Goals for a Goal
As the Gopher Women's Hockey team enters NCAA Tournament play, we continue to count the goals they've scored this season. And it's not too late to enroll in the Power Play Club's Goals for a Goal campaign to convert each of those goals into a donation back to the team! Headed into the Big Dance, they have lit the lamp 148 times, with 33 of them coming on the power play!! If you still wish to make a pledge, please do so online at z.umn.edu/GoalsForAGoal, where you'll also have the option to double the amount for power play tallies! All proceeds go back to the team through the Gopher Women's Hockey Enhancement Fund!
NCAA Tournament – Single-elimination
Quarterfinal – #4-seeded Minnesota Golden Gophers (28-11-1)
vs. #5-seeded Colgate Raiders (30-8-0)
Saturday, March 15 at 2:00 p.m. CT - Ridder Arena
Entering their fourth-straight NCAA Women's Ice Hockey National Collegiate Tournament, the Golden Gophers earned a top-four seeding and home ice for the quarterfinals. They will face the #5-seeded Colgate University Raiders this Saturday, March 15 at 2 p.m. at Ridder Arena, with the winner advancing to the Frozen Four the following weekend.
Tickets are on sale online through the U. of M. Ticket Office or by phone at 1-800-U-GOPHER.
Game coverage – Video of Saturday's game will streamed on the ESPN+ subscription service. Free audio play-by-play with announcer Dan Hamann will be streamed on GopherSports.com starting 15 to 20 minutes before puck drop here. Free live stats will be available here.
Previously against Colgate – The Golden Gophers and Raiders have met 9 times previously but never in the postseason. Minnesota is 8-1-0 all-time, but the lone loss came in their most-recent meeting, the third of three in the 2021-2022 season. The Gophers earned a road sweep, 5-3 and 3-2, in mid-October and Colgate got a measure of revenge with a 2-1 Smashville Tournament championship game victory in Nashville over Thanksgiving weekend. In the October series, Taylor Heise (2g, 1a) and Catie Skaja (1g, 2a) each finished with 3 points, Amy Potomak lit the lamp twice, and Makayla Pahl (26 saves) & Lauren Bench (31 saves) each earned a win. At Smashville, a Madeline Wethington power-play goal put the Gophers up 1-0, but the Raiders' Kristýna (Kalty) Kaltounková scored twice, the first coming on a power play; Colgate netminder Hannah Murphy held onto their lead with 28 saves in total, while Skylar Vetter stopped 22 shots for Minnesota.
Analyzing the Raiders – Between dropping standings points by needing overtime for four of their conference victories and Cornell's "bonus" points earned from three shootouts, Colgate finished the regular season second in the ECAC behind the Big Red with an 18-4-0 league record. They also posted a 9-3-0 mark in non-conference action, though the three losses came in the first three weeks of the season. After sweeping Princeton in the best-of-3 conference quarterfinals, 5-2 & 2-1, they knocked off St. Lawrence, 4-2, in the semis before falling to Cornell, 5-1, in the ECAC Championship.
Colgate averaged an ECAC-best 3.63 goals-per-game across all contests, and they feature five players who have surpassed the 30-point mark. Junior Elyssa Biederman (#8) hit the 50-point mark for the season, netting 18 goals and dishing out a team-high 32 assists. Kristýna Kaltounková (#98), now in her fifth year, is the first Patty Kazmaier Award Top-10 Finalist from the country of Czechia; she has a team-best 26 goals plus 22 assists for 48 points. Sophomores Emma Pais (#44) and Kaia Malachino (#4) have each lit the map 19 times; Pais has 18 assists for 37 points, while Malachino dished out 12 helpers for 31 points. Junior Sara Stewart (#22) joins Malachino with 31 points, coming on 8 goals and 23 assists.
The Raiders were fourth in the ECAC in scoring allowed, yielding 1.89 goals-per-game. Senior Hannah Murphy (#83) has been Colgate's primary goaltender, going 26-7-0 in 32 starts and one relief appearance, with 3 shutouts, a 1.82 goals-against average, and a .940 save percentage. First-year netminder Farah Walker (#41) is 4-1-0 in her five starts with 1.67 GAA and a .925 SV%. Senior Averill McCorkle (#30) made two brief appearances, including starting on Senior Day, stopping 6 shots over a combined 16 minutes, 38 seconds of action. First-year player Lianna Seeley (#35) has yet to see any official ice time.
Last weekend for Colgate – In the ECAC semifinals against St. Lawrence, Madeline Palumbo, Emma Pais, and Georgia Sambrano put the Raiders up 3-0 just past the midway point of the second period; the Saints scored twice in a 45-second span of the third period to pull within one, but Elyssa Biederman added an empty-netter to seal the 4-2 victory. Hannah Murphy made 19 saves for the win. The Raiders and Cornell squared off for the ECAC Championship, and it was the Big Red taking a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes. Kaia Malachino narrowed Colgate's deficit to one in the 2nd period, but Cornell got a third-period power-play goal from Karel Prefontaine, two empty-netters late, and a 27-save performance from Annelies Bergmann to defeat the Raiders, 5-1. Murphy made another 22 saves.
Murphy, Lindsay hit career milestone scoring marks
Murphy reaches, passes 100-goal mark – Abbey Murphy's first-period power-play goal, which started the Gophers' comeback against Ohio State in the WCHA semifinals on Friday, was the 100th time she lit the lamp in the Maroon & Gold, becoming the seventh player in Minnesota Women's Hockey program history to reach that mark. Her second goal later in the contest pushed her total to 101, within one of tying Natalie Darwitz for 6th in the Gopher record book.
Lindsay hit 50-point mark – Also lighting the lamp in Friday's contest, Ava Lindsay's second-period goal represented her 50th point as a Golden Gopher. Following a 24-point (9g, 15a) freshman campaign, Lindsay has 26 points (8g, 18a) in her sophomore season.
Congratulations, Abbey & Ava!!
2025 Patty Kazmaier Award Top 3 Finalists to be named today
The announcement of the Top 3 Finalists for the 2025 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, presented to the best player in Division I Women's Ice Hockey, is expected today (Wednesday, March 12). We send one more shoutout to Gopher Women's Hockey forward Abbey Murphy on being named a Top 10 Finalist!
The Top 3 Finalist announcement will be shared on X and Facebook, with more details posted on pattykaz.com.
Mlýnková, Plosová invited to Czechia national team camp
Current Minnesota Women's Hockey forward Natálie Mlýnková (pictured) and future Gopher Tereza Plosová have been named among 23 players invited to a Czechia Women's National Team camp being held in Prague starting Tuesday, March 25.
The camp is a step toward determining the national team roster for the 2025 IIHF Women's World Championship, being hosted by the Czechs in České Budějovice in April. Invitees comprise potential team members playing competitively either in Europe or in the NCAA; however, those in the PWHL will remain with their respective teams and not attend the camp.
Congratulations, Natálie & Tereza, on your invitations, and good luck!!
Other NCAA Tournament Matchups – First Round
Minnesota Duluth (21-14-2) vs. Sacred Heart (21-14-3) – at Cornell
Thursday, March 13 at 7 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. CT
Penn State (31-5-1) vs. St. Lawrence (21-11-5) – at Ohio State
Thursday, March 13 at 7 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. CT
Boston University (24-11-2) vs. Clarkson (24-12-2) – at Wisconsin
Thursday, March 13 at 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT
Quarterfinals
Boston University / Clarkson at #1-seed Wisconsin (35-1-2)
Saturday, March 15 at 3 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. CT
Minnesota Duluth / Sacred Heart at #3-seed Cornell (24-4-5)
Saturday, March 15 at 4 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. CT
Penn State / St. Lawrence at #2-seed Ohio State (27-7-3)
Saturday, March 15 at 6 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. CT
The full bracket is available on NCAA.com.
Copyright © 2025 Power Play Club, All rights reserved.
You can receive the Penalty Box Post newsletter via email by signing up here.
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.