Power Play Club

The Penalty Box Post
Wednesday, November 10th

In-person Chalk Talks, Brunch with the Coaches cancelled

After discussion with the Gopher Women's Hockey staff, our in-person Chalk Talks and the Brunch with the Coaches have been cancelled for the 2021-2022 season. We look forward to bringing these events back in 2022-2023.

Additional talks are occurring to schedule online Chalk Talks in place of the in-person gatherings. We will pass along those details as soon as they are available, and we thank you for your understanding.

You can help the Power Play Club raise $20,000!

Support Gopher Women’s Hockey on Give to the Max Day: Thursday, November 18, 2021.

(Don’t know what Give to the Max Day is? Read about it here.)

If donors give at least $10,000 on Give to the Max Day, the Power Play Club board and volunteers will match it with a combined gift of $10,000.

Next week you’ll receive an email with a link to the special Give to the Max Day fundraising page for Gopher Women’s Hockey. There will be Facebook and Twitter reminders too. Support the campaign by making a donation of any size and by spreading the word.

PPC Board of Directors update...

Alex Curry has submitted her resignation as Power Play Club treasurer, effective immediately, due to the conflict of interest policy of her employer after accepting a new position. She expressed her pleasure serving as treasurer, and indicated a desire to stay on the Board of Directors through the remainder of the current Gopher Women's Hockey season. Formal approval of retaining Alex on the board is pending, and discussions are in progress to transition treasurer duties to another director.

Please note that the board is in its third season operating with multiple vacancies, which puts a strain on all the current officers and directors. Volunteers are wanted to fill these vacancies or assist with other club responsibilities. If you are interested, please contact PPC president Bill Johnson at president@powerplayclub.org or vice-president Dave Malerich at vicepresident@powerplayclub.org.

#3/3 Minnesota Golden Gophers (7-3-0, 5-3-0-0 in WCHA)
vs. RIT Tigers (0-12-0, 0-2-0 in CHA)

Friday, November 12 at 6:00 p.m.
Saturday, November 13 at 4:00 p.m.
Ridder Arena

Following an off-week after their first 10 games, the Gopher Women's Hockey team returns to action, opening their second set of 10 contests with a non-conference series against the Rochester Institute of Technology Tigers from the CHA. The puck drops at Ridder Arena to open the weekend on Friday evening at 6 p.m., with the rematch scheduled for Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m.

Traffic alert – If you're coming to either game at Ridder Arena, please note that the Gopher Men's Hockey team is also hosting a home series next door at 3M Arena at Mariucci. The men's games start at 6:30 p.m. on Friday and 5:00 p.m. on Saturday. Please allow time for additional vehicular and pedestrian traffic around campus both days.

Last time against RIT – The Gophers and Tigers met in a 2015 NCAA Tournament Quarterfinal at Ridder Arena after RIT recorded several upset victories in the CHA Tournament to win the conference's playoff championship despite a sub-.500 record. Six different Gophers lit the lamp, with three goals on the power play and a shorthanded empty-netter. Carly Payerl scored twice for the Tigers, but Minnesota advanced to the Frozen Four with a 6-2 victory as Kate Schipper and Hannah Brandt each recorded a goal and two assists. Amanda Leveille stopped 17 shots, while RIT's Ali Binnington made 46 saves.

Analyzing the Tigers – After finishing at the bottom of the College Hockey America standings last season, the current campaign hasn't started any better for RIT, falling in their first 12 contests of 2021-2022 and seeing their losing streak extend to 24 games dating back to early January. So far this year, they've been outscored 66-18 and have yielded 16 power-play goals with only a 71.4% penalty kill rate.

Sophomore Lindsay Maloney (#8) leads the Tigers in total scoring; the Lakeville, MN, native has 6 points on 3 goals and 3 assists. Sophomore Emma Roland (#11) has a team-high 4 goals while adding an assist for 5 points. Freshman Megan McCormick (#16) also has 5 points, lighting the lamp 3 times while dishing out two assists, and senior Abby Davies (#18) has also netted 3 goals.

Freshman Sarah Coe (#30) has been the primary goaltender for RIT, starting 10 games and also making a relief appearance; she has an .878 save percentage and 5.29 goals-against average. Junior Taylor Liotta (#32) has 2 starts and 2 relief appearances this season with an .865 SV% and 4.81 GAA, after going 1-3-0 with a .923 SV% and 3.17 GAA last year. Sophomore Emma Stephen (#36) has yet to play in 2021-2022, but was 0-2-0 with an .859 SV% and 6.01 GAA as a freshman.

Last weekend for RIT – Facing Syracuse in a home-and-home series, the Tigers forced overtime against the Orange on Friday in Syracuse; Megan McCormick and Kyla Bear scored for RIT to erase a pair of one-goal deficits, but Sarah Marchand scored for the Orange 2:13 into the extra period for a 3-2 victory. Syracuse completed the sweep with a 7-0 shutout in Rochester on Saturday; Jessica DiGirolamo recorded a goal and two assists and Alison Small stopped all 24 shots she faced.

GWH alumna Leveille returns to Whitecaps for 2021-2022 season

Just two days before the start of the Premier Hockey Federation season, Gopher Women's Hockey alumna Amanda Leveille re-signed with the Minnesota Whitecaps for 2021-2022.

After backstopping the Gophers to the 2015 & 2016 NCAA Championships, Leveille has claimed two Isobel Cup Championships in the PHF, in 2017 with Buffalo and in 2019 with Minnesota. She is also a two-time All-Star and two-time league Goaltender of the Year.

Leveille is the 7th Gopher to sign with the Whitecaps, joining Patti Marshall, Alex Woken, Nicole Schammel, Meghan Lorence, Winny Brodt Brown and Chelsey Rosenthal. The Whitecaps fell in their opening two games at Boston, 6-4 and 1-0, but face the Pride again for the home-opening series at TRIA Rink in St. Paul on November 20 & 21.

Around the WCHA...

Recent action – Bemidji State put the first blemish on Wisconsin's record as BSU netminder Hannah Hogenson posted a 56-save shutout, though the Badgers also held the Beavers off the board for a 0-0 tie, and Daryl Watts' scored the only goal in the shootout to give UW the third point in the standings. Paige Beebe put Bemidji State up 1-0 early in the rematch, but the Badgers responded with a hat trick plus an assist from Watts and 2 goals and an assist from Caitlin Schneider en route to an 8-1 victory.

Despite two goals from Luci Bianchi in their series and an NCAA season-high 58 saves from Alexa Dobchuk on Saturday, St. Thomas was overwhelmed by Ohio State, 8-1 and 6-2. Sophie Jaques led all players with a 6-point weekend, tallying a goal and 5 assists. Jenna Buglioni recorded 2 goals and 3 assists, Jennifer Gardiner dished out 5 helpers, and Liz Schepers lit the lamp 3 times.

Mackenzie Bourgerie lit the lamp twice on Friday – with her second goal coming 1:09 into overtime – and added two assists Saturday as St. Cloud State defeated Minnesota State 3-2 (OT) and 4-1. Emma Gentry recorded two goals and an assist and Sanni Ahola made a combined 74 saves for the Huskies, while Brittyn Fleming assisted on all three Maverick goals.

Upcoming games – The other seven WCHA teams are all idle this weekend, and will return to action on November 19 or 20.

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.