Brunch with the Coaches registrant reminder...
Gopher Women's Hockey fans who have registered for the Power Play Club's annual Brunch with the Coaches with University of Wisconsin women's hockey head coach Mark Johnson and Minnesota head coach Brad Frost are reminded that the event starts at 9:45 a.m. this coming Saturday morning (January 31).
The brunch will occur in the Club Room at 3M Arena at Mariucci. Please enter the building through the Sundet Lobby on the southwest corner and take the elevator or stairs up to the third floor. We look forward to seeing you there!!
Note: Coach Johnson will be unable to attend the brunch. Updated information about the brunch will be sent to registrants - watch your email!
2026 GWH Senior Celebration – Saturday, February 28
Club Cambria at Huntington Bank Stadium
We also provide a reminder that RSVPs are being accepted for the 2026 Gopher Women's Hockey Senior Celebration, recognizing the nine seniors and grad students on the team. The event is scheduled for Saturday, February 28, at Club Cambria inside Huntington Bank Stadium following the Gophers' WCHA First Round / Quarterfinal game that afternoon, with a social hour starting at roughly 5:30 p.m., followed by the dinner banquet & program at 6:00 p.m..
Tickets for the event are $50 per person, though members of the team & staff plus the immediate family members of the honorees are exempt. Please submit RSVPs to Jess Scott at jascott@umn.edu by this Sunday, February 1. Payments for tickets will be collected at the event's check-in table.
Goals for a Goal – Gophers add 13 more to season total
As the official booster club for the University of Minnesota Women's Hockey program, the primary objective of the Power Play Club is to provide financial support. One method of doing that is contributing to the Goals for a Goal pledge-per-goal program, part of our partnership with the Golden Gopher Fund!
The Maroon & Gold posted a fourth-straight weekend series in which they lit the lamp more than 10 times, pushing their season-to-date total to 146 goals. Twenty-four (24) of those have come on the power play! Register a pledge for every goal tallied through the playoffs, with the option to double your pledge for power play conversions, 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. Thanks as always for your support of this effort!!
#3 Minnesota Golden Gophers (22-4-0, 16-4-0-0 WCHA) vs. #1 Univ. of Wisconsin Badgers (23-1-2, 17-1-2-1 WCHA)
Friday, January 30 at 6:00 p.m.
Saturday, January 31 at 2:00 p.m.
Ridder Arena
Having extended their winning streak to ten games, the Gopher Women's Hockey team next faces the challenge of the Minneapolis leg of the Border Battle. They host the top-ranked University of Wisconsin Badgers at Ridder Arena with the action beginning this Friday, January 30, at 6:00 p.m. and continuing on Saturday, January 31, at 2:00 p.m.
Game coverage –
Both games streamed through the B1G+ subscription service – Friday / Saturday
Free audio play-by-play on GopherSports.com – Friday / Saturday
Traffic & parking alert – Fans coming to this weekend's games are advised allow time for additional vehicle and pedestrian traffic around the U. as Gopher Men's Hockey is also hosting Border Battle games against Wisconsin at 3M Arena at Mariucci both days (Friday at 7 p.m. & Saturday at 6 p.m.), and Gopher Gymnastics hosts Iowa at Maturi Pavilion on Saturday (at 4 p.m.).
Last time against Wisconsin – Going to LaBahn Arena in Madison to end October and start November, the Gopher Women's Hockey team upset the Badgers with a 5-1 Friday victory, breaking a ten-game Border Battle losing streak and getting their first road win in the rivalry since December 2021. However, Wisconsin responded with a 7-2 win in the rematch on Saturday for the series split.
Hannah Clark's performance between the pipes in the opener was a key element to Minnesota's win; Clark made 40 saves in total, including 23 in the second period, yielding only a first-period goal to Wisconsin's Cassie Hall. Down 1-0, Josefin Bouveng put home a pass from Abbey Murphy with 1:10 left in the second stanza to knot things up. The Gophers then netted four goals in a 6-minute, 42-second span of the third frame; Sienna D'Alessandro tallied her first collegiate goal on a rebound, Sydney Morrow scored on a breakaway off a pass from Tereza Plosová, Bouveng tallied her second goal of the contest on a power play, and Murphy lit the lamp 29 seconds later for the final difference.
Badger forward Maggie Scannell lit the lamp 14 seconds into Saturday's contest and Kirsten Simms made it 2-0 less than 2½ minutes later. Nelli Laitinen pulled the Gophers within one later in the first period, netting a short-handed goal, but Wisconsin tallied the next three goals, taking a 5-1 lead in the third stanza. Murphy found the back of the net on a power play to make it 5-2, but the Badgers added two more goals for the final margin. Wisconsin netminder Ava McNaughton made 19 saves, but Clark was pulled after the sixth Badger goal, having stopped 23 shots, and Layla Hemp finished up for the Gophers with 10 saves. The Badgers' Kelly Gorbatenko recorded two goals & an assist, and Simms & Caroline Harvey each added a goal and two helpers.
For the series, Laitinen led the Gophers with 4 points, adding three assists to her goal. Bouveng (2g, 1a), Murphy (2g, 1a), and Ava Lindsay (3a) each collected 3 points.
Analyzing the Badgers – Wisconsin has been the #1-ranked team since the onset of the season, with their only loss so far being the one to the Gophers. They subsequently also dropped WCHA standings points to St. Cloud State (a 4-4 tie), St. Thomas (needing OT for a 2-1 win), and Minnesota Duluth (a 1-1 tie). Like Minnesota, the Badgers enter the Border Battle with several players having departed for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games: forwards Kirsten Simms (USA) & Adéla Šapovalivová (CZE), defenders Laila Edwards (USA) & Caroline Harvey (USA), and goaltender Ava McNaughton (USA).
With Harvey, Simms, and Edwards away, fifth-year forward Lacey Eden (#6) leads Wisconsin for the next several weeks; she has 49 points this season on 19 goals & 30 assists. Juniors Cassie Hall (#11) and Kelly Gorbatenko (#7) have also reached the 30-point mark; Hall has tallied 16 goals & 15 assists, while Gorbatenko has lit the lamp 18 times and dished out 12 assists. Sophomore Maggie Scannell (#14) has added 22 points on 9 goals and 13 assists.
One strength of the Badgers has been their defense and goaltending, yielding only 34 goals across their 26 games with 8 shutouts. However, McNaughton started 25 of those contests and was part of all eight shutouts, earning six of them by herself. Without her, the Badgers will rely on freshman Rhyah Stewart (#1) and senior Chloe Baker (#32), who have combined for only 124 minutes of game play so far this season. Stewart won her lone start (against Stonehill); in 95 minutes of action across four appearances, she has stopped 26 of 28 shots (for a 1.26 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage). Baker has appeared in only two contests, compiling 29 minutes of work; she yielded a goal against Mercyhurst and made 9 total saves.
Last action – Wisconsin sweeps BSU – Hosting last-place Bemidji State in a Saturday-Sunday WCHA series, the Badgers found themselves trailing 1-0 and 3-2 in the first period of the opener as Isa Goettl, Hailey Armstrong, and Morgan Smith (PP) lit the lamp for the Beavers. But Wisconsin outscored the visitors 14-1 over the remainder of the weekend. Caroline Harvey & Kirsten Simms each finished Saturday's contest with 3 goals & 3 assists in a 10-3 win, and Lacey Eden added a goal and three helpers. Smith netted her second goal of the series for BSU in Sunday's rematch, but Simms tallied another two goals & an assist and Eden recorded a goal and two assists in a 6-1 Badger victory. Ava McNaughton earned both wins with 27 combined saves.
Gophers continue hot January in sweep of St. Cloud State
As mentioned above, the Gopher Women's Hockey team extended their winning streak to 10 games, sweeping St. Cloud State in a home-and-home series 8-1 in St. Cloud on Friday and 5-1 at Ridder Arena on Saturday. The wins also complete a sweep of the Gophers' four-game season series against the Huskies.
Already leading the opener 1-0 after 20 minutes on Jamie Nelson's 49th career goal, Minnesota erupted in the second period, lighting the lamp 7 more times to put the game out of reach. Nelson netted career goals #50 & 51 for her first collegiate hat trick and also dished out two assists for a 5-point performance. Sydney Morrow recorded 4 assists, Josefin Bouveng, Abbey Murphy (PP), Kendra Distad, Bella Fanale (PP) & Ava Lindsay also found the back of the net, and Hannah Clark stopped 24 of 25 shots for the road win. Sofianna Sundelin scored for SCSU in the third period and Jojo Chobak made 40 saves for the Huskies.
Murphy opened the scoring in Saturday's contest, lighting the lamp on a major power play in the first period. Sydney Lamb got free on a breakaway to knot the score for St. Cloud State with 2:04 left in the second stanza, but Distad put the Gophers back in front 75 seconds later. Murphy netted her 3rd goal of the weekend in the third frame, Chloe Primerano & Tereza Plosová (empty net) also scored, and Layla Hemp stopped 19 of 20 shots between the pipes. Morrow recorded her 5th assist of the series on Primerano's goal. Chobak made another 38 saves for SCSU.
Distad added an assist to her two goals, and Bouveng and Lindsay supplemented their respective goals with two assists apiece to join Murphy with three-point series.
Murphy ties GWH goals record; Nelson, Morrow hit milestones
Tallying her 34th, 35th, and 36th goals of 2025-2026 against St. Cloud State, setting a new personal single-season high, Abbey Murphy also made news as the goals were #137, 138 & 139 of her career, moving her into a tie with Gopher alumna Nadine Muzerall for most in Minnesota Women's Hockey program history!!
As mentioned in our recap of the SCSU series, Gopher graduate forward Jamie Nelson's second goal of the night last Friday was the 50th of her career!! She then made it a double milestone, netting her 51st goal just 3:38 later to complete her first career hat trick!!
Meanwhile, senior defender Sydney Morrow earned an assist on Nelson's first goal on Friday, representing the 100th point of Morrow's career!! She went on to add three more assists later in that game and another on Saturday, giving her 104 career points on 34 goals and 70 assists in 135 games played.
Frost earns win #550 – Saturday's victory over St. Cloud State was the 550th for Gopher Women's Hockey head coach Brad Frost!! Frost now has a career 550-125-42 record (a 79.6% winning percentage) as the bench boss for Minnesota!!
Bouveng extends scoring streak – Additionally, with her goal 1:07 into the second period Friday night, senior forward Josefin Bouveng extended her active scoring streak to a 24th-straight game. Bouveng then picked up an assist on Murphy's first-period power-play goal on Saturday, pushing her streak to 25 games!!
Per the NCAA Statistics Policy and Guidelines manual, Bouveng's streak will remain “active” while she is away, playing on the Swedish Olympic Women's Hockey Team at the 2026 Winter Games (dependent on her return to the Gophers following the Olympics).
Around the WCHA...
Buckeyes earn 5-point sweep of Tommies – A 45-save performance by Julia Minotti and a second-period goal by Whitney Horton to take a 1-0 lead were not enough for St. Thomas on the road at Ohio State on Friday; Jocelyn Amos knotted the score for the Buckeyes 7:58 into the third period, then lit the lamp again to win the game 38 seconds into overtime. OSU completed the weekend sweep with a 5-0 shutout on Saturday; Amos netted her third goal of the series, and Maxine Cimoroni & Sloane Matthews each recorded a goal & an assist as they outshot the Tommies 36-10.
UMD gets tie, win, 5 points vs. MSU in Mankato – Minnesota Duluth's Ève Gascon earned the WCHA Goalie of the Week award, stopping all 45 shots she faced in the weekend series at Minnesota State. Gascon was matched by Mavericks netminder Hailey Hansen on Friday; Hansen made 28 saves as that game ended in a scoreless draw, though the Bulldogs earned the point winning the subsequent shootout, 1-0, when Caitlin Kraemer lit the lamp in the third round. Another 27 saves by Hansen in Saturday's rematch were not enough as Thea Johansson, Zoey Krock, and Madi Burr scored for UMD to earn a 3‑0 victory.
Wisconsin, Ohio State, Minnesota clinch First Round home ice – Following last weekend's games, the Badgers, Buckeyes & Gophers each hold a 25+ point lead over the bottom four teams in the WCHA standings, clinching home ice for the First / Quarterfinal Round of the league's playoff tournament. We note that Minnesota has yet to go on the road to start the conference playoffs in their current format.
Looking ahead – All eight teams in the conference will be playing Friday-Saturday series. St. Cloud State and St. Thomas will open the action Friday afternoon in St. Paul, and Minnesota Duluth faces Ohio State in Columbus. Minnesota State and Bemidji State will play Friday evening at the Sanford Center in Bemidji, but Saturday's rematch is the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Museum Women's Faceoff Classic being played at Yanmar Arena in Grand Rapids.
Standings (* clinched home ice to open conference playoffs):
1. Wisconsin* – 53 points (.883 pts%), 17-1-2-1, 1-0 in OT (23-1-2 overall)
2. Ohio State* – 49 points (.817 pts%), 17-3-0-0, 2-0 in OT (23-3-0 overall)
3. Minnesota* – 48 points (.800 pts%), 16-4-0-0, 0-0 in OT (22-4-0 overall)
4. Minn. Duluth – 32 points (.533 pts%), 9-8-3-2, 0-0 in OT (13-10-3 overall)
5. Minnesota State – 18 points (.300 pts%), 5-13-2-1, 1-1 in OT (11-13-2 overall)
6. St. Thomas – 17 points (.283 pts%), 5-15-0-0, 2-4 in OT (10-16-0 overall)
7. St. Cloud State – 17 points (.283 pts%), 4-14-2-1, 1-3 in OT (8-16-2 overall)
8. Bemidji State – 6 points (.100 pts%), 2-17-1-0, 1-0 in OT (5-18-3 overall)
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