Gopher alumnae raising money for medical charities
We pass along this note from Minnesota Women's Hockey alumna Emily Oden, written on behalf of herself and Gopher teammate Catie Skaja...
Hey all! Skaj and I are running the Chicago Marathon and each raising money for a charity to get a bib to be able to enter the race. Skaj is raising for Ronald McDonald Fund and I am raising for the Children’s Brain Tumor Foundation. Donation page links are attached. Thank you!
We additionally provide our thanks for your consideration of these great efforts!! The 2026 Chicago Marathon is scheduled for Sunday, October 11.
U18 Women's Worlds recap: U.S. shuts out Canada for gold, Czechia outlasts Sweden to take home bronze
Following up on our tournament report from last week, we provide an update on the final days of the 2026 IIHF U18 Women's World Championship.
We first report stunning news on the bottom side of the tournament standings. Finland and Hungary met in the event's relegation game after each team went 0-4 between the preliminary round and quarterfinals. In a high-scoring affair, the Finns fell to the Hungarians, 7-5, and were relegated to Division I-A; they will be replaced by newly-promoted Germany in the 2027 tournament.
In last Saturday's semifinals, Teams USA and Canada remained undefeated in this year's tournament. The Americans rolled through Sweden by a 9-1 score, while tournament hosts Canada knocked off Czechia, 8-1.
Meeting up in the Bronze Medal Game, the Czechs took a 3-0 first-period lead over Sweden. The Swedes cut that lead to 3-2 in the second stanza, but Kateřina Pěnčíková put Czechia back up by two before the intermission. That goal was necessary insurance as Sweden's Moa Stridh netted her second goal of the game on a power play 6:20 into the third period. However, the Swedes could not capitalize on three more power play opportunities after that, and Czechia held on for the 4-3 victory.
Finally, in the Gold Medal Game, American goaltender Bianca Birrittieri was named Top Player of the contest, stopping all 38 shots she faced as Team USA shut out Canada, 2-0. Emily Pohl lit the lamp for the U.S. in the first period and Lindsay Stepnowski added the insurance goal in the second stanza.
We send congratulations to the five members of the Gopher Women's Hockey freshman class of 2026-2027 participating in the tournament, all of whom earned medals: U.S. defenders and gold medalists Sloane Hartmetz & Katya Sander, and Canadian forwards and silver medalists Maddie McCullough, Adrianna Milani & Rachel Piggott. We give an extra shout-out to Milani, who was also named to the media's All-Star Team. Here are the final tournament stats for the quintet:
Hartmetz – 1g, 4a, +6 rating
McCullough – 4g, 3a, +4 rating
Milani – 10g, 3a, +12 rating
Piggott – 7g, 5a, +17 rating
Sander – 3a, +13 rating
We also send congratulations to two more members of the Gopher Women's Hockey family on the coaching staff of the gold medal-winning American squad: Team USA head coach & U. of M. alumna Courtney Kennedy and U.S. assistant coach & current Gopher associate head coach Greg "Boom" May.
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