailey Hansen posted a 17-save shutout.
Gophers finish regular season with sweep of Minnesota Duluth
The Gopher Women's Hockey team completed a four-game series sweep of Minnesota Duluth, winning both Senior Weekend games by scores of 3-2 and 1-0 to conclude the regular season and lock up 3rd place in the WCHA standings.
Minnesota and UMD traded first-period goals in the opener; Emma Kreisz gave the Gophers an initial lead, but Olivia Wallin evened the score for the Bulldogs. However, Ella Huber & Natalie Mlynkova lit the lamp in the second stanza with Audrey Wethington assisting on both goals, and Hannah Clark finished with 28 saves. Wallin added an unassisted goal with 3:08 to play, but they could not find the equalizer. UMD netminder Ève Gascon stopped 24 shots.
Minnesota came out firing in the rematch, but Gascon seemed up to the challenge, stopping all 32 shots she faced over the first 40 minutes. Clark was also holding the Bulldogs off the scoreboard with 13 saves in the first two periods. Still scoreless more than halfway through the third period, a shot by Abbey Murphy went well high, hitting the glass behind the net; however, as Gascon caught the ricochet, her momentum carried her glove across the goal line below the crossbar, and the Gopher goal was awarded upon review. That was the only tally for either team; Gascon finished with 48 saves, while Clark posted her second career shutout with a 22-save performance.
Frost climbs in coaching wins records – We send a congratulations to Minnesota Women's Hockey head coach Brad Frost, who recorded his 523rd and 524th victories as the Gopher bench boss. Those moved him into third all-time among NCAA Division I coaches, passing Harvard's Katie Stone, and fifth across all divisions of NCAA Women's Ice Hockey. Congrats, Frosty!!
Clark sets new Gopher record, earns WCHA weekly award
Gopher Women's Hockey's Hannah Clark continues to set a new standard between the pipes, and earned recognition from the conference for her performance against Minnesota Duluth.
Clark's 28-save victory Friday over the Bulldogs was her 20th win of the season, making her the first freshman in Minnesota's program history to reach that mark. She extended that record to 21 wins with her 22-save shutout Saturday.
With 50 saves on 52 shots (a .962 save percentage) and a series sweep, Clark was named WCHA Goaltender of the Week. It's her second weekly conference honor this season, after she earned the same award on November 18. Congratulations, Hannah!!
Layla Hemp wins Jori Jones Award as MN H.S. Goalie of the Year
Following up on last week's selection of Minnetonka (MN) H.S. and future Gopher Women's Hockey player Layla Hemp as the Star Tribune's All-Minnesota Girls Hockey Player of the Year, Hemp was named the Jori Jones Award winner by Let's Play Hockey as Minnesota's top senior goaltender of the year, as announced at the Ms. Hockey Banquet this past Sunday, February 23. Hemp was also named a Minnesota All-State Team selection as well.
Congratulations again, Layla!!
Around the WCHA...
Badgers earn road sweep of Beavers – Casey O'Brien recorded 2 goals & an assist Friday and added three helpers Saturday, Kirsten Simms tallied a hat trick and an assist Saturday after dishing out two helpers Friday, and Lacey Eden posted a one-goal, 3-assist performance on Saturday as Wisconsin rolled to back-to-back 6-1 victories at Bemidji State. Genevieve Hendrickson (PP) and Raeley Carney scored for BSU.
Buckeyes defend home ice with sweep of Huskies – St. Cloud State erased deficits of 3 goals on Friday and 2 goals on Saturday at Ohio State to tie both games, but OSU prevailed in both contests, winning 5-3 and 3-2. Friday's game saw Jocelyne Amos net her second goal of the night to put the Buckeyes back in the lead 77 seconds after the Huskies drew even, then complete her hat trick with an empty-netter with 1:09 to play. Makenna Webster, already with an assist, lit the lamp for OSU on Saturday with 2:22 to play for the victory and the series sweep. Webster and Joy Dunne each recorded two goals and two assists in the series for OSU, while Emma Gentry had two goals & an assist for SCSU.
Other playoff quarterfinals / Best-of-3 / Feb. 28, March 1 and (if necessary) 2
#5-seed St. Cloud State University at #4-seed University of Minnesota Duluth
Friday at 2:00 p.m. CT / Saturday & Sunday at 1:00 p.m. CT#7-seed University of St. Thomas at #2-seed Ohio State University
Friday at 6:00 p.m. ET / Saturday & Sunday at 3:00 p.m. ET#8-seed Bemidji State University at #1-seed University of Wisconsin
Friday at 7:00 p.m. CT / Saturday at 3:00 p.m. CT / Sunday at 2:00 p.m. CT
Final regular-season standings:
1. Wisconsin – 77 points (.917 pts%), 25-1-2-1, 1-0 in OT (31-1-2 overall)
2. Ohio State – 59 points (.702 pts%), 19-6-3-2, 3-0 in OT (25-6-3 overall)
3. Minnesota – 57 points (.679 pts%), 19-8-1-0, 1-0 in OT (25-9-1 overall)
4. Minn. Duluth – 48 points (.571 pts%), 14-12-2-2, 0-2 in OT (19-13-2 overall)
5. St. Cloud State – 36 points (.429 pts%), 10-13-5-1, 1-1 in OT (15-13-6 overall)
6. Minnesota State – 28 points (.333 pts%), 7-19-2-1, 0-4 in OT (13-19-2 overall)
7. St. Thomas – 20 points (.238 pts%), 6-21-1-1, 2-2 in OT (9-23-2 overall)
8. Bemidji State – 11 points (.131 pts%), 4-24-0-0, 1-0 in OT (6-28-1 overall)
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