The Penalty Box Post - Wednesday, November 12, 2025

PPC Chalk Talk – Saturday (November 15) at 12:30 p.m.

The first Power Play Club member-exclusive Chalk Talk of the year is scheduled for this Saturday, November 15, at 12:30 p.m., before the second game of the series against the Bemidji State University Beavers.  We will be joined by one of the Gopher coaches to discuss on-ice strategy and the team's performance in Friday's contest.  The Chalk Talk will be held in the Ridder Arena Weight Room, on the upstairs level across the hall from the suites and press box.

 

Membership enrollment continues for 2025-2026 season!

PPC membership enrollment for the 2025-2026 season remains open!  Again, 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 please wait to submit your donation as specific instructions for doing so will be sent to you.

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 up to 58 through 12 games

After 12 games, a little over one-third of the way through the regular season, the Gopher Women's Hockey team has lit the lamp 58 times, with ten (10) of those coming on the power play!

Again, help us convert those goals into donations back to the GWH program 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.

#2 Minnesota Golden Gophers (10-2-0, 6-2-0-0 WCHA) vs. Bemidji State Univ. Beavers (3-6-1, 1-6-1-0 WCHA)
Field Trip Day Game – 3M Arena at Mariucci - Friday, November 14 at 12:00 p.m.
Saturday, November 15 at 2:00 p.m. – Ridder Arena

Following a weekend off for most of Gopher Women's Hockey team, they return home – sort of – for a WCHA series against the Bemidji State Unviersity Beavers.  The teams will first play in the Gophers' second-annual Field Trip Day game, this year being held at 3M Arena at Mariucci; game time is set for 12:00 p.m. this Friday, November 14.  The teams will then move next door to Ridder Arena for the rematch on Saturday, November 15 at 2:00 p.m.

Game coverage –

 
Season ticket seating on Friday – Per an email sent by the U. of M. Ticket Office last week, GWH season ticket holders were advised to sit in sections 17 through 20 at 3M Arena for Friday's contest.

Last year against Bemidji State – The Gophers and Beavers met five times in the regular season last year, with the Maroon & Gold sweeping all five.  Playing in Bemidji last November, the Gophers earned 2-1 & 4-1 victories.  The two squads then met in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Museum Women's Faceoff Classic in Lakeville on New Year's Day; Bemidji State took the initial lead, but Minnesota came back to win 4-1.  Squaring off again in late January, the Gophers again earned a 4-1 win at Ridder Arena and completed the sweep with a 3-1 decision at the Hockey Day Minnesota outdoor game in Shakopee.  The Gophers also more than doubled-up the Beavers on shots-on-goal across the five contests, 169 to 83.

Eleven (11) of the Gophers' 17 goals against the Beavers came from Natálie Mlýnková & Abbey Murphy.  Mlýnková lit the lamp six times, including a two-goal performance in the opener in Bemidji and a hat trick in the Hall of Fame Game; she also dished out a pair of assists for 8 points.  Murphy found the back of the net five times, including two 2-goal games, and recorded 3 assists to also post 8 points.  Ella Huber added a goal and 6 assists in the five meetings.  Morgan Smith was the only Beaver with multiple points, scoring BSU's lone goals in the second game in Bemidji and the outdoor game.  Hannah Clark earned all five wins with 78 saves, a .940 save percentage, and a 1.01 goals-against average; Sophia Johnson also made a brief appearance in Bemidji but did not face an official shot on goal in 3 minutes, 19 seconds of action.  BSU netminders Kaitlin Groess & Eva Filippova split the five contests, posting similar stats; Groess played in the two games at the Sanford Center and the outdoor game, making 90 saves with a .909 SV% and 3.07 GAA, while Filippova stopped 62 shots in her two starts with a .912 SV% and 3.10 GAA.

Earlier this season: Gophers defeat BSU in exhibition – Meeting in Brainerd for an exhibition contest in September, 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 6-1 after 60 minutes.  Sienna D'Alessandro and Tereza Plosová also lit the lamp in the contest.  Layla Hemp, Sophia Johnson & Hannah Clark each saw a period of action between the pipes.  Following the third stanza, the Gophers and Beavers played another full 5 minutes of 3-on-3 competition, with Emma Kreisz finding the back of the net.  After that, the teams also held a shootout, for which results were unavailable.

Analyzing the Beavers – After three-straight seasons finishing at the bottom of the WCHA standings, Bemidji State is looking for improvement this year; getting their first conference win this past weekend (more on that shortly) has moved them out of 8th place for the time being.  They currently hold a 1-6-1-0 league record and a 3-6-1 mark overall, being outscored 33-14 in their ten games.

The Beavers' top four scorers last season are not only back but are again at the top of their stat sheet to start 2025-2026.  Sophomore Morgan Smith (#21) is leading with way with 7 points on 2 goals & 5 assists.  Junior Hailey Armstrong (#29) has lit the lamp 6 times to open the new year.  Fellow junior Kate Johnson (#14) also has 6 points, tallying a goal & 5 helpers, and former Gopher Isa Goettl (#9) – now in her junior year – has two goals and an assist. 

Sophomore netminder Kaitlin Groess (#1) saw a majority of the action for Bemidji State last year, going 3-19-0 with a 3.98 goals-against average and an .887 save percentage; she's 3-3-0 with a shutout, a 3.65 GAA and an .883 SV% so far this season.  Senior Ava Hills (#33) joined the Beavers as a transfer from St. Anselm, having also playing at New Hampshire previously; she's appeared in five games so far for Bemidji State, going 0-3-1 in her four starts despite a 2.44 GAA and .933 SV%.  Freshman Ashlyn Hazlett (#35) made a one-period relief appearance against Wisconsin, yielding 3 goals on 8 shots.  Junior Eva Filippova (#30) went 2-9-0 in 12 starts for BSU last season with one no-decision, one shutout, a 3.25 GAA, and an .897 SV%; however, she has not played since suffering an injury last February.

Last weekend: Beavers earn upset win Saturday to split with Tommies – Playing in Bemidji, Jenessa Gadzik and Rylee Bartz each tallied a goal & two assists for #13 St. Thomas and Julia Minotti posted a 17-save clean sheet in a 5-0 victory over Bemidji State on Friday; Ava Hills made 16 saves for the Beavers.  However, a short-handed goal by Izy Fairchild and an unassisted tally by Shelby Sandberg put BSU up 2-0 early in the third period of Saturday's rematch; Chloe Boreen netted her second goal of the series for St. Thomas with 4:06 to play, but they could not find the equalizer as Kaitlin Groess finished with 27 saves for the Beavers to earn a 2-1 upset win and the series split.

International updates...
Team USA wins first two games of Fall 2025 Rivalry Series;
Murphy nets hat trick, Heise tallies 4 points in opener

The U.S. Women's National Hockey Team will do no worse than splitting the four-game Fall 2025 Rivalry Series after defeating Canada in the first two contests, 4-1 in Cleveland, OH, last Thursday and 6-1 in Buffalo, NY, on Saturday.

Current Gopher captain Abbey Murphy and alumna Taylor Heise were instrumental in the Americans' Game 1 victory.  Canada took an initial lead when Sarah Fillier lit the lamp on a power play 9½ minutes into the contest, but Heise evened the score just 16 seconds later when she redirected a shot from Laila Edwards into the Canadian net.  In the second period, Murphy blasted home a one-timer on power play off a pass from Heise to put Team USA in the lead, and the duo connected again on a nearly-identical play at even strength later in the stanza for a 3-1 advantage.  Another power play in the third period saw Heise send a pass across the slot which Kirsten Simms directed to a wide open Murphy, burying it into the net to complete her hat trick – the first for either team in the history of the Rivalry Series.  U.S. goaltender Aerin Frankel kept the Canadians from getting any closer, finishing with 26 saves, while Ève Gascon stopped 23 shots for Canada.

Murphy's hat trick was matched two nights later by Team USA captain Hilary Knight, who scored twice on the power play and added an empty-netter late.  That said, Gopher alumna Kelly Pannek tallied the game-winning goal off a feed from Murphy.  Heise also recorded her fifth point of the weekend with an assist on a third-period goal by Hayley Scamurra.  Edwards netted an unassisted goal and dished out two helpers, while Canadian captain Marie-Philip Poulin lit the lamp as well.  Gwyneth Philips made 29 saves for Team USA, while Kayle Osborn stopped 26 shots for the Canadians.

The teams are scheduled to play twice more next month – Wednesday, December 10 and Saturday, December 13, both at 7 p.m. MT / 8 p.m. CT in Edmonton, Alberta.  The games will be televised on NHL Network and TSN.

Euro Hockey Tour: Finland remains undefeated, Sweden finishes 2nd for the weekend – In last week's Lidl Hockey Games in Ängelholm, Sweden, the second stop of the 2025-2026 Women's Euro Hockey tour featuring four of the top European national teams, Finland took the top spot with victories over Switzerland (2-1), Czechia (4-1), and Sweden (2-1 in OT), remaining undefeated across both events.  The host Swedes were the surprise of this month's stop; after going winless in August, they finished in second place last week with a 4-1 upset of Czechia on Wednesday and earning standings points in their other two games – a 2-1 shootout loss to Switzerland and the overtime loss to Finland.  The Czechs took third with a 1-0 victory over the Swiss.

None of the Gophers participating in the event – senior Josefin Bouveng (Sweden), freshman Tereza Plosová (Czechia) and alumna Natálie Mlýnková (Czechia) – recorded a point in the event, but we continue to watch for future national team invitations.  The four nations will participate in the December stop of the tour in Tampere, Finland.

Germany, Slovakia tie atop Deutschland Cup standings – Playing in Landshut, Germany, Slovakia's National Women's Team earned wins over Hungary (3-2) & France (2-1) and took the hosts Germans to overtime (3-2 Germany) to finish with a surprising 7 points in the event standings.  That put them at the top of the table with the Germans, who got a 2-1 shootout win over France and a 9-1 rout of Hungary; their win over the Slovaks was the tiebreaker for the weekend.  The Hungarians finished third after a 4-1 victory over France.

Japan shuts out competition at IIHF Asia Championship – Japan's Women's National Team cruised to a second-straight IIHF Asio Championship, shutting out host Kazakhstan (6-0), South Korea (7-0), and China (4-0).  The Chinese took second behind a 3-2 shootout victory over South Korea and a 6-0 shutout of the Kazakhs.  Kazakhstan finished third after defeating the Koreans, 3-1.

 
Around the WCHA...

Upcoming games – The other six league teams are also in conference action with games Friday & Saturday.  St. Thomas hosts Minnesota Duluth, Wisconsin visits St. Cloud State, and Minnesota State heads to Columbus to face Ohio State.

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