October 29, 2025

The Penalty Box Post - Wednesday, October 29, 2025

October 29, 2025

PPC member enrollment continues; Chalk Talk on November 15

Membership enrollment to the Power Play Club for the 2025-2026 season remains open! Your enrollment donations are our biggest source of financial support for the Gopher Women's Hockey team!

We also provide a reminder that our first member-exclusive Chalk Talk of the year with one of the Gopher coaches is scheduled for Saturday, November 15. More details will be shared as the event approaches.

Locker Sponsor level – We are still accepting enrollments in our top membership tier. Each sponsor's name is posted on a nameplate next to a player's or coach's locker, and donors will have an opportunity to meet with their respective player(s)/coach at our event in January (with pictures and a team meal). A minimum $1,000 donation (per locker) is required, though any amount over and above that is encouraged. If you are interested, either as a renewing or new Locker Sponsor, please contact Bob Milligan at milligandanes@gmail.com as soon as possible but do not submit a donation at this time; donation instructions for Locker Sponsors will be sent starting next week.

Basic Membership level – A minimum donation of $125 is required for our basic membership tier, which includes up to two adults and any children at same address. Online registration is preferred at z.umn.edu/PPC25; click the "Make A Gift" button on that page and follow the instructions. To register offline, download the form here and send it in to the listed address, with a check payable to the "University of Minnesota".

Goals for a Goal – Gophers' season total increases to 51

Another way to financially support the Minnesota Women's Hockey program is to help us convert those goals into donations back to the team through the Goals for a Goal program. Register a pledge for every goal scored by the Gophers all the way through the playoffs, with the option to double your pledge for power play conversions.

Pledges can be submitted electronically through the online form at z.umn.edu/GoalsForAGoal. Following the conclusion of the season, you will receive an email with your pledge total and giving instructions.

After tallying another seven goals this past weekend, the Gophers have netted 51 through their first ten games of the season, 8 of which have come on the power play! Go Gophers!

#3 Minnesota Golden Gophers (9-1-0, 5-1-0-0 WCHA)
at #1 Univ. of Wisconsin Badgers (10-0-0, 6-0-0-0 WCHA)
Friday, October 31 at 6:00 p.m.
Saturday, November 1 at 2:00 p.m.
LaBahn Arena – Madison, WI

The Gopher Women's Hockey team heads into its third-straight national top-five matchup, its second on the road, as it travels to LaBahn Arena in Madison for the first Border Battle meetings of the 2025-2026 season against the #1-ranked University of Wisconsin Badgers. Action begins this Friday, October 31 at 6:00 p.m. and continues Saturday, November 1 at 2:00 p.m.

Game coverage – The Gophers will again appear on FOX 9+ as Friday evening's contest will be televised live in the Twin Cities and surrounding area. Both games of the weekend will have video streaming through the B1G+ subscription service (Friday / Saturday). Free audio play-by-play can be found on GopherSports.com (Friday / Saturday). Live stats will also be available via GopherSports.com.

Last year against Wisconsin – The Badgers rolled to a 6-0 record against the Gophers in 2024-2025, extending their Border Battle winning streak to 10 games. They took the weekend series at Ridder Arena last October 5-0 & 4-3, then followed it up with 8-2 & 6-1 victories at LaBahn Arena in February. The two squads played a spirited battle in the WCHA Championship in Duluth on March 8 but the Badgers prevailed 4-3 on a goal in the final minute of regulation. Meeting again in the NCAA Frozen Four semifinals back at Ridder, Peyton Hemp put the Gophers on the board first but Wisconsin took over in the second period en route to a 6-2 win to end Minnesota's season.

Sydney Morrow was the Gophers' top scorer against the Badgers, tallying 5 points on 3 goals & 2 assists, while Chloe Primerano dished out 4 helpers, Ella Huber added a goal & two assists, and Josefin Bouveng lit the lamp twice. Wisconsin had four players each reach 10+ points across the six contests: Casey O'Brien erupted for 18 points, lighting the lamp 7 times and adding 11 assists; Caroline Harvey dished out 12 helpers while finding the back of the net once herself; Laila Edwards netted 7 goals, including a hat trick in the national semifinal, with 3 assists; and Kirsten Simms recorded 2 goals & 8 assists. Ava McNaughton earned all six wins between the pipes for the Badgers, making 138 saves with the one shutout, a 1.84 goals-against average, and a .926 goals-against average. Skylar Vetter started the first contest at Ridder but yielded 5 goals on 30 shots in 48 minutes of work; Hannah Clark entered in relief and then made the other five starts, stopping 142 shots but yielding 25 goals for a 5.20 GAA and .850 SV%. Sophia Johnson also played a period in Madison, making saves 8 on 10 shots.

Analyzing the Badgers – The defending WCHA and national champions remain on top of the NCAA rankings for both scoring offense and scoring defense to start 2025-2026, posting even better averages than their final 2024-2025 numbers. They have lit the lamp 56 times while only yielding a mere 6 goals to their opponents and recording 7 shutouts. They are third nationally in power-play conversion percentage at 29.7% and are a perfect 31-for-31 on the penalty kill.

Fifth-year forward Lacey Eden (#6) is leading the Badgers with 17 points on 7 goals & 10 assists, while senior defender Caroline Harvey (#4) has a team-high 11 assists while lighting the lamp 5 times for 16 points. Juniors Cassie Hall (#11; 10g, 4a) & Kelly Gorbatenko (#7; 6g, 8a) and senior Kirsten Simms (#27; 5g, 9a) have each recorded 14 points.

After leading the nation last year in win percentage (.949; 36-1-2) and goals-against average (1.25), junior Ava McNaughton (#30) is posting even better numbers this season, earning all 10 wins with five solo shutouts, a 0.63 GAA and .967 SV%. Freshman Rhyah Stewart (#1) has made two relief appearances, stopping all nine shots she has faced over a combined 24 minutes of action and contributing to two team shutouts with McNaughton. Senior Chloe Baker (#32) is Wisconsin's third goaltender; she's made three relief appearances over the past two seasons with 14 saves over 56 minutes.

Last weekend: Badgers blank Minnesota State – Ava McNaughton stopped all 48 shots she faced in just over 5 periods of action, Rhyah Stewart finished up with 6 more saves in 14½ minutes of work, and Claire Enright & Adéla Šapovalivová each tallied 2 goals and 3 assists as Wisconsin earned 4-0 & 8-0 shutout victories over Minnesota State at LaBahn Arena. Hailey Hansen made 52 saves for the Mavericks over four periods in net, 44 of which came in the series opener; Avery Stilwell entered in relief in the rematch, her first appearance for MSU since November 2021, and stopped 10 shots.

Gophers earn road sweep of Minnesota Duluth

Working with a short bench on Friday, the Gopher Women's Hockey team put together a complete effort to shut out Minnesota Duluth on the road, 4-0. They followed it up with a 3-2 victory in the rematch to earn the weekend sweep.

Both games started with scoreless first periods, but Ava Lindsay lit the lamp just 46 seconds into the 2nd period in the opener. Madison Kaiser extended the Gopher lead to 2-0 less than three minutes later, and Lindsay netted her second goal of the contest later in the period. Jamie Nelson added a power-play goal with less than 5 minutes remaining in regulation, and Hannah Clark posted a 24-save clean sheet. Sydney Morrow dished out three assists. Bulldogs netminder Ève Gascon made 16 saves but left with an apparent injury after Kaiser's goal; Sophia Villanueva entered in relief and made another 16 saves.

Gascon was back between the pipes for UMD on Saturday, and Caitlin Kraemer scored to give them the lead nearly 8 minutes into the second period. However, Josefin Bouveng lit the lamp roughly 3½ minutes later to knot the score and Abbey Murphy put the Gophers ahead with a backhanded goal less than four minutes after that. Murphy then pushed the lead to 3-1 with an unassisted tally midway through the third period. UMD got a power play with 5:19 to play, pulling Gascon for a 6-on-4 attack, and Josie St. Martin converted to bring the Bulldogs within one, but Clark shut the door the rest of the way, finishing with 37 saves and the victory. Morrow picked up her fourth assist of the weekend on Bouveng's goal, and Nelson recorded two assists in the series to accompany her goal.

Clark earns second Goalie of the Week award in three series

Stopping a combined 61 of 63 shots on goal over two games for a .968 save percentage and 1.00 goals-against average and earning both victories – including one shutout – in a road sweep of a national top-five opponent, Gopher sophomore Hannah Clark was named WCHA Goaltender of the Week for the second time this season, coming only two weeks after earning her first weekly award. It's the fourth weekly league honor of her career.

Congratulations, Hannah!!

Murphy takes sole possession of 2nd in GWH goal scoring history

With her two-goal performance in Duluth on Saturday, Abbey Murphy moved into 2nd place by herself on the Minnesota Women's Hockey program's list of career goal scorers, lighting the lamp for the 116th and 117th times and passing Hannah Brandt (115). As reported previously, Murphy trails only Nadine Muzerall, who scored 139 goals during her playing time in Maroon & Gold.

Adding in her 99 assists, Murphy now sits at 216 career points, putting her within three of Kelly Stephens' 219 for seventh in Gopher history.

Around the WCHA...

Tommies fall in Anderson Arena opener, salvage split in rematch – Opening their new on-campus arena with a non-conference series against Providence, St. Thomas found themselves trailing the Friars 5-2 thanks to Reichen Kirchmair's second-period natural hat trick, but battled back to take a 6-5 lead with 1:17 left in regulation; however, Providence's Jessie Pellerin scored an extra-attacker goal with 31.1 seconds remaining to force overtime and Kirchmair netted her fourth goal of the game 2:32 into the extra period for the 7-6 upset victory. The Tommies earned a series split with a 5-1 win on Saturday; Whitney Horton, Chloe Boreen, and Rylee Bartz each recorded a goal & an assist and Julia Minotti stopped 19 of 20 shots. Bartz and Ella Boerger each tallied 2 goals & 2 assists for UST in the series, and Maddie Brown dished out 4 helpers.

Buckeyes earn home sweep of Huskies – Hilda Svensson netted the game-winning goal on Friday and assisted on all four Ohio State goals on Saturday, finishing with 6 points as OSU swept St. Cloud State in Columbus, 5-1 & 4-2. The Huskies held a 2-0 third-period lead in Saturday's contest on goals by Maélie Pion and Julianne Labbé, but Joy Dunne led the Buckeyes' comeback with a hat trick and Emma Peschel tallied the game-winning goal. Dunne posted a four-goal weekend after also lighting the lamp on Friday, and Peschel also recorded four points with three assists to go with her goal. Jojo Chobak made a combined 75 saves in the series for SCSU.

Upcoming games – All eight WCHA teams are in league action with Friday & Saturday series. Two of those series begin with Friday matinees as St. Cloud State hosts Minnesota Duluth and Ohio State visits St. Thomas. Meanwhile, Bemidji State heads to Mankato to face Minnesota State.

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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.

Power Play Club

October 22, 2025

The Penalty Box Post - Wednesday, October 22, 2025

Power Play Club

October 22, 2025

PPC member enrollment remains open for 2025-2026!

Membership enrollment to the Power Play Club continues for the 2025-2026 season! Your enrollment donations are our biggest source of financial support for the Gopher Women's Hockey team!

Locker Sponsor level – We are still accepting enrollments in our top membership tier. Each sponsor's name is posted on a nameplate next to a player's or coach's locker, and donors will have an opportunity to meet with their respective player(s)/coach at our event in January (with pictures and a team meal). A minimum $1,000 donation (per locker) is required, though any amount over and above that is encouraged. If you are interested, either as a renewing or new Locker Sponsor, please contact Bob Milligan at milligandanes@gmail.com as soon as possible but do not submit a donation at this time; donation instructions for Locker Sponsors will be sent starting next week.

Basic Membership level – A minimum donation of $125 is required for our basic membership tier, which includes up to two adults and any children at same address. Online registration is preferred at z.umn.edu/PPC25; click the "Make A Gift" button on that page and follow the instructions. To register offline, download the form here and send it in to the listed address, with a check payable to the "University of Minnesota".

Goals for a Goal – Gophers' total to-date reaches 44

Another way to financially support the Minnesota Women's Hockey program is to donate through the Goals for a Goal program. Register a pledge for every goal scored by the Gophers all the way through the playoffs, with the option to double your pledge for power play conversions.

After tallying seven goals this past weekend, the Gophers have netted 44 through their first eight games of the season, 7 of which have come on the power play! Pledges can be submitted electronically through the online form at z.umn.edu/GoalsForAGoal. Following the conclusion of the season, you will receive an email with your pledge total and giving instructions.

#3/3 Minnesota Golden Gophers (7-1-0, 3-1-0-0 WCHA)
vs. #4/5 Univ. of MN Duluth Bulldogs (6-2-0, 2-2-0-0 WCHA)
Friday, October 24 at 6:00 p.m.
Saturday, October 25 at 3:00 p.m.
AMSOIL Arena – Duluth

Coming off of one national top-five matchup, the Gopher Women's Hockey team heads into another, going on the road to face their long-time rivals, the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs. Action at AMSOIL Arena in Duluth begins this Friday, October 24 at 6:00 p.m. and continues Saturday, October 25 at 3:00 p.m.

Game coverage – The Gophers will be featured on FOX 9+ for a third-straight series as Saturday's contest will be televised live in the Twin Cities and surrounding area. Both games of the weekend will have video streaming through the B1G+ subscription service (Friday / Saturday). Free audio play-by-play can be found on GopherSports.com (Friday / Saturday). Live stats will also be available via GopherSports.com.

Last year against Minnesota Duluth – The Gophers swept the four-game season series against the Bulldogs in 2024-2025, though three of the four contests were each decided by one goal. Minnesota took the two games last November at AMSOIL Arena by scores of 4-1 & 3-2, then earned 3-2 & 1-0 victories at Ridder Arena to conclude the regular season in February.

As with their performances against Ohio State last season, Abbey Murphy (2g, 4a) & Ella Huber (3g, 3a) led Minnesota with 6 points apiece against UMD; both of Murphy's goals were game-winners, coming in the first contest in Duluth and the regular-season finale in Minneapolis. Natálie Mlýnková added 3 points on a goal and two assists. Olivia Wallin was the only Bulldog to record multiple points against the Gophers last year, netting both of their goals in the first game at Ridder. Between the pipes, Hannah Clark earned all four wins including the one shutout, stopping a combined 108 shots with a .956 save percentage and a 1.25 goals-against average. UMD's Ève Gascon made 155 saves with a .939 SV%, but took all four losses with a 2.53 GAA.

Analyzing the Bulldogs – Minnesota Duluth is another team working to reload their roster after graduating 3 of their top 4 scorers – including the top two – from their 2024-2025 squad, but they still have a top-five ranking in both national polls. They finished fourth in last year's WCHA standings with a 14-12-2-2 conference record (0-2 in OT) and posting a 6-0-0 mark in regular-season non-conference play; after sweeping St. Cloud State to open the league playoffs, they fell to Wisconsin (3-1) in the semifinals. They received an NCAA Tournament bid and defeated Sacred Heart (6-1) in the regional semifinals before falling to Colgate (1-0) to end their season. Starting 2025-2026, they are 6-0-0 against Mercyhurst, Syracuse, and Minnesota State, but dropped a pair of games at Wisconsin two weekends ago.

Sophomore Caitlin Kraemer (#11) is UMD's highest returning scorer from last season, posting 18 goals & 13 assists for 31 points; she is the current scoring leader so far this year with 7 goals and 4 assists. Redshirt senior Mary Kate O'Brien (#3) added 25 points on 7 goals & 18 assists as a junior, and has started the new year with a goal and five assists. Meanwhile, senior Thea Johansson (#20) transferred in after recording 16 goals & 12 assists for Mercyhurst last year; she has lighted the lamp 7 times for the Bulldogs so far this season. Another new face to Minnesota Duluth is freshman Rae Mayer (#2), who has 3 goals & 3 assists to open her collegiate career.

Ève Gascon (#1) is back between the pipes for her junior year at UMD; as a sophomore, she started 30 of their 39 games, posting a 15-14-1 record with 4 shutouts, a 1.83 goals-against average, and a .942 save percentage. Gascon has played all eight games for the Bulldogs so far this season, recording 3 shutouts, a 1.87 GAA and an .936 SV%. Redshirt sophomore Anna Byczek (#31) has yet to see any official collegiate action, and Sophia Villanueva (#30) has joined the team as a freshman.

Last action for Minnesota Duluth – After starting their schedule with six-straight road games, the Bulldogs played their home-opening series this past weekend, hosting Minnesota State. Caitlin Kraemer tallied two goals & an assist and Ève Gascon stopped all 24 shots she faced in a 5-0 shutout win on Friday. Taylor Otremba put the Mavericks up 1-0 in the first period of the rematch, a lead which MSU still held past the midway point of the third stanza, but Grace Sadura knotted the score for UMD with 6:12 to go, Thea Johansson put the Bulldogs in the lead just 20 seconds later, and Johannson tallied again with 3:05 remaining for a 3-1 final; Gascon made another 17 saves. Minnesota State netminder Hailey Hansen made a combined 80 saves in the series.

Gophers split with Ohio State in hotly contested series

The Gopher Women's Hockey team suffered its first loss of the season Saturday, falling to Ohio State 4-1, but rebounded with a 6-3 victory over the Buckeyes in Sunday's rematch to salvage a split of their WCHA conference series.

Kassidy Carmichael gave OSU an early lead in the weekend opener with a power-play goal 2:42 into the contest, and Joy Dunne & Hilda Svensson extended the Buckeyes' lead to 3-0 in the second period. Madison Kaiser got Minnesota on the board with 5:52 to play, but Jocelyn Amos tacked on an empty-netter for Ohio State. Hannah Clark stopped 43 shots between the pipes for the Gophers, while Hailey MacLeod made 28 saves for the Buckeyes.

The rematch saw Minnesota light the lamp on 3 of their first 6 shots on goal as Bella Fanale, Josefin Bouveng, and Ava Lindsay (PP) each found the back of the net, though Dunne scored her second goal of the series for OSU to make it 3-1 at the first intermission. Jamie Nelson tallied her first goal as a Golden Gopher on the team's first shot of the second period, prompting a goalie change by the Buckeyes. In the third period, Ohio State cut Minnesota's lead to two twice on goals by Sanni Vanhanen and Jenna Raunio, but Nelli Laitinen & Emma Kreisz (PP) responded for the Gophers. Clark made another 27 saves for the victory. However, tempers on both side flared at the final horn, leading to 90 minutes of penalties being assessed, including game disqualifications to Minnesota's Gracie Graham & Ohio State's Carmichael.

In addition to her goal Saturday, Bouveng also dished out three assists in the series for a 4-point weekend. Laitinen also recorded two assists in Sunday's contest for a 3-point performance.

Graham, Primerano suspended – Due to their involvement in the actions which took place at the end of Sunday's contest against Ohio State, Gopher sophomores Gracie Graham and Chloe Primerano have each been suspended one game. Graham's suspension was automatic as a result of being assessed a game disqualification by the on-ice officials, while Primerano was one of two players issued supplemental discipline from the WCHA on Monday. At this time, we expect both to miss Friday's game in Duluth.

GWH captain Murphy, alums Heise, Pannek, Stecklein, Zumwinkle
named to Team USA roster for Fall 2025 Rivalry Series games

We send congratulations and best wishes to current Minnesota Women's Hockey forward Abbey Murphy and alumnae Taylor Heise, Kelly Pannek, Lee Stecklein, and Grace Zumwinkle upon their selection to the U.S. Women's National Hockey Team roster for the 2025 Rivalry Series games against Canada.

The teams open the series with contests at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, OH, on Thursday, November 6 at 6 p.m. CT, and KeyBank Center in Buffalo, NY, on Saturday, November 8 at 5 p.m. CT. Action will move north of the border for games at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, on Wednesday, December 10 and Saturday, December 13, both starting at 8 p.m. CT.

Tickets are on sale through Ticketmaster & Ticketmaster.ca; links for the individual games can be found on the USA Hockey website. All four contests will be televised on NHL Network.

Around the WCHA...

Tommies upset Huskies Saturday for series split – Come-from-behind overtime wins were the story at the National Hockey Center as St. Cloud State defeated St. Thomas, 4-3 in OT, on Friday and the Tommies returned the favor by the same result (4-3 in OT) on Saturday. Trailing 3-2, SCSU's Grace Wolfe knotted Friday's game with an extra attacker and 21.1 seconds left in regulation, and Alice Sauriol netted her second goal of the contest 2:50 into the extra period. UST trailed 3-1 in Saturday's third period before Maddie Brown and Ilsa Lindaman lit the lamp to tie the contest with 5:55 to play; Janessa Gadzik then scored for the Tommies at the 37-second mark of OT for the upset win. Sauriol led all players with 5 points (3g, 2a) in the series; SCSU's Sofianna Sundelin (1g, 3a) & Wolfe (1g, 3a) and UST's Ellah Hause (2g, 2a) & Ella Boerger (4a) each tallied four points.

Badgers claim Icebreaker championship – Lacey Eden recorded 5 points on 3 goals & 2 assists, Kelly Gorbatenko (3g, 1a), Caroline Harvey (2g, 2a), and Maggie Scannell (4a) each posted four-point weekends, Cassie Hall lit the lamp 3 times, and Ava McNaughton stopped a combined 28 of 29 shots as Wisconsin defeated Vermont 8-1 and Union 4-0 to win the Icebreaker Tournament championship in Schenectady, New York.

Upcoming games – UST's Anderson Arena opens Friday – After eight-straight road games to start their season, the newly-ranked #13 St. Thomas Tommies will open the new Lee & Penny Anderson Arena in St. Paul this weekend, hosting Providence in non-conference matinee action Friday and Saturday afternoon. In league play, St. Cloud State will visit Ohio State on Friday & Saturday and Wisconsin will host Minnesota State for a Saturday-Sunday series. Bemidji State is idle for a second-straight week.

You can receive the Penalty Box Post newsletter via email by signing up here.

Power Play Club

October 18, 2025

The Two-Minute Minor - An Edition of the Penalty Box Post - Saturday, October 18, 2025

Power Play Club

October 18, 2025

GWH Game Day!!
#3 Minnesota vs. #2 Ohio State
2:00 PM at Ridder Arena

Buy tickets
Series preview
Televised on Fox 9+

Video stream on B1G+
Free audio play-by-play
Live stats

Twelve GWH alumnae invited to PWHL training camps

Twelve (12) Gopher Women's Hockey alumnae have been listed as receiving training camp invitations for Professional Women's Hockey League squads in preparation for the 2025-2026 season. Camps open starting Friday, November 7. We congratulate and send wishes of good luck to...

Abigail Boreen, PWHL Vancouver
Hannah Brandt, Boston Fleet
Emily Brown, PWHL Seattle
Taylor Heise, Minnesota Frost
Peyton Hemp, Ottawa Charge
Ella Huber, Boston Fleet

Olivia Knowles, New York Sirens
Natálie Mlýnková, Montréal Victoire
Savannah Norcross, New York Sirens
Kelly Pannek, Minnesota Frost
Lee Stecklein, Minnesota Frost
Grace Zumwinkle, Minnesota Frost

Regular-season rosters must be finalized by Wednesday, November 19, and can include a maximum of 23 active players; we will share announcements as they are published. Year 3 of the PWHL begins with preseason scrimmages between Minnesota & New York on November 13 & 14. The regular season starts on November 21 with Toronto at Minnesota & Seattle at Vancouver, followed by New York at Ottawa on November 22 and Montréal at Boston on November 23.

Plosová, Mlýnková named to Czechia roster for WEHT event

While the Minnesota Women's Hockey team will be idle on November 7 & 8, several Gophers will still be busy those days and the ones leading up to them as several international competitions are scheduled.

The Czechia National Team was the first to announce its roster as they prepare to play in the Women's Euro Hockey Tour's Lidl Hockey Games, running November 5 through 8 in Ängelholm, Sweden. We send our congratulations and wishes of good luck to current Gopher Tereza Plosová and alumna Natálie Mlýnková upon their selection to the squad.

Czechia's game schedule features...

vs. Sweden – Wednesday, November 5 at 7 p.m. (local) / 12 p.m. U.S. Central
vs. Finland – Friday, November 7 at 2 p.m. (local) / 7 a.m. U.S. Central
vs. Switzerland – Saturday, November 8 at 11:30 a.m. (local) / 4:30 a.m. U.S. Central

We will share additional national team announcements featuring current and alumnae Gopher players as they are published. In addition to the Euro Hockey Tour event, Teams USA & Canada are playing Rivalry Series games on Nov. 6 in Cleveland, OH, and Nov. 8 in Buffalo, NY, and Team Hungary is participating in the Deutschland Cup on Nov. 5-8 in Landshut, Germany (which also includes the teams from France & Slovakia).

You can receive the Penalty Box Post newsletter via email by signing up here.

Power Play Club

October 15, 2025

The Penalty Box Post - Wednesday, October 15, 2025

Power Play Club

October 15, 2025

Goals for a Goal – Gophers continue lighting the lamp

Adding another nine goals to their total this past weekend, the Gophers have tallied 37 through their first six games of the season, 5 of which have come on the power play! Help us provide financial support by pledging to convert each of those goals into a donation to the Minnesota Women's Hockey program through the Goals for a Goal program. Register your pledge for every goal scored all the way through the playoffs, with the option to double your pledge for power play conversions. Pledges can be submitted electronically through the online form at z.umn.edu/GoalsForAGoal. Following the conclusion of the season, you will receive an email with your pledge total and giving instructions.

PPC member enrollment remains open for 2025-2026!

As the Gopher Women's Hockey season continues, so does membership enrollment to the Power Play Club for 2025-2026! Your enrollment donations are our biggest source of financial support for the team!

Locker Sponsor level – We are still accepting enrollments in our top membership tier. Each sponsor's name is posted on a nameplate next to a player's or coach's locker, and donors will have an opportunity to meet with their respective player(s)/coach at our event in January (with pictures and a team meal). A minimum $1,000 donation (per locker) is required, though any amount over and above that is encouraged. If you are interested, either as a renewing or new Locker Sponsor, please contact Bob Milligan at milligandanes@gmail.com as soon as possible but do not submit a donation at this time; donation instructions for Locker Sponsors will be sent at the start of November.

Basic Membership level – A minimum donation of $125 is required for our basic membership tier, which includes up to two adults and any children at same address. Online registration is preferred at z.umn.edu/PPC25; click the "Make A Gift" button on that page and follow the instructions. To register offline, download the form here and send it in to the listed address, with a check payable to the "University of Minnesota".

Looking ahead – Schedule change Jan. 10 vs. Minnesota State University - Mankato

As announced by the University via social media and in an email to season ticket holders, the Gopher Women's Hockey team's game on Saturday, January 10, at Ridder Arena has changed to a 7:30 p.m. start due to Big Ten Network picking up live television coverage of the contest. Note that the previous night's game – Friday, January 9 in Mankato – remains scheduled to start at 6:00 p.m.

PPC event times adjusted – With the change to the game time, the Power Play Club's Chalk Talk with a member of the GWH coaching staff on January 10 will now start at 6:00 p.m. Locker Sponsors – Our special event with the team will also still occur that day but with a new start time. More details on both activities will be shared as we get closer to that date.

#3 Minnesota Golden Gophers (6-0-0, 2-0-0-0 WCHA)
vs. #2 Ohio State Univ. Buckeyes (4-0-0, 2-0-0-0 WCHA)
Saturday and Sunday, October 18 & 19
Both games at 2:00 p.m. – Ridder Arena

Remaining undefeated and coming off a sweep of their first conference series of the season, the Gopher Women's Hockey team sets up to host a national top-three matchup when the also-unbeaten #2-ranked Ohio State University Buckeyes visit Ridder Arena. The two squads will square off this Saturday and Sunday, October 18 & 19, with both games scheduled to start at 2:00 p.m.

Game coverage – Sunday's contest will be televised live on FOX 9+ in the Twin Cities and surrounding area. Both games will have video streaming through the B1G+ subscription service (Saturday / Sunday). Free audio play-by-play can be found on GopherSports.com (Saturday / Sunday). Live stats will also be available via GopherSports.com.

Last year against Ohio State – The Gophers posted a 2-2-1 record against the Buckeyes in 2024-2025, though they dropped the shootout point following the tie. In Columbus last October, OSU took the opener 4-3 and played Minnesota to a 1-1 tie in the rematch. Meeting at Ridder Arena in the second half of the regular season, the Gophers earned a 3-1 win on January 31 before the Buckeyes responded with a 7-3 victory on February 1. The teams met again in the WCHA Final Faceoff semifinals in Duluth, with the Gophers coming from behind to win 6-2 after initially trailing 2-0.

Abbey Murphy (4g, 2a) & Ella Huber (3g, 3a) led Minnesota with 6 points apiece over the five games, with Peyton Hemp (2g, 1a), Chloe Primerano (1g, 2a), Audrey Wethington (1g, 2a), and Sydney Morrow (3a) each adding 3 points. Ohio State had a quartet of players each tally 5 points: Jocelyn Amos (3g, 2a), Joy Dunne (2g, 3a), Emma Peschel (1g, 4a), and Makenna Webster (5a). Kiara Zanon (2g, 2a) & Jenna Bugioni (1g, 3a) each added four points for the Buckeyes, and Sloane Matthews posted a hat trick in the second game at Ridder. Skylar Vetter played between the pipes for the first game in Columbus, making 21 saves but taking the loss; Hannah Clark went 2-1-1 in the other four meetings, stopping a combined 111 shots with a .910 save percentage and 2.69 goals-against average. OSU's Amanda Thiele started four of the games and also entered the other in relief; she finished with an .890 SV% and 2.78 GAA; Hailey MacLeod got the other start, stopping 19 of 22 shots in two periods.

Analyzing the Buckeyes – Ohio State is working with a reloaded roster after all six of their 2024-2025 graduate student players were drafted by PWHL teams. Still, they retain the #2 ranking nationally after finishing second in last year's WCHA standings with a 19-6-3-2 conference record (3-0 in OT), posting a 5-0-0 mark in regular-season non-conference play, and advancing to the NCAA Championship Game before losing to Wisconsin 4-3 in overtime. Starting 2025-2026, they have sweeps at Colgate (5-3 & 9-4) and home against Bemidji State (more on those games shortly).

Joy Dunne (#16) returns for her junior season after leading the Buckeyes in all three scoring stats as a sophomore, posting 29 goals & 33 assists for 62 points; with four games played in the new hockey year, she's tied for fourth with 4 points (2g, 2a). Junior Jocelyn Amos also returns after tallying 52 points on 27 goals & 25 assists as a sophomore; she has 3 goals to start the new season. However, the next four players on OSU's 2024-2025 scoring list were among those drafted, leaving (now) sophomore Jordyn Petrie (#19) as the next highest-scoring returner, posting 22 points on 13 goals & 9 assists; she has two goals so far this year. This year's scoring table, though, is led by a trio from Sweden; freshman Hilda Svensson (#8) has 3 goals & 3 assists, sophomore defender Mira Jungåker (#14) has 2 goals & 3 assists, and freshman Jenna Raunio (#9) has dished out 5 helpers.

With Amada Thiele also among the drafted 2024-2025 grad students, senior Hailey MacLeod (#35) remains as the Buckeyes' top goaltender; during her junior year, she posted an 8-1-1 record (with one no-decision) in 11 starts with 3 shutouts, a 1.63 goals-against average, and a .907 save percentage. Starting the new year, MacLeod has played – and won – all four games for OSU, recording one shutout, a 2.01 GAA and an .852 SV%. Two Minnesotans serve as the Buckeyes' backups; sophomore Genny Klein (#1) from Apple Valley played a combined 53½ minutes of relief action last year, yielding 2 goals on 17 shots (.882 SV%), while Moorhead native Taylor Kressin (#30) joined the team as a freshman.

Last action for Ohio State – The Buckeyes opened their conference schedule with a home series against Bemidji State and started the series with a four-goal first period en route to a 6-0 shutout win; Jocelyn Amos lit the lamp twice, Sloane Matthews added a goal & an assist, and Hailey MacLeod needed only 9 saves for the clean sheet. Hailey Armstrong gave the Beavers a 1-0 lead in the rematch on a power-play goal, but Emma Peschel evened the score for OSU before the first intermission and Hilda Svensson, already with an assist on Peschel's goal, lit the lamp in the second period; MacLeod stopped another 9 shots in total for the 2-1 Buckeyes victory. After entering the first game in relief and starting the second contest, BSU netminder Ava Hills stopped a combined 70 of 72 shots over 86 minutes of action.

Gophers sweep Huskies to open WCHA conference play

A five-point performance (2 goals, 3 assists) by Sarah Paul, three more goals by Abbey Murphy, and a combined 28 saves over four periods of action by Hannah Clark helped lead the Gopher Women's Hockey team to a series sweep of St. Cloud State, 4-1 on Friday at Ridder Arena and 5-3 Saturday in St. Cloud.

Following a scoreless first period to open the weekend, Josefin Bouveng lit the lamp off a pass from Paul, but Maria Mikaelyan evened the score for the Huskies later in the second. But Murphy lit the lamp with a ricochet off of SCSU netminder Jojo Chobak, Paul doubled the Gopher lead just 41 seconds later, and Tereza Plosová added a late empty-netter.

In the rematch, Laura Zimmermann lit the lamp on a deflected shot to give the Huskies a 1-0 first-intermission lead despite a 17-7 shots-on-goal advantage for Minnesota. Chloe Primerano evened the score 1:46 into the second period and Murphy converted a power play 9½ minutes later to put the Gophers in the lead, but SCSU got their own power-play goal when another shot deflected off a Gopher, off of Mikaelyan's foot, and into the net to knot the score again. Murphy's third goal of the series put Minnesota back in the lead, but Avery Farrell tallied for the Huskies with 31.1 seconds left in the 2nd to send the contest to the break tied up 3-3. But Paul lit the lamp for the Gophers on a spin-o-rama 55 seconds into period 3, Emma Kreisz added an insurance goal just over 4 minutes after that, and Clark made that stand with 9 saves over a 20-minute relief appearance. Layla Hemp had started for the Gophers and made 14 saves before being relieved. Huskies starting goaltender Emilia Kyrkkö stopped 30 shots over the first 32 minutes of the contest but exited the game following a collision; Chobak replaced her and made another 13 saves.

In addition to her goal Friday, Bouveng was also credited with two assists to finish with a 3-point series. Gracie Graham, Madison Kaiser, and Ava Lindsay each also dished out two assists.

Hannah Clark tabbed as WCHA Goaltender of the Week

Gopher sophomore Hannah Clark was named WCHA Goaltender of the Week after her performance against St. Cloud State, the third weekly honor of her collegiate career. As noted above, she stopped a combined 28 of 29 shots over four periods of action, resulting in a 0.75 goals-against average and .966 save percentage in the series. In addition to Friday's win at Ridder Arena, she was also credited with Saturday's victory as Sarah Paul's game-winning goal was scored after she entered the contest.

Congratulations, Hannah!!

Murphy reaches 2nd in Gopher career goals – With her three goals this past weekend, Abbey Murphy has reached 115 for her career, tying Hannah Brandt for second place all-time in the Minnesota Women's Hockey record book. Entering the upcoming series against Ohio State, Murphy trails only current Buckeyes head coach Nadine Muzerall, who lit the lamp 139 times playing for the Maroon & Gold.

Looking at overall scoring, Murphy is now up to 18 points (12g, 6a) this season, bringing her career total to 213 (115g, 98a). She still remains 9th in Gopher history, but her deficit to Kelly Stephens for eighth place has decreased to 6 points.

Around the WCHA...

Tommies, Mavericks split in Mankato – Ayla Puppe gave Minnesota State a first-period lead against St. Thomas in their weekend opener on Friday, but Nora Sauer scored for UST just 2½ minutes later; the teams played the rest of regulation tied 1-1, but Jenessa Gazdik found an open Teagan Kulenkamp in overtime and she lit the lamp for a 2-1 victory for the Tommies. MSU netminder Hailey Hansen stopped all 15 shots she faced in Saturday's rematch and Kamryn Van Batavia, Whitney Tuttle (PP) and Zoe Lopez (EN) scored for the Mavericks for a 3-0 shutout victory and series split. Hansen finished with 39 saves over the weekend, while St. Thomas' Julia Minotti stopped a combined 50 shots.

Badger power-play goals sink Bulldogs – Third-period goals by Caitlin Kraemer and Molly Cole gave Minnesota Duluth a 3-2 lead in their opener on the road at Wisconsin, but a major penalty on the Bulldogs with 2:09 remaining put the Badgers on the power play and they capitalized twice; pulling the goalie for another extra attacker, Caroline Harvey lit the lamp 6-on-4 with 20.9 seconds to play to knot the score and, back to 5-on-4, Cassie Hall followed with her second goal of the game with just 8.6 seconds left for a 4-3 Wisconsin victory. In the rematch, Harvey tallied another power-play goal and two assists, Laney Potter, Adéla Šapovalivová (PP) & Lacey Eden (PP) also lit the lamp, and McNaughton stopped all 22 shots she faced for a 4-0 shutout victory and series sweep. UMD's Ève Gascon made a combined 95 saves over the weekend.

Upcoming games – Wisconsin will get action started Friday as they play in the 2025 Icebreaker Tournament, hosted by Union College in Schenectady, NY; the Badgers will face Vermont in the opener, then take on either Union or St. Anselm on Saturday. Meanwhile, St. Thomas will face St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth will host Minnesota State, with both of those series also being played Friday and Saturday.

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Power Play Club

October 9, 2025

The Two-Minute Minor - An Edition of the Penalty Box Post - Thursday, October 9, 2025

Power Play Club

October 9, 2025

January Gopher series against Bemidji State at Sanford Center now part of 218 Sports Women's Hockey Showcase

218 Sports, a non-profit organization based out of Bemidji, has announced three weekends of sports showcases at the Sanford Center in January and February. The Gopher Women's Hockey team's WCHA series against Bemidji State will be part of the Women's Hockey Showcase on January 16 & 17, with Minnesota State High School League games (featuring teams from Bemidji H.S., Hill-Murray, Orono, and Warroad) and a Fan Fest also occurring those days. The full schedule of events can be found here, with the contests between the Gophers and Beavers happening as previously announced – Friday, January 16 at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday, January 17 at 3:30 p.m.

Tickets – One ticket will get you into all the events on either single day, and full weekend (two-day) discounted packages are also available for purchase. See the ticket information page for more details, including special codes required to purchase the two-day packages.

With the additional games being played at the showcase, we encourage any Gopher fans planning on traveling to Bemidji to make your lodging reservations as soon as possible! We look forward to seeing many of your there to support the Maroon & Gold!!

Field Trip Day Reminder

Meanwhile, we provide a reminder that the home game on Friday, November 14 against Bemidji State has been designated as the Gophers' second Field Trip Day game, presented by Kwik Trip. The game has been moved to 3M Arena at Mariucci and has a 12:00 p.m. start time. Elementary and middle schools are invited to attend with free admission, and tickets can still be reserved for those groups at z.umn.edu/WHOFieldTripDay2025.

IIHF pushes future Women's World Championships to November, announces Denmark as host of 2026 top division tournament

Per a joint statement from the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) and the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) released on Monday, the two organizations said they “and the global women’s hockey community have come together to reimagine the international calendar, aligning around a shared vision to grow the women’s game and strengthen opportunities for players at every level.”

The biggest impact of that reimagining is that the IIHF Women's World Championships will be pushed to a November timeslot going forward, starting with the 2026 event for the top division and 2027 tournaments for lower divisions. This will put them just ahead of the start of the PWHL season and avoid any clash with that league's calendar and the Olympics.

Denmark was announced as the host nation for the 2026 Women’s World Championship top division, which will be played November 6 through 16. Herning will be one of the host cities, with a second venue to be decided. The women’s lower divisions will still play in April 2026 as previously scheduled before the move to the November slot in 2027.

In addition, a new European Women’s Championship is set to start in April 2027. More details are pending, including the tournament format and the number of competing nations. The event is meant to “[create] more opportunities for elite international competition, ensuring the development of women players throughout the entire season, and elevating visibility for women’s hockey across Europe.”

IIHF announces rebranding – Separately, the IIHF unveiled its new brand identity, designed by TwelfthMan, at its semi-annual congress in France last Friday, October 3, the first update for the organization in 20 years. As per the announcement, “the brand includes an updated logo and wordmark, visual identity, graphic language, colour palette and bespoke font built around the brand essence ‘Home Ice’.”

Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud to undergo remodeling during 2026 off-season

With the Gopher Women's Hockey team scheduled to play St. Cloud State this weekend and the second game of the home-and-home series to take place in St. Cloud, we share news first published in September that a $12.9 million construction project is planned for the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center, to start next March and run through the 2026 off-season.

Specifically, the HBNHC will replace its ice rink cooling plant, which is currently still the original system from when the building opened in 1989. Additionally, both ice sheets at the facility will be reduced in size, with the main rink being narrowed from 200 feet-by-100 feet down to 200'-by-94'. Dasher boards and shielding will be replaced to improve player safety, automatic temperature controls will be upgraded, and new LED lighting will be installed.

The funding came from state Higher Education Asset Preservation and Replacement (HEAPR) money awarded for projects within the Minnesota State University system.

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Power Play Club

October 8, 2025

The Penalty Box Post - Wednesday, October 8, 2025

Power Play Club

October 8, 2025

Goals for a Goal - Supporting Gophers Women’s Hockey

The Goals for a Goal program, a pledge-per-goal campaign, is back for the 2025-2026 season! Register your pledge for every goal the Gopher Women's Hockey team scores all the way through the playoffs, with the option to double your pledge for power play tallies. Pledges can be submitted electronically through the online form at z.umn.edu/GoalsForAGoal. Following the conclusion of the season, you will receive an email with your pledge total and giving instructions.

The Gophers' hot start continued, adding 10 more goals this past weekend to bring their total after four games to 28 goals, with 4 of those coming on the power play!

PPC member enrollment remains open for 2025-2026!

Registration to the Power Play Club for the 2025-2026 season remains open AT ALL LEVELS! Your annual membership enrollment donations are our biggest source of financial support for the team, last year raising more than $34,000.

Locker Sponsor level – Please consider sponsoring a GWH player's or coach's locker through our top membership tier. The donor's name is posted on a nameplate next to the locker, and donors will have an opportunity to meet with their respective player(s) at our event in January (with pictures and a team meal). A minimum $1,000 donation (per locker) is required, though any amount over and above that is encouraged. If you are interested, either as a renewing or new Locker Sponsor, please contact Bob Milligan at milligandanes@gmail.com as soon as possible but do not submit a donation at this time; donation instructions for Locker Sponsors will be sent at the start of November.

Basic Membership level – A minimum donation of $125 is required for our basic membership tier, which includes up to two adults and any children at same address. Online registration is preferred at z.umn.edu/PPC25; click the "Make A Gift" button on that page and follow the instructions. To register offline, download the form here and send it in to the listed address, with a check payable to the "University of Minnesota".

#3 Minnesota Gophers vs. #10 St. Cloud State Huskies
Friday, October 10 at 5:30 p.m. – Ridder Arena
Saturday, October 11 at 1:00 p.m. - Herb Brooks National Hockey Center – St. Cloud

After a 4-0 start against non-conference competition, the Gopher Women's Hockey team opens WCHA play with a top-ten matchup when they face the #10 St. Cloud State University Huskies in a home-and-home series.

SCHEDULE CHANGE REMINDER – As we shared last week, the weekend opener this Friday, October 10, at Ridder Arena has been moved up to a 5:30 p.m. start. The rematch at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud on Saturday, October 11, is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.

Game coverage –Saturday's contest in St. Cloud will be televised live onFOX 9+in the Twin Cities and surrounding area. Both games will have video streaming through the B1G+ subscription service (Friday/Saturday). FREE audio play-by-play can be found on GopherSports.com (Friday/Saturday). Live stats will also beavailable via GopherSports.com.

Last year against St. Cloud State –The Gophers and Huskies split their four-game season series in 2024-2025. In November, Minnesota took the first meeting, 5-2, at Ridder Arena, but SCSU responded with a 3-1 victory in St. Cloud the next day. The situation was reversed in February as the Huskies earned a 4-3 road win at Ridder before the Gophers took the rematch in St. Cloud, 2-1. Ava Lindsay led the Gophers with 5 points on 2 goals & 3 assists, Ella Huber added 2 goals & 2 assists, Peyton Hemp and Sydney Morrow each dished out 4 helpers, and Abbey Murphy netted a hat trick in the first of the four meetings. St. Cloud State's Avery Farrell and Breija Parent each tallied a goal & 2 assists, Dayle Ross dished out 3 assists, and Abby Promersberger, Sofianna Sundelin, and Emma Gentry each lit the lamp twice. In net, Hannah Clark went 2-2, posting a 2.52 goals-against average and .905 save percentage; Emilia Kyrkkö & Sanni Ahola split the four games for SCSU, each going 1-1, with Kyrkkö recording a 3.55 GAA & .899 SV% while Ahola tallied a 1.52 GAA & .962 SV%.

Analyzing the Huskies –Perhaps the biggest change for St. Cloud State this past offseason was the departure of Brian Idalski to PWHL Vancouver and thehiring of Gopher alumna Mira Jalosuo as their new head coach. She inherited a team that finished 5th in the WCHA last season with a 10-13-5-1 (1-1 in OT) mark in league play and a 15-13-6 regular-season record overall. The Huskies' 2024-2025 season concluded with a pair of one-goal losses (3-2 & 2-1) at Minnesota Duluth in the WCHA Quarterfinals.

St. Cloud State returns three of last year's top four scorers, all as juniors this season. Alice Sauriol (#4) led the team in overall scoring (22 points) and assists (15), lighting the lamp 7 times herself. Sofianna Sundelin (#34) also hit the 20-point mark, netting 13 goals while dishing out 7 assists. Laura Zimmermann (#11) added 7 goals and 8 assists. Four games into 2025-2026, sophomore Siiri Yrjölä (#41) leads the Huskies with 5 points on a goal & 4 assists, freshman Julianne Labbé (#17) has 2 goals and 2 assists, and Sundelin has a goal & two helpers.

SCSU also has a pair of seasoned goaltenders in Emilia Kyrkkö and Jojo Chobak. Kyrkkö (#42), now a sophomore, went 7-7-3 last season with 3 shutouts, a 1.98 goals-against average, and a .926 save percentage. Chobak (#29) returns as a graduate student after missing last season; over her two previous years in St. Cloud, she went 16-18-2 with 9 shutouts, a .931 SV%, and a 2.04 GAA. Senior Hali Lawrence (#56) has joined the Huskies as a transfer from Post University where she was 1-8-0 in nine career starts with a 5.14 GAA and .860 SV%. Redshirt sophomore Paige Hoogendam (#31) has yet to see any official action.

Last action for St. Cloud State –In a battle of ranked Huskies teams two weekends ago, SCSU and UConn split their series in Connecticut, each winning by a 2-1 score. UConn took the lead in the opener on a goal by Megan Woodworth, but St. Cloud State's Raili Mustonen knotted the score 6½ minutes later and Julianne Labbé lit the lamp 2:33 into the third period; that was enough as Emilia Kyrkkö stopped 35 of 36 shots for the victory. Brooke Campbell gave Connecticut another first-period lead in the rematch with a power-play tally, only to see Sydney Bryant score unassisted for SCSU in the second stanza. But UConn's Livvy Dewar scored on another power play later in the frame and Tia Chan got the win with 36 saves, while St. Cloud State's Jojo Chobak stopped 29 shots.

Gophers stay perfect with road sweep of Boston University

Getting their first road test of the season with a trip to Beantown to face a second-straight Boston team, the Gophers remained undefeated with a sweep of the B.U. Terriers, getting a 5-0 shutout Friday followed by a 5-2 come-from-behind victory on Saturday.

A first-period, power-play goal by Abbey Murphy put Minnesota in the lead in the opener, and Nelli Laitinen doubled the advantage in the second stanza. Still up only 2-0 going to the third, Bella Fanale & Madison Kaiser extended the lead to 4-0, and Murphy netted her second goal of the contest to seal it. At the other end, Hannah Clark stopped all 24 shots she faced for the clean sheet. Mari Pietersen made 44 saves for Boston University.

Murphy got things rolling again on Saturday, opening the scoring 6:36 into the contest, but Sydney Healey tied things up for B.U. under four minutes later. Just past the midway point of the second period, Anežka Cabelová lit the lamp to put the Terriers in the lead. But the Gophers responded with a four-goal third period; Murphy knotted the score with her second goal of the game and 4th of the series, Laitinen netted her second goal of the weekend to put Minnesota back ahead, Tereza Plozová added an insurance goal just 21 seconds later, and Murphy completed a hat trick with an empty-netter. Layla Hemp made 25 saves for the win, while B.U.'s Michelle Pasiechnyk stopped 31 shots.

Murphy, Fanale and Morrow earn more conference honors

Following their respective WCHA Player of the Week awards for their performances two weekends ago against Boston College, Gophers Abbey Murphy, Bella Fanale, and Sydney Morrow were named the league's Forward, Rookie, and Defender of the Month for September. Murphy tallied a combined 9 points on four goals & four assists, Fanale debuted with a six-point (3g, 3a) weekend, and Morrow had a 5-point (2g, 3a) showing.

Rolling into October, Murphy's 5-goal, one-assist performance this past weekend at Boston University earned her a second-straight WCHA Forward of the Week award. Additionally, she continued her climb in the Minnesota Women's Hockey records. Her 5 goals brought her career total to-date to 112, moving her past both Amanda Kessel (108) and Grace Zumwinkle (109) into 3rd all-time, trailing Hannah Brandt for second by only 3 more. She also moved up to 8th place in total scoring with 210 points (112g, 98a), passing Zumwinkle (209 pts).

Congratulations Abbey, Bella, and Sydney!!

Around the WCHA...

Wisconsin blanks Maine – Laila Edwards tallied two goals & two assists, Kirsten Simms added a goal & 3 helpers, and Ava McNaughton & Rhyah Stewart combined for 41 saves as Wisconsin swept their home-opening series, shutting out Maine by back-to-back 5-0 scores. Kiia Lahtinen stopped 95 shots for the Black Bears.

Ohio State earns road sweep of Colgate – The Buckeyes used a three-goal 3rd period on Friday to defeat the Raiders, 5-3, to open their weekend series, then tallied 6 goals in the second stanza Saturday en route to a 9-4 victory and the sweep. Joy Dunne and Hilda Svensson each tallied 2 goals & 2 assists for OSU, while Alexis Petford led Colgate with two goals and an assist.

Minnesota State knocks off Lindenwood – Ayla Puppe lit the lamp twice and Hailey Hansen posted a 17-save clean sheet on Friday, Makayla Moran netted Saturday's game-winning goal midway through the third period, and Lauren Zawoyski dished out 3 assists as the Mavericks swept the Lions, 4-0 & 3-2. Michaela Paulinyova and Lucie Quarto scored for Lindenwood.

Bemidji State sweeps Robert Morris – Hailey Armstrong lit the lamp five times, including all four of the Beavers' goals on Saturday, and Kaitlin Groess stopped a combined 39 of 40 shots as BSU earned 3-0 and 4-1 victories over the Colonials. Morgan Giannone netted the lone goal for RMU.

Upcoming games – All eight WCHA teams are in league action this week. In two other Friday-Saturday series, Minnesota State hosts St. Thomas and Bemidji State heads to Columbus to visit Ohio State. Meanwhile, #4 Minnesota Duluth and #1 Wisconsin will play on Saturday and Sunday in Madison.

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Follow the Gopher women's hockey team and all Univ. of Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletics atgophersports.com. You can also find the Gopher women's hockey team on Facebook atwww.facebook.com/GopherWomensHockey and on X atx.com/GopherWHockey.

Power Play Club

October 1, 2025

The Penalty Box Post - October 1, 2025

Power Play Club

October 1, 2025

Goals for a Goal program returns for the new season!

One of our fundraisers for the Gopher Women's Hockey team is our Goals for a Goal program, a pledge-per-goal campaign, which is back for the 2025-2026 season! Register your pledge for every goal the Gophers score all the way through the playoffs, with the option to double your pledge for power play tallies. Pledges can be submitted electronically through the online form at z.umn.edu/GoalsForAGoal. Following the conclusion of the season, you will receive an email with your pledge total and giving instructions. In 2024-2025, Minnesota lit the lamp 153 times with 35 of those coming on the power play, resulting in nearly $3,400 raised for the program.

The Gophers have already started the season with a bang, netting 18 goals in their opening series, three of which came on the power play! (More details are provided in our recap below.) We'll continue to update this scoreboard as the year progresses.

PPC member enrollment remains open for 2025-2026!

Looking ahead – Oct. 10 game vs. SCSU moved to 5:30 p.m.

SCHEDULE CHANGE!! The next home game at Ridder Arena for the Gopher Women's Hockey team, coming up on Friday, October 10 against the St. Cloud State Huskies, has been moved up ½ hour to a 5:30 p.m. start time. The change is to mitigate traffic concerns due to that evening's Homecoming parade on University Avenue. We look forward to seeing you at the arena!!

#3 Minnesota Gophers at #13 Boston University Terriers
Friday, October 3 at 6 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. CT
Saturday, October 4 at 4 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. CT
Walter Brown Arena – Boston, MA

Coming off a pair of high-scoring games to open their season at home, the Gopher Women's Hockey team heads to Beantown for their first road test, facing the #13-ranked Boston University Terriers. The two squads will square off this Friday, October 3 at 6 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. CT and again on Saturday, October 4 at 4 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. CT at Walter Brown Arena.

Game coverage – With Boston University being a member of Hockey East, video streaming for both contests will be through the ESPN+ subscription service (Friday / Saturday). FREE audio play-by-play can be found on GopherSports.com (Friday / Saturday). Live stats will also be available via GopherSports.com.

Last time against B.U. – The Gophers and Terriers met early last season at Ridder Arena. The opening contest of the weekend series was scoreless through 58 minutes, but a major penalty against B.U. put Minnesota on a power play and Abbey Murphy converted with 1:20 to play; an 11-save shutout performance by Skylar Vetter made that stand for a 1-0 victory. In the rematch, five different Gophers lit the lamp with Murphy tallying a goal & an assist and Natalie Mlynkova dishing out three helpers; Lilli Welcke and Riley Walsh scored for the Terriers, but Hannah Clark posted 12 saves for the 5-2 win and series sweep. B.U.'s Callie Shanahan stopped 40 shots in the Friday contest and Mari Pietersen made 21 saves in the Saturday game.

Analyzing the Terriers – With two games left in the 2024-2025 regular season, Boston University needed only to force overtime in one of those contests against Connecticut to earn the Hockey East Regular-Season Championship; however, the Huskies swept the Terriers, 4-1 and 3-1, to take the title and drop B.U. to second place. Despite that setback, B.U. recovered with three-straight overtime wins in the league playoffs – 4-3 over Vermont, 3-2 over Boston College (2OT), and 3-2 over Northeastern – to claim the Hockey East Playoff Championship and the conference's autobid to the NCAA Tournament. Earning the #8 seed, though, the Terriers were one-and-done as they fell 3-1 to #9 Clarkson in the regional semifinal, finishing with a 24-12-2 record (including postseason play) and a 18-7-2-1 (1-1 in OT) mark in regular-season league action. Entering 2025-2026, the Terriers were initially ranked #11 in both pre-season national polls, but have already slid down to #13 despite not yet having played any official games.

The Terriers enter the year with a new look after four of their top six scorers from last season all completed their collegiate careers. That said, scoring leader Sydney Healey (#11) returns as a senior after recording a team-high 15 goals and adding 8 assists for 23 points during her junior year. Another senior, Clara Yuhn (#19), was the only other Terrier to reach double-digits in goals (11) in 2024-2025; she also dished out 7 assists for 18 total points. Additionally, despite the graduations from last year's squad, B.U. comes in with five other seniors on this season's roster, including next-highest returning scorer Rylie Walsh (#21; 9g, 8a last year), German National Team members Lilli and Luisa Welcke (#26 & #16, respectively), and Minnesota native Maeve Kelly (#24).

B.U. is backstopped by a pair of experienced netminders. After taking a year off, Michelle Pasiechnyk (#1) returns to NCAA competition as a grad transfer from Clarkson, where she went a combined 74-28-5 over four seasons with 21 shutouts, a 1.58 goals-against average, and a .935 save percentage, also being named both NCAA Goaltender of the Year and ECAC Goaltender of the Year in 2023-2024. Junior Mari Pietersen (#92) was the Terriers' primary backup last season; over her first two years (combined), she's 11-6-1 in 19 appearances (18 starts) with 2 shutouts, a 2.44 GAA, and an .890 SV% (2.08 GAA & .911 SV% last season). They are joined this season by freshmen Sydney Fogu (#33) and Jackie Wright (#35).

Last weekend for Boston University – B.U. hosted the Concordia University (Montreal) Stingers in exhibition last Friday. Four different Terriers lit the lamp and Keira Healey was their top overall scorer with 2 assists; however, the game ended in a 4-4 overtime tie with B.U. winning a shootout, 2-0 in two rounds. Michelle Pasiechnyk, Mari Pietersen, and Jackie Wright combined for 26 saves.

Gophers rout Boston College in season-opening sweep

Coming into the new season with 10 new faces and opening official action against a Boston College squad they hadn't seen in nearly 6 years, the Gopher Women's Hockey team seemed to have little difficulty against the Eagles in their weekend series at Ridder Arena. A combination of a five-goal first period and stout defense gave Minnesota a 7-1 victory in the Thursday opener. Already leading 1-0 after 20 minutes of Friday's rematch, the Gophers found the back of the B.C. net 10 more times while getting a solid goaltending performance at the other end for an 11-0 blowout and the sweep. Ten different Gophers lit the lamp at various times in the series, and another four each had at least one assist.

On Thursday, freshman Bella Fanale netted the team's first goal of the season, the first of her collegiate career. Chloe Primerano doubled the lead a short time later and Fanale added a second goal on a power play 71 seconds after that. Sophomore Kendra Distad followed with her first career goal and Abbey Murphy added her first of the season before the game was 20-minutes old. Molly Jordan pushed the lead to 6-0 with her first goal as a Gopher, coming against her former team. Ava Thomas got the Eagles on the board later in the second stanza, but Nelli Laitinen lit the lamp for Minnesota in the third for the final result. Murphy dished out 3 helpers for a four-point game, Ava Lindsay & Sydney Morrow also recorded 3 assists apiece, and Sienna D'Alessandro recorded her first collegiate point with an assist on Distad's goal. Hannah Clark needed only 9 saves for the victory as the Gophers held B.C. to only 10 shots on goal in contest, including none in the first period.

Friday night saw more of an evenly played first period, though Morrow lit the lamp to put Minnesota up 1-0 at the intermission. In the second, Sarah Paul converted on a power play for her first Gopher goal, Tereza Plosová netted her first collegiate goal, and Murphy found the back of the net twice to make it a 5-0 game after 40 minutes. That score remained unchanged midway through the third stanza, but the Gophers then struck four times in a 98-second span; Plosová scored her second goal of the game, Josefin Bouveng tallied her first of the season, Morrow netted her second of the contest, and Murphy completed her hat trick. The scoring wasn't done as Jordan converted another power play for her second goal of the weekend and Fanale added her third. Meanwhile, Layla Hemp made 25 saves in her collegiate debut, including a glove snag at the final horn, to earn her first career win and shutout. In addition to her 3 goals, Murphy added two assists for a 5-point contest and Fanale added three assists to her goal for a four-point effort. Meanwhile, Lindsay & D'Alessandro each dished out another three helpers to give them (respectively) 6 and 4 points in the series, and Jamie Nelson also tallied two assists for her first points as a Gopher.

Milestones reached and conference honors awarded

With the team finding the back of the net 18 times this past weekend, milestone scoring marks were reached and weekly honors from the WCHA were earned.

Abbey Murphy's fifth point of the series against Boston College, an assist on Sydney Morrow's first-period goal on Friday, was her 200th career point, making her the eleventh player in Gopher Women's Hockey history to reach that mark. However, she was not done there; her second goal of that game brought her points total to 202, moving her into ninth place in the Minnesota record book for overall scoring ahead of both Dani Cameranesi and Ambria Thomas. Completing her hat trick in the third period, Murphy also moved up in the Gophers' all-time goals list with 107, putting her past Krissy Wendell's 106 and into fifth place. Adding another assist after that, Murphy sits at 204 career points on 107 goals and 97 assists.

A trio of Gophers were recognized by the WCHA for their performances in the series against the Eagles. Tallying a combined 9 points (4g, 5a), Murphy earned the honor as the league's Forward of the Week. Meanwhile, a six-point (3g, 3a) debut weekend by Bella Fanale earned her the Rookie of the Week award, and Sydney Morrow was named the Defender of the Week after her 5-point (2g, 3a) showing.

Another Gopher to also hit a milestone for scoring was senior Josefin Bouveng. Her goal in Friday's contest was her 42nd at Minnesota to go with 58 assists, giving her 100 career points!

We send our congratulations to all four players on these achievements!!

Around the WCHA...

Minnesota Duluth blanks Syracuse – In the other Thursday-Friday series this past week, UMD netminder Ève Gascon posted back-to-back clean sheets with 46 combined saves, Thea Johansson lit the lamp 3 times, and Caitlin Kraemer added two goals & an assist as the Bulldogs earned a pair of 4-0 shutout road victories over the Orange. Ava Drabyk stopped 78 shots in the series for Syracuse.

St. Thomas earns road sweep at Lindenwood – A three-goal Tommies lead in the opener was whittled away by the Lions and disappeared completely when Silje Gundersen scored an extra-attacker goal for LU with 1:19 left in regulation; however, Cara Sajevic responded for St. Thomas, lighting the lamp just 21 seconds later for the 4-3 road victory. Lindenwood took a 1-0 lead early in the second period of the rematch on a goal by Zsofia Pazmandi, but Teagan Kulenkamp knotted the score 6½ minutes later and Keara Parker, already with an assist on Kulenkamp's goal, lit the lamp with 4:45 remaining in the third for a 2-1 UST win and the weekend sweep. Julia Minotti made a combined 44 saves for the Tommies to earn both wins.

Wisconsin rolls past Bemidji State – Maggie Scannell tallied a hat trick Friday and added a fourth goal Saturday, Kirsten Simms recorded 3 goals & an assist, and Lacey Eden (2g, 2a), Cassie Hall (2g, 2a), and Caroline Harvey (4a) each also posted a 4-point series as the Badgers earned the road sweep of the Beavers, 9-2 & 5-0. Ava McNaughton earned both wins with 26 combined saves. Maddie Kaiser and Kate Johnson scored for BSU and Kaitlin Groess stopped 61 combined shots.

St. Cloud State splits at Connecticut – In a battle of ranked Huskies teams, Raili Mustonen & Julianne Labbé scored and Emilia Kyrkkö stopped 35 of 36 shots for a 2-1 come-from-behind victory for SCSU in their opener on the road at UConn. In the rematch, Livvy Dewar tallied a first-period assist and the game-winning second-period power-play goal and Tia Chan made 36 saves for a 2-1 Connecticut win to split the series.

Upcoming games – In addition to the Gophers, four other WCHA teams are in non-conference action, all playing Friday and Saturday. Ohio State opens their season with a road trip to Colgate. Meanwhile, Minnesota State hosts Lindenwood, Bemidji State hosts Robert Morris, and Wisconsin hosts Maine. Minnesota Duluth, St. Cloud State, and St. Thomas are idle.

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Power Play Club

September 23, 2025

The Penalty Box Post - Tuesday, September 23, 2025

Power Play Club

September 23, 2025

Postgame reception, new Gopher intros Friday (Sept. 26)

We encourage all Minnesota Women's Hockey fans attending Friday's (September 26) game against Boston College to stick around afterward as the Power Play Club and team will be having a postgame reception in the lobby of Ridder Arena, featuring the introduction of the 10 new Gophers!! We hope to see many of you both during and after the game against the Eagles!!

2025-2026 SEASON & HOME OPENER!!
#3 Minnesota Golden Gophers vs. Boston College Eagles
Thursday and Friday, September 25 & 26 – Both games at 6 p.m.
Ridder Arena

The puck officially drops on the 29th season of University of Minnesota Golden Gopher Women's Hockey as they open action at home, hosting the Boston College Eagles. The teams will take to the Ridder Arena ice this Thursday, September 25 at 6:00 p.m., then square off again on Friday, September 26 also at 6:00 p.m.

Game coverage – Both contests will have video streaming through the B1G+ subscription service (Thursday / Friday) and FREE audio play-by-play through GopherSports.com (Thursday / Friday). Live stats will also be available via GopherSports.com.

GWH Championship Recognition on Friday!! In addition to the Power Play Club's postgame reception, two Gopher Women's Hockey teams of the past will be recognized at Friday's contest: the 2016 NCAA Championship squad during the first intermission, followed by the 2000 AWCHA Championship team during the second intermission!!

Last time against B.C. – The Gophers and Eagles last met in the 2019 Country Classic in suburban Nashville, TN, over Thanksgiving weekend. Boston College took a pair of one-goal leads as Delaney Belinskas & Kelly Browne both scored short-handed, but Taylor Wente and Grace Zumwinkle lit the lamp for Minnesota to knot the contest and it finished in a 2-2 tie. Sydney Scobee made 27 saves for the Gophers, while Maddy MacArthur stopped 41 shots for B.C.

Analyzing the Eagles – Boston College comes into the 2025-2026 season unranked, though they did receive votes in both national polls after posting a 20-12-2 regular-season record last year. Finishing third in Hockey East with a 16-9-2-1 conference mark (2-2 in overtime), they defeated Maine 4-3 in the league playoff quarterfinals but fell to cross-town rival Boston University in the semifinals, 3-2 in double overtime, which brought their season to a close.

A familiar face will be on the Eagles' bench as former Gopher Emma Conner transferred to Boston College for her redshirt senior season, wearing #20, after tallying 5 goals & 3 assists last year. However, Minnesota returned the favor by picking up junior defender Molly Jordan, who posted 24 points (8g, 16a) as a sophomore for B.C.

Junior Sammy Taber (#14) returns to the Eagles after being their leading scorer in 2024-2025 with 36 points, a team-high 25 assists, plus 11 goals of her own. However, similar to the Gophers, the Eagles lost the next several players from last year's scoring list; top goal scorer Julia Pellerin is now a member of the UConn Huskies, Abby Newhook & Gaby Roy completed their collegiate careers, and Jordan is a Gopher. Senior Kate Ham (#7) and sophomore Lauren Glaser (#24) are the next-highest returning scorers for B.C. with 17 points apiece; Ham tallied 9 goals & 8 assists last year, while Glaser added 6 goals & 11 assists. Entering 2025-2026, the Eagles have added 6 new freshmen and two transfers (including Conner).

Senior Grace Campbell (#31) has been Boston College's lead goaltender the past two years; starting 32 of their 36 games with two relief appearances last season, she posted a 20-11-2 record, 5 shutouts, a 2.04 goals-against average, and a .930 save percentage. Junior Bailey Callaway (#29) made their other four starts with one relief appearance, going 1-2-0 with one no-decision, a 3.57 GAA, and an .895 SV%. Fellow junior Bella Pomarico (#30) has yet to see any official collegiate action.

Last weekend for Boston College – The Eagles hosted the Stonehill College Skyhawks from the NEWHA in exhibition this past Saturday. However, no details or statistics from that game were available.

Gophers earn exhibition victory – Ava Lindsay led Minnesota with a hat trick, scoring once in the 1st period and twice more in the 2nd, as the Gophers defeated Bemidji State in Brainerd last Saturday, 6-1 after 60 minutes. Sienna D'Alessandro and Tereza Plosová also lit the lamp in the contest. Goaltenders Layla Hemp, Sophia Johnson & Hannah Clark each saw a period of action. Following the third stanza, the Gophers and Beavers played another full 5 minutes of 3-on-3 competition, with Emma Kreisz lighting the lamp. After that, the teams also held a shootout, for which results were unavailable.

Around the WCHA...

SCSU shuts out Lindenwood twice in Jalosuo's coaching debut – Emilia Kyrkkö posted an 18-save clean sheet Friday and Jojo Chobak stopped all 22 shots she faced Saturday as Mira Jalosuo earned her first two wins as head coach of the Huskies, defeating Lindenwood by matching 5-0 scores. Siiri Yrjölä led all scorers with a goal & 4 assists, Maria Mikaelyan lit the lamp twice (once in each game), and Julianne Labbé & Sofianna Sundelin each added a goal & two helpers.

UMD earns road sweep at Mercyhurst – The Bulldogs earned a pair of come-from-behind victories to sweep the Lakers in Erie, PA, 4-3 (OT) and 5-3. Josie St. Martin scored a 6-on-4 power-play, extra-attacker goal Friday to force overtime, and Caitlin Kraemer lit the lamp 2:36 into the extra period. Kraemer netted her second goal of the series and Ida Karlsson recorded a goal & an assist Saturday. Ève Gascon earned both wins with a combined 37 saves.

Minnesota State sweeps Rensselaer – Lauren Goldsworthy lit the lamp 3 times and Zoe Lopez added 2 goals & an assist as the Mavericks swept the Engineers 3-0 and 5-3. Hailey Hansen posted a 30-save shutout for MSU on Friday and added another 18 saves Saturday.

St. Thomas sweeps Post – Nine different Tommies lit the lamp as they completed an 8-0 weekend for WCHA teams in non-conference play, sweeping the Post Eagles 7-0 and 6-1. Rylee Bartz led UST with 5 points on 3 goals & 2 assists, Chloe Boreen added 3 goals and an assist, Ella Boerger dished out 4 helpers, and Julia Minotti needed only 17 saves over 111 minutes to earn both victories in net.

Upcoming games – One other WCHA team will be in Thursday & Friday non-conference action as UMD is on the road for a second-straight week, visiting Syracuse. In a trio of Friday-Saturday series, St. Cloud State is on the road at Connecticut, St. Thomas heads to Lindenwood, and the in-conference schedule opens with Bemidji State hosting Wisconsin. Minnesota State and Ohio State are idle.

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Power Play Club

September 17, 2025

The Penalty Box Post - Wednesday, September 10 and Wednesday, September 17, 2025

Power Play Club

September 17, 2025

The Penalty Box Post Newsletters sent on Wednesday, September 10th and Wednesday, September 17th, are combined in this entry.

Reminder: PPC membership for 2025-2026 open at all levels!
First member-exclusive Chalk Talk scheduled for November 15

Registration to the Power Play Club for the 2025-2026 season remains open AT ALL LEVELS as Gopher Women's Hockey enters its 29th season of competition! Your annual membership enrollment donations are our biggest source of financial support for the team, last year raising more than $34,000.

Locker Sponsor level – Please consider sponsoring a GWH player's or coach's locker through our top membership tier. The donor's name is posted on a nameplate next to the locker, and donors will have an opportunity to meet with their respective player(s) at our event in January (with pictures and a team meal). A minimum $1,000 donation (per locker) is required, though any amount over and above that is encouraged. If you are interested, either as a renewing or new Locker Sponsor, please contact Bob Milligan at milligandanes@gmail.com as soon as possible but do not submit a donation at this time; donation instructions for Locker Sponsors will be sent at the start of November.

Basic Membership level – A minimum donation of $125 is required for our basic membership tier, which includes up to two adults and any children at same address. Online registration is preferred at z.umn.edu/PPC25; click the "Make A Gift" button on that page and follow the instructions. To register offline, download the form here and send it in to the listed address, with a check payable to the "University of Minnesota".

Chalk Talk access – Exclusive access to our three in-person Chalk Talk events is included with Power Play Club membership at either level. Come join us pre-game to hear from one of the GWH coaches as we discuss team strategy and the previous contest. The first Chalk Talk for 2025-2026 is scheduled for Saturday, November 15, at 12:30 p.m., prior to the second game of the series against Bemidji State, in the Ridder Arena weight room on the suite (upper) level.

Recently added – Exhibition special!
#3 Minnesota Golden Gophers vs. Bemidji State Univ. Beavers
Saturday, September 20 at 3:00 p.m.
Essentia Health Sports Center – Brainerd, MN

In a late addition to the schedule first announced earlier this month, the University of Minnesota Golden Gopher Women's Hockey team will face the Bemidji State University Beavers in exhibition action this Saturday, September 20 at 3:00 p.m. at the Essentia Health Sports Center in Brainerd, MN.

Game notes – The contest in Brainerd is open to the public and tickets are $5 at the door. However, due to this game being an exhibition at a neutral site, no live coverage will be provided; we will post any updates we can via our social media channels. While we note that Bemidji State enters the season with only 2 seniors but 8 new freshmen, we are withholding our full preview of the Beavers until they come to the Twin Cities for their first regular-season meetings with the Gophers in November.

Gopher Preview – Murphy returns, joined by 10 new faces

Heading into 2025-2026, likely the biggest news of the off-season came back in May with the announcement that Abbey Murphy would return, using her final year of eligibility. She posted 33 goals in 2024-2025, the second-straight year she reached that mark, and added 32 assists for a career-high 65 points and a second Top 10 Finalist selection for the Patty Kazmaier Award.

That said, Minnesota is looking to replace the combined 47 goals and 68 assists scored last season by graduates Ella Huber (15g, 33a), Natalie Mlýnková (16g, 18a), and Peyton Hemp (16g, 17a). Senior Josefin Bouveng will be challenged to return to sophomore-season form, posting only 33 points last year (13g, 20a) after hitting the 50-point mark in 2023-2024. The team will also lean on Chloe Primerano, Sydney Morrow, Ava Lindsay, Nelli Laitinen, and Emma Kreisz, who all surpassed the 20-point mark last season. Additionally, the Gopher roster is bolstered by three transfers: grad student Jamie Nelson (from Minnesota State), senior Sarah Paul (from Princeton), and junior Molly Jordan (from Boston College); all three hit career scoring highs last season as Nelson tallied 30 points (8g-22a), Paul recorded 36 points (28g-8a) with an NCAA Division I-leading 0.90 points-per-game average, and Jordan posted 24 points (8g-16a) from her defensive position. Czechia National Team player Tereza Plosová highlights the incoming freshman class, which includes Sydney Bailey, Sienna D'Alessandro, Bella Fanale, Avery Hovland, and Olivia Kortan.

The Gophers enter the season with five returning players on blueline, but only seven defenders in total. Laitinen, Morrow, and Primerano lead the way among the returning Gophers, joined by Gracie Graham and Carly Humphrey. Jordan transfers in to bolster the defense and Bailey enters as freshmen.

Hannah Clark returns for her sophomore year between the pipes after posting a 25-10-1 record with 2 shutouts, a 2.36 goals-against average, and a .904 save percentage last season. Layla Hemp, younger sister of former Gophers Peyton & Josie Hemp, joins the team as a freshman after earning gold and bronze medals in two IIHF Women's U18 World Championships with Team USA. Senior Sophia Johnson is back as the Gophers' third goaltender, having made her Maroon & Gold debut last season with 8 saves on 10 shots in 23 combined minutes of action (two appearances).

Even with the roster changes, the Gophers have garnered the #3 position in both initial national polls issued the past two days. As previously reported, Minnesota was tied with Ohio State for second place in the WCHA Preseason Coaches Poll.

Another storyline is that this is an Olympic year, with the 2026 Winter Games set to occur in Milan and Cortina, Italy in February. Neither USA Hockey nor Hockey Canada are holding centralized training camps due to the advent of the PWHL, facilitating Murphy's return to the Gopher lineup this season. That said, Murphy, Sweden's Bouveng, and Finland's Laitinen are expected to miss several weeks of NCAA play, and other Gophers could be selected for their respective nations' Olympic teams as well.

Around the WCHA...

Streaming continues on B1G+ – As reported by the WCHA yesterday (September 16, 2025) via social media, the league has renewed its agreement for all home games hosted by its member teams to be streamed on the B1G+ subscription service. Annual and monthly subscriptions are available at bigtenplus.com.

Experimental rule change for league games announced – As reported by The Hockey News and confirmed in the league's pre-season Media Day teleconference, the WCHA is debuting an experimental rule for 2025-2026 in which high-sticking the puck is allowed in most situations, including knocking the puck into the goal. The lone exceptions are on penalty shots and in shootouts. This rule will apply to all in-conference games during the regular season, but not in non-conference action nor the postseason. Additionally, high-sticking an opponent will still result in a penalty.

Upcoming games – Five other WCHA teams are in action this week, with four beginning their regular-season schedules in non-conference competition. On Friday & Saturday, St. Cloud State opens with a home series against Lindenwood while Minnesota Duluth visits Mercyhurst and Minnesota State travels to Rensselaer. St. Thomas is on the road at Post University for a Saturday-Sunday series. In exhibition play, Ohio State hosts the Durham West Junior Lightning on Sunday afternoon. Wisconsin will begin its season September 26th.

Murphy named to Preseason All-WCHA Team;
Minnesota ranked tied for 2nd in Preseason Coaches Poll

Gopher sixth-year forward and co-captain Abbey Murphy was named to her third-straight Preseason All-WCHA team as part of the annual preseason honors selected by the league's eight member head coaches. Minnesota defenders Nelli Laitinen, Sydney Morrow, and Chloe Primerano were among the host of players receiving votes for the team. Additionally, Murphy received at least one vote for the league's Preseason Player of the Year, and forward Bella Fanale & goaltender Layla Hemp each received votes for Preseason Rookie of the Year.

Also in the WCHA announcement, the Gophers tied with Ohio State in second place in the Preseason Coaches Poll, each picking up 40 voting points. Minnesota recorded one first-place vote in the process. The two teams trailed Wisconsin, who earned 49 voting points. Minnesota Duluth (31 points), St. Cloud State (24), St. Thomas (17), Minnesota State (16), and Bemidji State (7) rounded out the poll.

Kreisz named Power Play Club Scholarship recipient for 2025-'26

We send a shout-out to Gopher Women's Hockey junior forward Emma Kreisz, who has been named the recipient of the Power Play Club Scholarship for a second-straight year!!

Kreisz, a native of Budapest, Hungary, has 46 points over her first two seasons with the Gophers, coming on 15 goals and 31 assists. Her 9 goals last year were seventh on the team. As we've noted several times, she's also a member of Hungary's Women's National Team, appearing in the top division of the 2022 and 2023 IIHF Women's World Championships and numerous other tournaments & competitions. She is majoring in Psychology.

In memoriam – PPC member Will Kenny (1950-2025)

It is with much sadness that we share news of the passing of Power Play Club member Will Kenny on August 20th. Will was born in 1950, in Port Jervis, NY, met the love of his life, Linda Samide, in kindergarten and was married to her for 54 years. After graduating from McGill University in Montreal, he and Linda ended up in Robbinsdale, MN. Despite his east coast origins, he became a true-blue Minnesotan and (with Linda) part of the loudest row at Ridder Arena, supporting the Gophers Women's Hockey team. Will is survived by his wife, Linda; daughters, Meryl (Josh) and Derin (Dan); granddaughter Kiva; siblings, Jane, Mick (Joyce), and Jude (Vince); and many nephews and nieces. A memorial is planned for the spring, and donations in his memory may be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. His full obituary can be found here.

We send our condolences to Linda and the entire Kenny family on Will's passing.

PPC Board of Directors updates

Linda Kenny announced a leave of absence from the Power Play Club Board of Directors as a director-at-large. She plans on returning next season.

Welcome, Chris McDonald! At its August meeting, the board appointed Chris McDonald as a new director-at-large. Chris is an avid fan of both Gopher Women's Hockey and the Minnesota Frost, a former hockey player himself, and is currently employed in the Minnesota Secretary of State's office.

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Paula Rice Biever

September 4, 2025

Penalty Box Post Quick Hit - Thursday, September 4, 2025

Paula Rice Biever

September 4, 2025

Finland, Germany win late August international tournaments

In a pair of international women's hockey tournaments played last week in Europe, the national teams from Finland and Germany came out on top of the standings in their respective competitions, the first warm-ups leading to the 2026 Olympic Winter Games.

Women's Euro Hockey Tour (Kloten, Switzerland) – The Finns earned a clean sweep, posting 5-2 victories over both Czechia & Sweden and a 5-0 shutout of the host Swiss. The Czechs took the second spot, getting a 4-3 shootout victory over Switzerland and a 2-1 decision over the Swedes. The Swiss shut out Sweden 4-0 on the tournament's opening day to finish 3rd.

Four Nations Tournament (Albertville, France) – The Germans needed a shootout for a 2-1 win over Japan last Thursday, but followed that up with wins over Hungary (5-1) and France (6-3) to earn the top spot. After dropping the shootout to Germany, Japan rebounded with a 5-2 victory over France and their own shootout win, 3-2, over Hungary to finish 2nd. The Francs finished third thanks to a 4-2 victory over the Hungarians on the tournament's opening day.

Gophers in the tournaments – We give a shout-out to the four Minnesota Women's Hockey representatives playing in the two tournaments...

Natalie Mlynkova (CZE) – 2 assists
Emma Kreisz (HUN) – 1 goal (power-play)
Nelli Laitinen (FIN) – 1 assist
Josefin Bouveng (SWE) – did not score

Field Trip Day game (Nov. 14) moved to 3M Arena at Mariucci

As we've noted previously, the Gopher Women's Hockey program's second Field Trip Day game, presented by Kwik Trip, is set for Friday, November 14 against Bemidji State with a 12 noon start. Per an announcement from the U. of M. earlier this week, that game has now been relocated to 3M Arena at Mariucci.

Elementary and middle schools are invited to attend with free admission, and tickets can now be reserved for those groups at z.umn.edu/WHOFieldTripDay2025. For all other fans, single-game tickets are now available for purchase from the Golden Gopher Ticket Office online or by phone at 1-800-U-GOPHER.

Additionally, per the announcement of the location change, "All season ticket holders will be relocated to one section inside of 3M Arena at Mariucci. More information on where to go on gameday will be communicated at a later date." We will share those details when they become available.

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