March 14, 2023

The Penalty Box Post - Tuesday, March 14, 2023

March 14, 2023

The Penalty Box Post
Tuesday, March 14th

Team send-off tomorrow (Wednesday, March 15)

Send-off Event – Join us to help send off the Gopher Women's Hockey team to Duluth, Minnesota for the 2023 Frozen Four! Stop by the Athlete's Village Atrium at 3 p.m. tomorrow, Wednesday, March 15 to support the Gophers!

Semifinal pregame events – Friday, March 17

'Sota Social in Canal Park – Join Gopher Athletics at Green Mill in Canal Park (340 S. Lake Ave.) on Friday starting at 3:30 p.m. for the official pregame hangout before the Gophers' semifinal game! The restaurant will be decked out for the Maroon & Gold with gold poms, Gopher flags, and more! The U. of M. Pep Band and Goldy Gopher will also make an appearance. Note: Unofficial gathering starts at 2:30 p.m.)

Red Carpet Arrival – Cheer on the Gophers as they arrive at AMSOIL Arena before their matchup against the Wisconsin Badgers! The Gophers are set to arrive at 3:45 p.m. and we are inviting the Maroon & Gold fanbase to join us, the Pep Band and Goldy along the carpets to welcome the team into the arena! Fans attending the afternoon game will be allowed to leave and reenter. You will just need to make sure you stop and have your ticket scanned out when you're leaving and then you'll be able to have it rescanned on your way back in.

More details about all the events can be found on the NCAA Frozen Four Central page on GopherSports.com.

Weather alert later this week...

While we hope many of you will be making the trip to Duluth for this weekend's Frozen Four, the National Weather Service offices in both the Twin Cities and Duluth are predicting a winter storm for the eastern half of Minnesota and northern Wisconsin, with a good chance of 6+ inches of snow in the Twin Ports area Thursday into Friday. We encourage you to use your best judgment, plan accordingly, and stay safe.

2023 NCAA Frozen Four – AMSOIL Arena, Duluth

Semifinals – Friday, March 17
#1 Ohio State (32-5-2) vs. #5 Northeastern (34-2-1) – 2:30 pm CDT
#2 Minnesota (30-5-3) vs. Wisconsin (27-10-2) – 6:00 pm CDT

Championship – Sunday, March 19 at 3:00 pm CDT

AMSOIL Arena in Duluth is prepared to host the NCAA Frozen Four for the first time since 2012. While Minnesota returns to the semifinals after a three-year hiatus, Wisconsin and Ohio State enter as the last two national champions, while Northeastern joins OSU in making their third-consective Frozen Four appearance. The Gophers will square off against the Badgers in their sixth head-to-head meeting of the season, playing in the second semifinal on Friday, March 17 at 6:00 p.m. The top-seeded Buckeyes will face the #5-seed Huskies in the opener at 2:30 p.m. The winners will advance to Sunday's title game at 3:00 p.m.

Ticket information – Again, tickets can be purchased online through Ticketmaster.

Video streaming of both semifinal games will be free of charge on ESPN+:

The National Championship Game will be broadcast live on ESPNU and also streamed free on ESPN+.

Audio coverage with play-by-play man Dan Hamann for the Gophers' semifinal against the Badgers can be found here.

How they got here...

Gophers shut out Minnesota Duluth at Ridder

Madeline Wethington scored unassisted on a second-period end-to-end rush and added a later assist, Abbey Murphy extended her goal-scoring streak to 9-straight games, Catie Skaja lit the lamp on a breakaway, and Skylar Vetter earned her 7th shutout of the season with 30 saves as the Golden Gopher Women's Hockey defeated Minnesota Duluth 3-0 in Saturday's quarterfinal contest as Ridder Arena. Grace Zumwinkle and Emily Oden also recorded assists in the contest. UMD netminder Emma Soderberg stopped 27 shots.

Wisconsin had to play a First Round contest but had no issue as they outshot Long Island University 59-7, getting two goals & two assists from Jesse Compher and a goal & 4 assists from Britta Curl en route to a 9-1 victory. The Badgers held #3-seed Colgate to just 15 shots on goal in their quarterfinal matchup; goals by Nicole LaMantia, Casey O'Brien (PP), Vivian Jungels and Laila Edwards earned them a 4-2 win and their Frozen Four ticket.

Ohio State earned the top seed for the NCAA Tournament. Hosting a Quinnipiac team that had played a triple-overtime contest in the First Round, the Buckeyes found themselves trailing 1-0 after 20 minutes on a Bobcats power-play goal by Kendall Cooper. But OSU rattled off the next four goals as Gabby Rosenthal (PP), Lauren Bernard, Emma Peschel and Sophie Jaques (PP) lit the lamp. Quinnipiac scored with an extra attacker, but Jaques added an empty-netter for a 5-2 victory. Amanda Thiele earned the win with 21 saves.

Northeastern entered the NCAA Tournament as both the regular-season and conference tournament champions from Hockey East but the only representative from that league in the Big Dance. Earning the #5-seed, they went on the road to face #4-seed Yale in the quarterfinals. Lily Shannon opened the scoring for the Huskies in the second period and Chloe Aurard & Alina Mueller extended the lead to 3-0 with under 11 minutes to play. Anna Bargman got the Bulldogs on the board with 4:38 to go, but Maureen Murphy hit a short-handed empty-netter for a 4-1 win to advance. Gwyneth Philips stopped 38 of 39 shots for the victory.

Frozen Four Semifinal Matchups

Minnesota vs. Wisconsin – The Gophers look to repeat their victory over the Badgers in the WCHA Semifinals 1½ weeks ago. The two teams traded goals through the first two periods, but Abbey Murphy lit the lamp on a third-period power play and Catie Skaja hit an empty net for a 4-2 Minnesota victory. Prior to that game, however, Wisconsin was 2-0-2 in the four regular-season meetings between the two squads. In Madison in November, the teams played to a 3-3 tie with the Gophers earning the extra point with the shootout win, but the Badgers won the rematch 4-1. Last month at Ridder Arena, Wisconsin took the bonus point for a shootout win after a 2-2 tie, and they again won the rematch in a wild 7-5 game.

Taylor Heise and Grace Zumwinkle each have 7 points against Wisconsin this season; Heise has 4 goals & 3 assists, while Zumwinkle recorded 2 goals & 5 assists. Skaja's three-point performance in the WCHA semifinal increased her season total against the Badgers to 6 on two goals & four assists, while Murphy improved to 3 goals & 2 assists. Jesse Compher & Casey O'Brien each have 6 points for Wisconsin in the head-to-head meetings; Compher recorded 3 goals & 3 assists, while O'Brien posted 2 goals & 4 assists. Lacey Eden dished out 5 assists for the Badgers, while Kirsten Simms (3g, 1a) & Laila Edwards (2g, 2a) each tallied 4 points. Gopher goaltender Skylar Vetter improved to a .902 save percentage with a 3.29 goals-against average, but Cami Kronish still sports a .925 SV% and 2.76 GAA for Wisconsin.

Ohio State vs. Northeastern – While 2023 will be the third-consecutive year in which the Buckeyes and Huskies both reached the NCAA Semifinals, the two squads did not play each other in 2021 nor 2022. In fact, the last meeting between the two programs was way back in October 2007.

That said, this semifinal has the notable storyline of featuring Patty Kazmaier Award Top-3 Finalists as OSU's Sophie Jaques and Northeastern's Alina Mueller will meet head-to-head. Jaques has a sizeable lead nationally in scoring by a defender this season, currently sitting at 48 points on 24 goals & 24 assists; for her career, she has 156 points (61g, 95a). Mueller recently became the Huskies' all-time career scoring leader with 254 points (98g, 156a), surpassing Kendall Coyne; sixty (60) of those points have come this season on 27 goals & 33 assists.

Additionally, Buckeyes forward Jenn Gardiner (21g, 35a, 56pts) and Huskies forward Maureen Murphy (20g, 35a, 55pts) & goaltender Gwyneth Philips (34-2-1, 10 SO, 0.81 GAA, .961 SV%) were Kazmaier Award Top-10 Finalists this season.

Frost named finalist for Coach of the Year

We send our congratulations to Gopher Women's Hockey head coach Brad Frost, who was named a finalist for the 2022-2023 Division I Women's Coach of the Year by the American Hockey Coaches Association yesterday. Frost is a two-time Coach of the Year honoree, having won in 2013 and 2014, and qualified as a finalist this year by reaching the NCAA semifinals. As noted in the press release, the award will be presented on April 26 at the AHCA Convention.

Zumwinkle reaches another career milestone

We also congratulate GWH fifth-year forward Grace Zumwinkle on recording her 100th career assist this past weekend in the NCAA Quarterfinal victory over UMD. Already with 109 career goals, Zumwinkle is now the fifth player in Minnesota program history to reach triple digits in both scoring categories.

Copyright © 2023 Power Play Club, All rights reserved.

Follow the Power Play Club online at www.powerplayclub.org, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PowerPlayClubMN, or on Twitter at twitter.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 Twitter at twitter.com/GopherWHockey.

Power Play Club

March 12, 2023

The Two-Minute Minor - An Edition of the Penalty Box Post - Sunday, March 12, 2023

Power Play Club

March 12, 2023

The Two-Minute Minor
An edition of the Penalty Box Post
Sunday, March 12th

PPC communications this week

As with past years and all the events surrounding the NCAA Frozen Four, we will likely be sending additional email messages this week as warranted, including our regular Penalty Box Post. We will also be sharing information via the PPC Facebook and Twitter feeds.

We encourage fans to also watch the GWH team's Facebook and Twitter accounts for any breaking announcements.

Goals for a Goal – Gophers up to 175 (and still counting)

With 3 goals in the NCAA Quarterfinal, the Gopher Women's Hockey team has lit the lamp 175 times this season, 33 of which have come on the power play!! Thanks to everyone who has pledged to the Goals for a Goal campaign to convert each of those goals into donations for Ridder Arena improvements. If you have not yet made a pledge, we encourage you to do so online (preferred), or download the pledge form, print it, and mail it in to the Golden Gopher Fund at the listed address.

Gophers shut out UMD to advance to Frozen Four!!

Madeline Wethington scored unassisted on a second-period end-to-end rush, Abbey Murphy netted another highlight reel goal early in the third period, Catie Skaja lit the lamp on a breakaway, and Skylar Vetter stopped all 30 shots sent her way to give the Golden Gopher Women's Hockey team a 3-0 NCAA Quarterfinal victory over Minnesota Duluth and punch the team's ticket to the Frozen Four. Wethington led all scorers with two points, assisting on Skaja's goal.

The NCAA Frozen Four returns to AMSOIL Arena in Duluth for the first time since 2012, and Minnesota returns to the semifinals after a three-year hiatus. The Gophers will square off against Wisconsin in their sixth head-to-head meeting of the season, playing in the second semifinal on Friday, March 17 at 6:00 p.m. Top-seeded Ohio State will face #5 Northeastern University in the opener at 2:30 p.m. The winners will advance to Sunday's title game at 3:00 p.m.

Ticket information – Tickets can be purchased online through Ticketmaster. An all-session package includes a ticket to both March 17 semifinal games and the March 19 championship game. Packages are $35 for adults and $25 for youth (ages 3-17) and seniors (ages 62+). Single-session tickets are also available, for $20 for adults and $15 for youth and seniors.

Media coverage – Both semifinals will have video streaming on the ESPN+ subscription service and the National Championship Game will be broadcast live on ESPNU. You can also find the Gophers' regular audio coverage with play-by-play man Dan Hamann on the GopherSports.com women's hockey schedule page; please note that direct links have not yet been created, but will become available on game day.

Watch for semifinal previews in our regular Penalty Box Post later this week!

Copyright © 2023 Power Play Club, All rights reserved.

Follow the Power Play Club on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PowerPlayClubMN or on Twitter at twitter.com/powerplayclub.

Follow the Gopher women's hockey team and all Univ. of Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletics at www.gophersports.com. You can also find the Gopher women's hockey team on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GopherWomensHockey and on Twitter at twitter.com/GopherWHockey.

Power Play Club

March 10, 2023

The Two-Minute Minor - An Edition of the Penalty Box Post - Friday, March 10, 2023

Power Play Club

March 10, 2023

The Two-Minute Minor
An edition of the Penalty Box Post
Friday, March 10th

NCAA Quarterfinals – Minnesota Duluth at #2 Minnesota
Saturday, March 11 at 2:00 p.m. CT – Ridder Arena

The 2nd-seeded Gopher Women's Hockey team (29-5-3) will face the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs (26-9-3) in an NCAA Women's Hockey Tournament Quarterfinal / Regional Final at Ridder Arena tomorrow – Saturday, March 11 – at 2:00 p.m. CT. UMD advanced in the tournament after defeating Clarkson, 2-0, in their First Round matchup last night at Ridder, setting up a rematch of last year's quarterfinal meeting and the fifth head-to-head contest this season.

Taylor Stewart lit the lamp twice for the Bulldogs, burying a rebound in the first period and scoring on the tail end of a third-period power play. Emma Soderberg stopped all 16 shots she faced for the shutout. Clarkson's Michelle Pasiechnyk made 25 saves.

Other First Round results...

Wisconsin 9, Long Island 1 – Outshooting the NEWHA champion Sharks by a whopping 59-7, the Badgers got two goals & two assists from Jesse Compher, a goal and 4 assists from Britta Curl, and points from 10 players in total. Sarah Rourke scored and Tindra Holm made 50 saves for LIU.

Quinnipiac 3, Penn State 2, triple OT – Madison Chantler scored for the Bobcats at the 9:37 mark of the third overtime period to advance. The teams traded leads in regulation; Shay Maloney scored for Quinnipiac in the first period, Kiara Zanon and Olivia Wallin (PP) put the Nittany Lions ahead in the second stanza, but Kate Reilly knotted things up for the Bobcats with 6:44 left in the third. Logan Angers earned the win with a 50-save performance; Josie Bothun took the loss despite stopping 55 shots.

Other Quarterfinal Saturday matchups...

University of Wisconsin (26-10-2) at #3-seed Colgate University (32-5-2)
Puck drop at 3 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. CT

#5-seed Northeastern University (33-2-1) at #4-seed Yale University (28-3-1)
Puck drop at 3 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. CT

Quinnipiac University (30-9-0) at #1-seed Ohio State University (31-5-2)
Puck drop at 5 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. CT

The full interactive bracket can be found here.

Ohio State's Jaques, Northeastern's Mueller,
Colgate's Serdachny named Kazmaier Award Top-3 Finalists

Ohio State graduate defender Sophie Jaques, Northeastern graduate forward Alina Mueller, and Colgate senior forward Danielle Serdachny were named the top-three finalists for the 2023 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award by the USA Hockey Foundation on Wednesday.

Jaques, the WCHA Player of the Year, leads NCAA defenders with 46 points, 22 goals, and eight power-play goals (the last of which is second among all players); this is the second-straight year in which Jaques was named a Top-3 Finalist. Mueller, the Hockey East Player of the Year, has 58 points (4th in the NCAA) on 26 goals (t-3rd) and 32 assists (t-7th); she is tied for the national lead with 9 game-winning goals and ranks fifth in the NCAA in points per game with 1.61. Serdachny, the ECAC Player of the Year, is also the NCAA scoring leader with 70 points and 1.79 points-per-game, coming on 25 goals (t-4th) and a national high 45 assists; she also has six game-winning goals (t-3rd).

As we previously reported, the presentation of the 2023 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award will take place Saturday, March 18, in the AMSOIL Arena Ticket Lobby in Duluth. The ceremony will begin promptly at 11:30 a.m. CT, with doors opening at 11:00 a.m. CT. Fans are invited to attend free of charge, and the ceremony will also be televised live on NHL Network.

Power Play Club

March 8, 2023

The Penalty Box Post - Wednesday, March 8, 2023

Power Play Club

March 8, 2023

The Penalty Box Post
Wednesday, March 8th

Goals for a Goal program continues counting...

After lighting the lamp 7 times during the WCHA Final Faceoff, the Gopher Women's Hockey team has recorded 172 goals this season, 33 of which have come on the power play!!

The Power Play Club's Goals for a Goal campaign is collecting pledges for each of those goals, with the resulting donations used to support Ridder Arena improvements. If you have not yet made a pledge, we encourage you to do so online (preferred), or download the pledge form, print it, and mail it in to the Golden Gopher Fund at the listed address. The GGF will send out invoices following the completion of the season. Thanks, and GO GOPHERS!!

After claiming the program's eighth WCHA Tournament Championship with wins over Wisconsin and Ohio State, the Golden Gophers enter the 2023 NCAA National Collegiate Women's Hockey Tournament as the #2 seed, earning a quarterfinal home game. Minnesota Duluth and Clarkson will come to Ridder Arena for a First Round game, playing on Thursday, March 9 at 6:00 p.m. CT. The winner of that contest advances to face Minnesota in the quarterfinals on Saturday, March 11 at 2:00 p.m.

Ticket information – Tickets for both games, individually or as a two-game package, can be purchased online or by calling the ticket office at 1-800-U-GOPHER (Monday-Friday, 9am-4pm).

Video coverage of both games will be free via the web, available on bigtenplus.com, with Thursday's First Round game here and Saturday's quarterfinal here.

Analyzing the Golden Knights – With a 15-6-1 conference record, Clarkson finished fourth in the ECAC standings. Hosting 5th-seeded Cornell to open the playoffs, the Knights took the opener 5-1 but fell in the second game, 2-1 in double overtime. They bounced back with a 4-1 victory in the deciding game against the Big Red, then played the role of spoiler in the ECAC semifinal by upsetting host and #1-seeded Yale 4-3 in another double-OT contest. However, they ran into a hot Colgate team and fell 8-2 in the conference championship game. Still, that was enough to earn the final at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.

Junior Anne Cherkowski (#24) returns to Ridder Arena for the first time since playing with the Gophers in 2020-2021; she is tied with senior Gabrielle David (#8) for the Clarkson's overall scoring lead with 52 points. Cherkowski has a team-high 23 goals plus 29 assists, with 10 of her points (3g, 7a) coming in the postseason. David has 21 goals and a team-leading 31 assists. Senior Darcie Lappan (#27) is the Knights' third 40-point scorer, lighting the lamp 13 times and dishing out 27 assists.

Junior Michelle Pasiechnyk (#1) has been Clarkson's primary goaltender, posting a 24-9-1 record with 9 shutouts in her 34 starts, a 1.68 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage. Freshman Julia Minotti (#31) is 4-1-1 in her six starts; along with two relief appearances, she has a 2.14 GAA and .863 SV%. Sophomore Holly Gruber (#35) won her lone start, stopping 16 of 17 shots against Brown in January, and sophomore Alexa Madrid (#30) made two saves with one goal against in a 20-minute relief appearance against Cornell in November.

Last meeting: Clarkson vs. Minnesota Duluth – The Golden Knights paid a visit to AMSOIL Arena in October 2019, splitting the non-conference series against the Bulldogs. Goals by Gabbie Hughes and Sydney Brodt put UMD up 2-1 after the opening 20 minutes, but Brooke McQuigge & Michaela Pejzlova lit the lamp for Clarkson in the second period and Elizabeth Giguere added an insurance goal for the Knights in the third, completing a 4-2 win. In the rematch, Hughes & Brodt scored again for the Bulldogs and Maddie Rooney stopped all 29 shots she faced for a 2-0 shutout victory.

Last meeting: Clarkson vs. Minnesota – The Golden Knights and Golden Gophers have not met since the 2017 NCAA Tournament Semifinals in St. Charles, Missouri. It was a back-and-forth contest with Clarkson taking a one-goal lead in each period and Minnesota tying it later in the same stanza. However, Rhyen McGill's goal with 1:31 remaining in regulation gave the Knights' their fourth lead of the game, and it held for a 4-3 victory to knock off the Gophers. Genevieve Bannon led Clarkson with a goal and two assists, and Shea Tiley stopped 28 shots for the win. Kate Schipper, Sarah Potomak, and Sophie Skarzynski lit the lamp for Minnesota, and Sidney Peters made 21 saves.

Clarkson would claim their second of their three NCAA championships two days later, defeating Wisconsin 3-0.

Minnesota vs. Minnesota Duluth this season – The Gophers won all four meetings against the Bulldogs so far this season, earning 3-2 (OT) and 5-3 victories at Ridder Arena in November, then sweeping the January series at AMSOIL Arena 3-1 and 4-3. Grace Zumwinkle led the Gophers in total scoring over the four contests, dishing out 5 assists; meanwhile, Catie Skaja & Abbey Murphy each found the back of the net 3 times, with Skaja also recording an assist for 4 points. Taylor Heise also tallied four points on a goal & 3 assists. UMD had 4 three-point scorers: Mannon McMahon (2g, 1a), Nina Jobst-Smith (1g, 2a), Hanna Baskin (3a), and Ashton Bell (3a); Gabby Krause also lit the lamp twice. Skylar Vetter earned all four wins, posting a 2.25 goals-against average and .921 save percentage. Emma Soderberg started all four games for the Bulldogs and recorded a 4.04 GAA and .873 SV%; Hailey MacLeod entered in relief of the second November contest and stopped all 15 shots she faced in 28 minutes of work.

Heise, Zumwinkle named Kazmaier Award Top 10 Finalists
Top 3 announcement expected later Wednesday, March 8

Catching up on news from last week, we congratulate Minnesota Women's Hockey fifth-year co-captains Taylor Heise and Grace Zumwinkle on being named Top 10 Finalists for the 2023 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, as announced by the USA Hockey Foundation last Thursday!!

Already having earned back-to-back WCHA Forward of the Year awards, Heise leads the Gophers with 65 points on 29 goals & 36 assists and could become only the second player to win the Kazmaier Award twice, the first to do it in consecutive seasons. Red Line Editorial, Inc. put together a profile here.

Zumwinkle was a Top 3 Finalist for the 2021 Kazmaier Award before centralizing with Team USA for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games. She now has 60 points on 25 goals and 35 assists this season. Her profile from Red Line Editorial, Inc. is available here.

The Top 3 Finalists announcement is expected later today (Wednesday, March 8), and we encourage you to watch social media for updates.

The presentation of the 2023 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award will take place Saturday, March 18, in the AMSOIL Arena Ticket Lobby in Duluth. The ceremony, part of Saturday at the NCAA Women's Frozen Four, will begin promptly at 11:30 a.m. CT, with doors opening at 11:00 a.m. CT. Fans are invited to attend free of charge, and the ceremony will also be televised live on NHL Network.

Heise named National Co-Player of the Month

Additionally, Taylor Heise earned another honor for her 15-point performance in February on 9 goals & 6 assists, being named National Co-Player of the Month by the Hockey Commissioners Association yesterday. The award accompanies her selection as WCHA Forward of the Month. Congratulations, Taylor!!

Other NCAA Tournament Matchups – First Round

University of Wisconsin (25-10-2) vs. Long Island University (20-13-3) – at Colgate
Thursday, March 9 at 6 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. CT

Quinnipiac University (29-9-0) vs. Penn State (27-8-2) – at Ohio State
Thursday, March 9 at 6 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. CT

Quarterfinals

Wisconsin / Long Island at #3-seed Colgate University (32-5-2)
Saturday, March 11 at 3 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. CT

#5-seed Northeastern University (33-2-1) at #4-seed Yale University (28-3-1)
Saturday, March 11 at 3 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. CT

Quinnipiac / Penn State at #1-seed Ohio State University (31-5-2)
Saturday, March 11 at 5 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. CT

The full interactive bracket can be found here.

Power Play Club

March 5, 2023

The Penalty Box Post - Sunday, March 5, 2023

Power Play Club

March 5, 2023

The Penalty Box Post
NCAA Bracket Update
Sunday, March 5th

Gophers Win 2023 WCHA Playoff Championship!!

Gopher Women's Hockey redshirt sophomore Abbey Murphy tallied game-winning, power-play goals in both the WCHA semifinal and championship games to earn the Final Faceoff Most Outstanding Player honor, as Minnesota defeated Wisconsin 4-2 on Friday and Ohio State 3-1 yesterday to claim the program's eighth WCHA Tournament Championship. With the win, the Gophers also earned the automatic berth to the 2023 NCAA Tournament.

Savannah Norcross opened the scoring for the Gophers in the first period of title game, netting her second goal of the season. Murphy found the inside of the far post in the second stanza to extend the lead to 2-0 over the Buckeyes. Gabby Rosenthal lit the lamp for Ohio State to cut Minnesota's advantage to one, but Peyton Hemp responded just 57 seconds later to restore the two-goal lead. That was enough for Skylar Vetter, who stopped 34 shots in total including all 13 she faced in the final period. Amanda Thiele made 36 saves for OSU.

In the first two periods of the semifinal against the Badgers, Madison Kaiser & Madeline Wethington gave Minnesota a pair of one-goal leads, but Casey O'Brien and Nicole LaMantia (PP) evened the score for the Wisconsin. Murphy's third-period tally put the Gophers ahead for good and Catie Skaja sealed the win with an empty-netter. Vetter made 23 saves, including a couple of the highlight reel variety, while Taylor Heise dished out a pair of helpers.

Ohio State advanced to the championship game with a 2-1 semifinal victory over Minnesota Duluth. Brooke Bink and Emma Maltais converted a pair of Bulldog turnovers into a 2-0 second-period lead for the Buckeyes. Nina Jobst-Smith scored an extra-attacker goal for UMD with 2:48 to play, but they could not find an equalizer and OSU advanced behind 26 saves from Thiele. Emma Soderberg stopped 34 shots for the Bulldogs.

All-Tournament Team – In addition to Murphy, four other Gophers were also named to the Final Faceoff All-Tournament Team. Here's the full list of honorees.

F - Taylor Heise, Minnesota
F - Peyton Hemp, Minnesota
F - Abbey Murphy, Minnesota
D - Sophie Jaques, Ohio State
D - Madeline Wethington, Minnesota
G - Skylar Vetter, Minnesota

NCAA Tournament – Single-elimination

First Round – Minnesota Duluth (25-9-3) vs. Clarkson (29-10-2)
Thursday, March 9 at 6:00 p.m. CT

Quarterfinal – First-round winner (UMD or Clarkson) vs. #2-seeded Minnesota Golden Gophers (29-5-3)
Saturday, March 11 at 2:00 p.m. CT

Both games at Ridder Arena

With the autobid as being the WCHA Tournament Champions, the Golden Gophers enter the 2023 NCAA National Collegiate Women's Hockey Tournament as the #2 seed, earning a quarterfinal home game. Minnesota Duluth and Clarkson will come to Ridder Arena for a First-Round Game on Thursday, March 9 at 6:00 p.m. CT, with the winner advancing to face Minnesota in the quarterfinals on Saturday, March 11 at 2:00 p.m.

Tickets for both games – individually or as a two-game package – are now on sale, and can be purchased online or by calling the ticket office at 1-800-U-GOPHER (Monday-Friday, 9am-4pm).

More information about these “Minneapolis Regional” games will be shared in our regular issue of the Penalty Box Post on Wednesday.

Power Play Club

March 2, 2023

The Penalty Box Post - Thursday, March 2, 2023

Power Play Club

March 2, 2023

The Penalty Box Post
Thursday, March 2nd

Goals for a Goal: Total increases to 165 goals!

The Power Play Club's Goals for a Goal campaign is collecting pledges for every goal scored by the Gopher Women's Hockey Team, with the resulting donations used to support Ridder Arena improvements. Goals scored in the postseason are included in the count, and so far the team has recorded 165 goals, 31 of which have come on the power play!!

If you have not yet made a pledge, we encourage you to do so online (preferred), or download the pledge form, print it, and mail it in to the Golden Gopher Fund at the listed address. The GGF will send out invoices following the completion of the season. Thanks, and GO GOPHERS!!

Heise named WCHA Forward of the Month, Forward of the Year

We send hearty congratulations to Minnesota Women's Hockey fifth-year co-captain Taylor Heise, as she was named WCHA Forward of the Year yesterday, going back-to-back after earning the award last season!!

Heise led the league with 25 goals and 32 assists for 57 points throughout the regular season, including four short-handed goals, seven on the power play, four game-winners, and a pair of hat tricks. She became the 10th player in Gopher Women's Hockey history to reach the career 200 point mark and was named Hockey Commissioners Association’s National Player of the Month for December. Following a four-goal, five-point series this past weekend in the WCHA First Round / Quarterfinals, she is the national leader in both points-per-game (1.77) and goals-per-game (0.83).

The full-season award follows the fourth WCHA Forward of the Month award in Heise's career, her first this season. Heise recorded 15 points (9 goals, 6 assists) in eight February games while posting a +9 rating.

Additionally, Heise continued her climb up the GWH career leaderboards. Most notably, she became Minnesota's all-time leader in games played, with last Saturday's contest being her 169th. She moved up to 6th for career points with 222 (passing Kelly Stephens - 219) and 8th for career goals at 96 (passing Dani Cameranesi - 93).

2023 Kwik Trip WCHA Final Face-off at Ridder Arena

Semifinals – Friday, March 3
#1/1 Ohio State (1st seed) vs. #7/7 MN Duluth (4th seed) – 1 p.m.
#3/3 Minnesota (2nd seed) vs. #6/6 Wisconsin (3rd seed) – 5 p.m.

Championship – Saturday, March 4 at 2:00 p.m.

Ridder Arena hosts the WCHA Final Faceoff for the eighth-consecutive year, featuring four of the top seven teams in the nation. Top ranked and top seeded Ohio State will face Minnesota Duluth in the first semifinal tomorrow – Friday, March 3 – at 1:00 p.m. The 2nd-seeded Golden Gophers will face 3rd-seeded Wisconsin in a fifth round of the Border Battle this season, playing in the second semifinal at 5:00 p.m. The winners will advance to the championship game on Saturday, March 4, at 2:00 p.m.

Tournament television/video coverage – Continuing the WCHA's partnership, all three Final Faceoff contests will have video streaming on the B1G+ subscription service. Additionally, all three will also be broadcast on FOX 9+ in the Twin Cities, with streaming of that station through Hulu with Live TV, Sling TV, fuboTV, and YouTube TV. More information has been posted by the WCHA here.

Ticket information – All-session packages are still available and single-session tickets can be purchased from the University of Minnesota Ticket Office through GopherSports.com or by calling 1-800-U-GOPHER during normal business hours (M-F, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.).

All-session packages are $37 for reserved chairback seating, $27 for adult general admission (bench) seating, $20 for general admission for seniors, students & youth, and $10 per ticket for general admission groups of 10 or more.

Semifinal Friday tickets are $20 for reserved chairback seating, $15 for adult general admission (bench) seating, $12.50 for general admission for seniors, students & youth, and $7 per ticket for general admission groups of 10 or more.

Championship Saturday tickets are $25 for reserved chairback seating, $18 for adult general admission (bench) seating, $12.50 for general admission for seniors, students & youth, and $8.50 per ticket for general admission groups of 10 or more.

How they got here...

Gophers sweep St. Thomas in conference quarterfinals

Grace Zumwinkle posted a six-point weekend on 3 goals and 3 assists, Taylor Heise lit the lamp 4 times and recorded an assist, Abbey Murphy tallied 2 goals & 2 assists, Catie Skaja added a goal & 3 helpers, and Skylar Vetter stopped a combined 36 of 38 shots – including all 14 she faced on Friday – as the Gopher Women's Hockey team swept 7th-seeded St. Thomas, 7-0 and 6-2, in the WCHA First Round / Quarterfinals. Peyton Hemp, Madeline Wethington, and Crystalyn Hengler also found the back of the net for Minnesota. Tommies goaltender Saskia Maurer made 34 saves over the first two periods Friday before being relieved by Maggie Malecha, who stopped 10 shots; Maurer made another 51 saves on Saturday. Breija Parent and Maija Almich scored for St. Thomas.

Zumwinkle's 107th, 108th, and 109th career goals moved her to 3rd in Minnesota program history, passing Krissy Wendell (108). She also passed both Dani Cameranesi and Ambria Thomas on the overall scoring list and now sits 8th with 206 points.

Wisconsin took third in the WCHA standings with a 19-7-2-1 (2-2 in OT) conference record, plus a 4-2-0 mark in non-conference action. Hosting 6th-seeded Minnesota State, the Badgers got a 21-save shutout performance from Cami Kronish and second-period goals by Kirsten Simms, Caroline Harvey, and Sarah Wozniewicz to win the opener, 3-0. Sydney Langseth put the Mavericks ahead 1-0 at the first intermission of Saturday's Game 2, but Britta Curl & Laila Edwards gave Wisconsin the lead in the second stanza and Wozniewicz & Lacey Eden scored in the third for a 4-1 victory and the series sweep. Kronish made another 26 saves. MSU's Alexa Berg stopped a combined 86 shots.

Ohio State earned their first WCHA regular-season championship with a 23-4-1-1 (3-2 in OT) conference record plus a 5-0-1 mark in non-conference play. The Buckeyes swept 8th-seeded Bemidji State in the quarterfinals, posting 4-1 and 2-1 victories. Sophie Jaques did much of the damage in the opener, recording her first career hat trick, including the game-winning goal with 0.2 seconds left in the second period. Emma Maltais added an empty-net tally and two assists. Sloane Matthews put OSU up 1-0 two minutes into Game 2, and Jenn Gardiner doubled the Buckeyes' lead with 3:43 remaining in regulation. Claire Vekich pulled the Beavers back within one on a power-play goal 80 seconds later, but they could not find the equalizer as their season came to an end. Amanda Thiele made 27 saves in the series for OSU, while BSU's Hannah Hogenson stopped 69 shots.

Minnesota Duluth finished fourth in the conference standings, posting a 17-8-3-2 (4-2 in OT) mark in WCHA play, though they were a perfect 6-0-0 in non-conference action. The Bulldogs faced St. Cloud State in the quarterfinals, also earning a sweep with 1-0 and 5-1 wins. Former Bulldog Jojo Chobak stopped 32 shots for the Huskies in the opener, but Maggie Flaherty scored on a power play with 2:34 remaining in regulation and Emma Soderberg earned her 11th shutout of the season with 23 saves. Naomi Rogge scored twice and Kylie Hanley tallied a goal and two assists for UMD in the rematch, and Soderberg stopped another 23 shots. Sanni Ahola and Chobak combined for 43 saves.

Final Faceoff Semifinal Matchups

Minnesota vs. Wisconsin – Friday's semifinal game may not only decide whether the Gophers or Badgers advance to Saturday's championship contest, but could also be the determining factor as to which of the two teams hosts an NCAA quarterfinal and which goes on the road.

Wisconsin had Minnesota's number in the regular season, going 2-0-2 in the four meetings and taking 9 of the 12 conference standings points. In Madison in November, the teams played to a 3-3 tie with the Gophers earning the extra point with the shootout win, but the Badgers won the rematch 4-1. Last month at Ridder Arena, it was Wisconsin taking the bonus point for a shootout win after a 2-2 tie, and they again won the rematch in a wild 7-5 game. Grace Zumwinkle led the Gophers in total scoring in the season series with 6 points on 2 goals & 4 assists, while Taylor Heise lit the lamp 4 times & added an assist and Abbey Murphy tallied 2 goals & 2 assists. Jesse Compher recorded 3 goals & 2 assists for the Badgers, Lacey Eden dished out 5 assists, and Kirsten Simms (3g, 1a), Laila Edwards (2g, 2a) & Casey O'Brien (1g, 3a) each posted 4 points. Shots on goal slightly favored the Gophers 157 to 149 but Skylar Vetter recorded an .899 save percentage with a 3.60 goals-against average, compared to Cami Kronish's .929 SV% and 2.69 GAA for Wisconsin.

Ohio State vs. Minnesota Duluth – The Buckeyes are comfortably in the NCAA Tournament field and the Bulldogs appear to be safely in as well but could use a good weekend showing.

While Ohio State had a 3-1-0 against UMD in their four head-to-head contests, each of the games was decided by one goal with two of them going to overtime. The Buckeyes took the first two meetings in Columbus in late October, 3-2 (OT) and 3-2, then won their first meeting in Duluth in December by a 2-1 score before the Bulldogs won the rematch 5-4 (OT). A 69-42 shots on goal advantage in the October meetings gave the Buckeyes a combined 131-108 edge in the season series. Gabby Rosenthal led the Buckeyes with 6 points on 3 goals & 3 assists against the Bulldogs, Jenn Gardiner added 5 points on 2 goals & 3 assists, the quartet of Sophie Jaques, Paetyn Levis, Emma Maltais & Makenna Webster each added a goal & two assists, and Jenna Buglioni lit the lamp twice. UMD's Nina Jobst-Smith recorded 5 points on a goal & 4 assists in the four contests, Mannon McMahon added a goal & 3 helpers, Clara Van Wieren found the back of the net 3 times, and Kylie Hanley (2g, 1a) & Gabbie Hughes (1g, 2a) each also tallied 3 points. Between the pipes, OSU's Amanda Thiele posted a .905 save percentage & 1.94 GAA in the October series and Raygan Kirk recorded a .909 SV% & 2.91 GAA in December. Bulldogs goaltender Emma Soderberg played all four games, registering a .908 SV% and 2.98 GAA.

Current Pairwise Rankings

Top 10 plus other teams still active in respective conference tournaments

1. Ohio State (30-4-2 overall record, .6698 NPI)
2. Yale (28-2-1, .6554)
3. Minnesota (27-5-3, .6459)
4. Colgate (30-5-2, .6401)
5. Northeastern (32-2-1, .6259)
6. Wisconsin (25-9-2, .6223)
7. Minnesota Duluth (25-8-3, .6106)
8. Quinnipiac (29-8-0, .6007)
9. Clarkson (28-9-2, .5809)
10. Penn State (26-8-2, .5754)
14. Providence (22-10-4, .5577)
18. Mercyhurst (21-13-2, .5344)
22. Long Island Univ. (19-13-3, .5071)
27. St. Anselm (18-16-4, .4851)

The NCAA Tournament Selection Show is scheduled for Sunday, March 5 at Noon ET / 11 a.m. CT and will be televised on ESPNews. New this year, the playoff champion from the New England Women's Hockey Alliance (NEWHA) earns an autobid to the 11-team field, joining the playoff champions from the CHA, ECAC, Hockey East, and WCHA. Rankings and NPI calculations courtesy of USCHO.com.

Power Play Club

February 27, 2023

The Two-Minute Minor - An Edition of the Penalty Box Post - Monday, February 27, 2023

Power Play Club

February 27, 2023

The Two-Minute Minor
An edition of the Penalty Box Post
Monday, February 27th

All-Member Meeting – tomorrow (Tues., Feb. 28) at 7:00 p.m.

We provide another reminder that the annual Power Play Club All-Member Meeting is scheduled for tomorrow night, Tuesday, February 28 at 7:00 p.m. This will be an online meeting on Zoom, and club members enrolled for the 2022-2023 season should watch their email inboxes tomorrow morning for the meeting link. The primary agenda item will be the election of members to the club's Board of Directors, though there will also be time for providing thoughts and feedback as we continually strive for improvement and look forward to the 2023-2024 season.

Gophers to face Wisconsin in Final Faceoff 2nd semifinal Friday;
Minnesota Duluth and Ohio State to meet in first game

All four WCHA quarterfinal series completed with the higher-seeded home teams earning sweeps, as Minnesota eliminated St. Thomas, Ohio State defeated Bemidji State, Wisconsin knocked out Minnesota State, and Minnesota Duluth bested St. Cloud State. As a result, the 2nd-seeded Gophers will face the Badgers in the 2nd of the Kwik Trip WCHA Final Faceoff semifinal games, scheduled for 5:00 p.m. this upcoming Friday, March 3, at Ridder Arena. The Buckeyes and Bulldogs will square off in the first semifinal at 1:00 p.m.

We will recap the quarterfinal series and preview the Final Faceoff match-ups in our regular edition of the Penalty Box Post later this week. The WCHA has created a Final Faceoff Tournament Central site loaded with information, along with publishing a separate press release confirming the bracket.

Final Faceoff Ticket Information – All-session packages are still available and single-session tickets can be purchased from the University of Minnesota Ticket Office through GopherSports.com or by calling 1-800-U-GOPHER during normal business hours (M-F, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.).

All-session packages are $37 for reserved chairback seating, $27 for adult general admission (bench) seating, $20 for general admission for seniors, students & youth, and $10 per ticket for general admission groups of 10 or more.

Semifinal Friday tickets are $20 for reserved chairback seating, $15 for adult general admission (bench) seating, $12.50 for general admission for seniors, students & youth, and $7 per ticket for general admission groups of 10 or more.

Championship Saturday tickets are $25 for reserved chairback seating, $18 for adult general admission (bench) seating, $12.50 for general admission for seniors, students & youth, and $8.50 per ticket for general admission groups of 10 or more.

Power Play Club

February 24, 2023

The Two Minute Minor - An edition of the Penalty Box Post - Friday, February 24, 2023

Power Play Club

February 24, 2023

The Two-Minute Minor
An edition of the Penalty Box Post
Friday, February 24th

GWH GAME DAY!! WCHA Quarterfinals, Game 1
Minnesota vs. St. Thomas
6:00 p.m. at Ridder Arena

We hope to see many of you at Ridder Arena tonight as the #2-seed Gopher Women's Hockey team hosts #7-seed St. Thomas in the WCHA First Round / Quarterfinals. Puck drop for Game 1 in the best-of-3 series is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. Tickets can be purchased here. If you cannot attend, live video will be streamed on the B1G+ subscription service; free, live audio is available on GopherSports.com, and live stats can be found here.

TRAFFIC ALERT!! Please note that the Gopher Men's Hockey team is also in action at home tonight, facing Ohio State at 8:00 p.m. at 3M Arena at Mariucci. If you are coming to the GWH game, you are encouraged to allow extra time for traffic and parking around the university.

We also remind fans that Minneapolis is currently in the midst of a snow emergency, with no parking on the ODD numbered side of non-Snow Emergency routes before 8 p.m. (if not fully plowed), and no parking on the EVEN numbered side of non-Snow Emergency routes after 8 p.m.

Six (6) Gophers named to 2022-2023 All-WCHA Teams!

The Western Collegiate Hockey Association yesterday announced its 2022-2023 All-WCHA Teams for their performances on the ice this season. We congratulate the six (6) Gopher players named to the teams:

First Team – Taylor Heise & Grace Zumwinkle
Third Team – Abigail Boreen, Abbey Murphy & Skylar Vetter
Rookie Team – Nelli Laitinen

Power Play Club

February 22, 2023

The Penalty Box Post - Wednesday, February 22, 2023

Power Play Club

February 22, 2023

The Penalty Box Post
Wednesday, February 22nd

PPC All-Member Meeting – Tuesday, February 28 at 7:00 p.m.

Here's another reminder that the annual Power Play Club All-Member Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, February 28 at 7:00 p.m. This will be an online meeting on Zoom, with the link to be shared shortly before the meeting date. The primary agenda item will be the election of members to the club's Board of Directors, though there will also be time for providing thoughts and feedback as we continually strive for improvement and look forward to the 2023-2024 season.

Goals for a Goal: Gophers enter postseason with 152 goals!

The math checks out. For the second-straight year, the Gopher Women's Hockey lit the lamp 152 times during the regular season, though this year's total includes 30 power play conversions!!

We thank everyone who has pledged in our Goals for a Goal program, converting each of those goals into donations to the team for Ridder Arena improvements. Our counting is not complete, as goals scored during the post-season will be included in the final total. We also continue to accept new pledges, with the option to double the per-goal amount for power play tallies. To make a pledge, fill out this online form (preferred) or download the PDF version, print it, and mail it in to the listed address. Thanks, and GO GOPHERS!!

WCHA First Round / Quarterfinals – Best 2 out of 3 games
#2-seed Minnesota Golden Gophers (25-5-3, 22-3-3-1 WCHA)
vs. #7-seed St. Thomas Tommies (8-25-1, 3-24-1-1 WCHA)

Friday, February 24 at 6:00 p.m.
Saturday, February 25 at 2:00 p.m.
Sunday, February 26 at 2:00 p.m. (if necessary)
Ridder Arena

For the second-consecutive year, the Gopher Women's Hockey team will open the WCHA playoffs against the University of St. Thomas Tommies after having just faced them to conclude the regular season. The best two-out-of-three-game quarterfinal series at Ridder Arena starts Friday, February 24 at 6:00 p.m., then continues Saturday, February 25 at 2:00 p.m. and (if necessary) Sunday, February 26 at 2:00 p.m.

Ticket information – Season ticket holders should have received tickets for the quarterfinal series as part of their plan, and should contact the U. of M. ticket office at 1-800-U-GOPHER with any questions or concerns. Single-game tickets for Friday's and Saturday's games are available for purchase here. If a Game 3 on Sunday is necessary, tickets will be made available at the conclusion of Saturday's contest.

Recap: Gophers finish regular season with sweep of Tommies – UST netminder Saskia Maurer earned WCHA Goaltender of the Week award by making 53 saves, 50 in regulation, to force overtime on Friday, but Abbey Murphy scored 2:17 into the extra period to give Minnesota the 2-1 OT victory. Nicole Vallerio lit the lamp for the first time this season to put the Tommies up 1-0 in the third period, but Taylor Heise knotted the score 57 seconds later.

Abigail Boreen lit the lamp twice in Saturday's rematch, netting the game-winning goal. Heise (PP) and Murphy each tallied their second goal of the weekend as well, winning 4-2 despite having St. Thomas score a pair of goals off Gopher defenders. Alexa Dobchuk made 55 saves for the Tommies.

Skylar Vetter stopped 42 of 45 shots between the pipes for the Gophers, and also earned an offensive assist on Saturday on Heise's goal. Nelli Laitinen dished out 3 assists in the series, while Emily Oden recorded 2 helpers.

Tommies analysis update – Sophomore Maddie Clough (#2) remains the St. Thomas' leading scorer, dishing out her 7th assist this season to go with 6 goals of her own for 13 points. Graduate student Anna Solheim (#19) added her 4th goal to accompany her team-high 8 assists for 12 points. Gabby Billing (#18) remains at 10 points, tallying 5 goals & 5 assists, while senior Maija Almich (#5) still has a team-leading 8 goals plus an assist for 9 points.

Both sophomore Saskia Maurer (#29) and senior Alexa Dobchuk (#30) saw their season-long goals-against averages and save percentages improve slightly. Maurer is now 5-13-1 with 3 shutouts in 19 starts, posting a 2.92 goals-against average & .917 save percentage. Dobchuk has a 2-11-0 record this season, with a 4.43 GAA & .894 SV%. Freshman Maggie Malecha (#33) remains 1-1-0 in two starts and 3 relief appearances, with a 2.67 GAA and .924 SV%.

Grace Zumwinkle joins GWH 200-point club!!

With an assist last Friday night against St. Thomas, fifth-year forward Grace Zumwinkle became the tenth player in Gopher Women's Hockey program history to reach the career 200-point mark, coming on 106 goals and 94 assists!! Congratulations, Grace!!

Rivalry Series – Canada defeats U.S. in Game 6; Game 7 is tonight! (Wednesday, Feb 22)

Gopher Women's Hockey alumna Kelly Pannek lit the lamp for the U.S. Women's National Team, but Brianne Jenner tallied a goal & two assists and Marie-Philip Poulin netted a goal for her 200th point with the Canada Women's National Team as they defeated the Americans, 5-1, on Monday night (USA Hockey recap / Hockey Canada recap).

The Canadian win knotted the 2022-2023 Rivalry Series at three games apiece, with the Game 7 finale tonight (Wednesday, Feb. 22) in Laval, Quebec. Game time is set for 7 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. CT, with live television coverage on NHL Network.

Four incoming Gophers honored for H.S. senior year play

We send a shout-out to four members of the Gopher Women's Hockey freshman class of 2023-2024 who have been recognized for their senior year performances with their respective high school teams!

Lauren O'Hara (Centennial/Spring Lake Park) was named as one of five Minnesota Ms. Hockey finalists by Let's Play Hockey and East Metro Player of the Year by the Pioneer Press. O'Hara has 35 goals and 20 assists in 28 games, leading the team to Section 5AA Championship and a state tournament appearance.

Ava Lindsay (Minnetonka) was named Star Tribune's Metro Player of the Year, posting 41 points for the Section 2AA champion Skippers on 23 goals and 18 assists in 23 games. Joining Lindsay on the Star Tribune's All-Metro First Team are Isa Goettl of (Andover; 27 games, 22g-44a-66pts) and Josie Hemp (Minnetonka; 27 games, 9g-29a-38pts).

Around the WCHA...

Buckeyes claim WCHA title with 4 points at Wisconsin – Jesse Compher tallied two goals & an assist, and Casey O'Brien added a goal & an assist as the Badgers took a 4-0 lead after the first period on Friday, but Ohio State came back with two goals each from Jenn Gardiner & Emma Maltais, sending the game to overtime tied 5-5; however, Gardiner was whistled for covering the puck in her own crease in OT, and Kirsten Simms scored on the resulting penalty shot for the 6-5 Wisconsin victory. After two scoreless periods to open Saturday's rematch, Lalya Edwards put the Badgers ahead 7:17 into the third stanza, but Maltais knotted the score on a power play with 4:17 to play, Madison Bizal put the Buckeyes ahead with 55.5 seconds remaining, and Bizal added an insurance goal on another power play 30 seconds later for a 3-1 victory, clinching the Ohio State's first WCHA Regular-Season Championship and the Julianne Bye Cup.

Bulldogs sweep Beavers in Bemidji – Gabbie Hughes recorded a goal & 5 assists, Ashton Bell added a goal & 3 assists, Maggie Flaherty dished out 4 helpers, and Naomi Rogge tallied two goals and an assist as Minnesota Duluth swept Bemidji State at the Sanford Center, 6-0 and 5-1. Reece Hunt scored for the Beavers. Emma Soderberg claimed UMD's career shutout record on Friday, earning her 21st with a 12-save performance.

Huskies sweep Mavericks on home ice – Taylor Lind recorded a goal & 5 assists, Courtney Hall and Addi Scribner each lit the lamp three times, and Klára Hymlárová added two goals & an assist as St. Cloud State swept Minnesota State 6-3 and 5-2 at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. Jamie Nelson and Alexis Paddington each tallied a goal & two assists for MSU.

Final regular-season standings:
1. Ohio State – 70 points (.857 pts%), 23-4-1-1, 3-2 in OT (28-4-2 overall)
2. Minnesota – 68 points (.810 pts%), 22-3-3-1, 2-0 in OT (25-5-3 overall)
3. Wisconsin – 60 points (.726 pts%), 19-7-2-1, 2-2 in OT (23-9-2 overall)
4. Minn. Duluth – 54 points (.690 pts%), 17-8-3-2, 4-2 in OT (23-8-3 overall)
5. St. Cloud State – 36 points (.429 pts%), 11-16-1-0, 0-2 in OT (18-16-1 overall)
6. Minnesota State – 30 points (.357 pts%), 9-18-1-0, 0-2 in OT (15-18-1 overall)
7. St. Thomas – 12 points (.143 pts%), 3-24-1-1, 0-1 in OT (8-25-1 overall)
8. Bemidji State – 6 points (.071 pts%), 2-26-0-0, 0-0 in OT (5-28-1 overall)

Other WCHA Quarterfinal Pairings...
Best 2-out-of-3 / Friday, Saturday, and (if necessary) Sunday, February 24-26

#5-seed St. Cloud State University at #4-seed University of Minnesota Duluth
Friday at 3:00 p.m. CT / Saturday at 5:00 p.m. CT / Sunday at 3:00 p.m. CT

#8-seed Bemidji State University at #1-seed Ohio State University
Friday at 6:00 p.m. ET / Saturday & Sunday at 3:00 p.m. ET

#6-seed Minnesota State University at #3-seed University of Wisconsin
Friday at 7:00 p.m. CT / Saturday at 3:00 p.m. CT / Sunday at 3:30 p.m. CT

Power Play Club

February 20, 2023

The Two-Minute Minor - An edition of the Penalty Box Post - Monday, February 20, 2023

Power Play Club

February 20, 2023

The Two-Minute Minor
An edition of the Penalty Box Post
Monday, February 20th

Ohio State claims WCHA Championship & Julianne Bye Cup;
Gophers to face St. Thomas in best-of-three quarterfinal series

With a 3-1 victory over Wisconsin yesterday, the Ohio State Buckeyes women's hockey team won their first WCHA Regular-Season Championship and the Julianne Bye Cup for 2022-2023.

Minnesota finished as the #2 seed for the WCHA Playoffs, posting a 22-3-3-1 conference record (2-0 in OT). As a result, the Gophers will face St. Thomas again in a best-of-3 conference quarterfinal series at Ridder Arena next weekend, marking the second-straight year that the two teams will square off in the first round after playing each other at the end of the regular season.

Game times are set for...

Friday, February 24 at 6:00 p.m.
Saturday, February 25 at 2:00 p.m.
Sunday, February 26 at 2:00 p.m. (if necessary)

We'll have more details with our full series preview in our regular Penalty Box Post later this week.

Season ticket holders should have received tickets for the quarterfinal series as part of their plan, and should contact the U. of M. ticket office at 1-800-U-GOPHER with any questions or concerns. Fans looking to purchase tickets for any of the three contests are encouraged to watch the team's social media accounts – Facebook and Twitter – for updates on availability.

All-Session tickets for the 2023 WCHA Final Faceoff at Ridder Arena are on sale through the U. of M. Ticket Office. The tickets are $37 for reserved chairback seats, $27 for adult general admission bench seating, and $20 for senior and student/youth general admission seats. Groups of 10 or more can also get general admission seating for $10 per person.

Game times are set as follows:

Semifinal Game 1: Friday, March 3 at 1:00 p.m. CT
Semifinal Game 2: Friday, March 3 at 5:00 p.m. CT (approximately)
Championship Game: Saturday, March 4 at 2:00 p.m. CT

Tickets can also be purchased in-person at the 3M Arena at Mariucci Box Offices or by phone at 1-800-U-GOPHER. All tickets purchased in advance will be issued electronically. Single-day tickets will go on sale next Monday, February 27.

Rivalry Series resumes tonight, concludes Wednesday

We provide a reminder that the final two games of the 2022-2023 Rivalry Series between the U.S. and Canada Women's National Hockey Teams are scheduled for tonight (Monday, Feb. 20) and Wednesday (Feb. 22) in Quebec. Both games are scheduled for 7 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. CT, with live television coverage on NHL Network.

We again send wishes of good luck to the six Gopher Women's Hockey alumnae called up to the national team rosters for these two contests: Hannah Brandt (USA), Emily Brown (USA), Amanda Kessel (USA), Kelly Pannek (USA), Sarah Potomak (CAN), and Lee Stecklein (USA).

Gopher alumna Taylor Wente signs with MN Whitecaps

We also send congratulations and wishes of good luck to Gopher Women's Hockey alumna Taylor Wente, who signed with the Minnesota Whitecaps of the Premier Hockey Federation for the remainder of the 2022-2023 season.

Wente becomes the fifth Gopher playing in the PHF this year, all with the Whitecaps, joining Sydney Baldwin, Olivia Knowles, Amanda Leveille, and Patti Marshall (though, as noted in the press release, Leveille was placed on long-term injured reserve).

Other WCHA Quarterfinal Pairings...

Best 2-out-of-3 / Friday, Saturday, and (if necessary) Sunday, February 24-26

#5-seed St. Cloud State University at #4-seed University of Minnesota Duluth
Friday at 3:00 p.m. CT / Saturday at 5:00 p.m. CT / Sunday at 3:00 p.m. CT

#8-seed Bemidji State University at #1-seed Ohio State University
Friday at 6:00 p.m. ET / Saturday & Sunday at 3:00 p.m. ET

#6-seed Minnesota State University at #3-seed University of Wisconsin
Friday at 7:00 p.m. CT / Saturday at 3:00 p.m. CT / Sunday at 3:30 p.m. CT

More information from the league is available here.