The Penalty Box Post - Wednesday, February 25, 2026

View the February 25th Penalty Box Post newsletter

PPC All-Member Meeting – Saturday, Feb. 28 at 12:00 p.m.

The annual Power Play Club All-Member Meeting is set for this Saturday, February 28 at 12:00 p.m. and will be held in the Baseline Tennis Center Club Room (adjacent to Ridder Arena).

We encourage all club members to attend as we hold Board of Director elections and gather feedback on what we can – and should – be doing better to support both the Gopher Women's Hockey team and the membership in upcoming seasons.

 

GWH Senior Celebration reminder

Again, for those of you who RSVPed to coach Jess Scott, the 2025-2026 GWH Senior Celebration is scheduled to follow Saturday's WCHA quarterfinal game, beginning at approximately 5:30 p.m. at Club Cambria inside Huntington Bank Stadium.  Paying attendees are also reminded that the fee is due upon check-in, and any checks should be made payable to University of Minnesota.

 

Goals for a Goal – Gophers add 3 to wrap up regular season

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 so is by contributing to the Goals for a Goal pledge-per-goal program, part of our partnership with the Golden Gopher Fund!

The Gophers added three more goals for the second-straight weekend, bringing their season-to-date goal total to 161.  Their power play conversion total remained at 26.  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!!

 

Care note

We again send sympathies to GWH head coach Brad Frost and his entire family following the passing of his father, Don, earlier this month.  The visitation is being held this Sunday, March 1, at David Lee Funeral Home, 1220 Wayzata Blvd East in Wayzata, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m.; members of the Power Play Club's Board of Directors are planning to be in attendance (pending the results of Friday's & Saturday's games) if you wish to join them.  The funeral is on Monday, March 2, at Grove Church, 8585 Rice Lake Road in Maple Grove, at 11:00 a.m. with additional visitation time at 10 a.m.

WCHA Playoff Tournament – First Round (best 2-of-3)
#4 Minnesota Golden Gophers (24-9-1, 18-9-1-1 WCHA) vs. St. Cloud State Univ. Huskies (11-21-2, 7-19-2-1 WCHA)
Friday, February 27 at 6:00 p.m.
Saturday, February 28 at 2:00 p.m.
(if necessary) Sunday, March 1 at 3:00 p.m.
Ridder Arena

Earning the #3 seed in the final WCHA regular-season standings, the Gopher Women's Hockey team once again hosts a best 2-of-3 First / Quarterfinal Round conference playoff series, this time taking on the sixth-seeded St. Cloud State University Huskies.  Action at Ridder Arena begins Friday evening, February 27 at 6:00 p.m. and continues on Saturday, February 28 at 2:00 p.m.  If necessary, the third game will be played Sunday, March 1 at 3:00 p.m.

Saturday traffic alert – Please note that the Gopher Men's Basketball team also has a home game on Saturday as they host UCLA at 1:00 p.m. at Williams Arena.  Please allow appropriate time for arriving on campus and parking.

Ticket information – Season ticket holders should have these games included in their package, so additional purchases are not necessary.  Otherwise, tickets can be purchased online through the U. of M. ticket office here or by calling 1-800-U-GOPHER.  Walk-up ticket sales will also be occurring at the arena.

Game coverage –

 
This season vs. St. Cloud State – The Gopher Women's Hockey team swept the four-game season series against the Huskies, winning 4-1 & 5-3 in October and 8-1 & 5-1 last month.

A quartet of Gophers each recorded six combined points across the four contests.  Abbey Murphy compiled six goals, lighting the lamp at least once in each game.  Jamie Nelson's five-point performance on January 23 with 3 goals and 2 assists added to an assist she tallied in the first October game.  Josefin Bouveng recorded 2 goals & 4 assists, getting at least one point in each game, and Sydney Morrow dished out 6 assists with four of those coming on January 23.  In net for the Maroon & Gold, Hannah Clark made two starts and a relief appearance, earning all three wins, stopping 52 of 54 shots for a 0.86 goals-against average and .963 save percentage, while Peyton Hemp earned the other victory and posted a 2.41 GAA and an .892 SV%.

Maria Mikaelyan (2g, 1a) and Avery Farrell (1g, 2a) each recorded 3 points for St. Cloud State.  Raili Mustonen was their only other multi-point scorer, dishing out two assists across the four meetings.  Goaltender Jojo Chobak took all four losses, starting three of the four games and entering in relief in the other; she posted a 5.36 GAA and an .870 SV%.  Emilia Kyrkkö stopped 30 of 32 shots in just 32 minutes in her lone start (a 3.75 GAA & .938 SV%).

Analyzing the Huskies – In Mira Jalosuo's first year as head coach, St. Cloud State posted a 7-19-2-1 (1-4 in OT) conference record, exchanging league standings positions with Minnesota State and St. Thomas throughout the season and ultimately finishing sixth.  Since the start of February, the Huskies have gone 3-3-0 to complete the regular season.

Junior Alice Sauriol (#4) is SCSU's leader in total scoring and assists, dishing out 21 helpers while lighting the lamp 8 times herself for 29 points.  Another junior, Sofianna Sundelin (#34), has a team-high 16 goals with 10 assists for 26 points.  Senior Avery Farrell (#16; 6g, 14a) and grad student Grace Wolfe (#8; 5g, 15a) have each reached the 20-point mark for the season.  Freshman Maria Mikaelyan (#44) rounds out their top five in scoring; she's second in goals with 12 and has 6 assists for 18 points.

Between the pipes, graduate student Jojo Chobak (#29) has an edge in time played, starting 20 games and appearing in two more; she has a 5-14-0 record with 2 shutouts, a 3.66 goals-against average, and an .897 save percentage.  Sophomore Emilia Kyrkkö (#42) has made 13 starts with 2 relief appearances, posting a 6-5-2 record with three shutouts, a 2.35 GAA, and a .932 SV%.  Redshirt sophomore Paige Hoogendam (#31) started one game and appeared in relief in another, both back in October; she took losses as goaltender-of-record in both, yielding 6 goals on 40 shots in 98 minutes of action (3.68 GAA, .850 SV%).  Senior transfer Hali Lawrence (#56) has not seen any action.

Last action: SCSU swept by Wisconsin – Lacey Eden posted an 8-point weekend on 4 goals & 4 assists (including a hat trick on Friday), Laney Potter added 6 points on a goal and 5 helpers, Vivian Jungels recorded 5 assists, and Kelly Gorbatenko netted four goals on Friday as the Badgers claimed the WCHA Regular-Season Championship with a sweep of the Huskies, 9-2 & 4-2.  Sydney Lamb lit the lamp in each game for the St. Cloud State, Grace Wolfe & Sofianna Sundelin each tallied a goal & an assist, and Alice Sauriol dished out 3 helpers.  Jojo Chobak and Emilia Kyrkkö combined for 89 saves for SCSU.

Gophers fall twice in overtime to Minnesota Duluth

Two comeback efforts by the Gopher Women's Hockey team to force overtime in both games against Minnesota Duluth at Ridder Arena were not enough as the Bulldogs won both in the extra sessions in very similar fashion.

UMD netminder Ève Gascon saw her extended shutout streak come to an early end on Friday as Madison Kaiser lit the lamp for Minnesota just 3:27 into the contest.  But Zoey Krock evened the score for the Bulldogs just over 6 minutes later and Madi Burr put them in the lead in the second stanza.  Ava Lindsay's third-period goal knotted the score again and neither team was able to take another lead in regulation, but UMD's Tova Henderson got an open shot and scored 3:19 into OT to hand the Gophers a 3-2 loss.

The Bulldogs took the initial lead on Saturday as Caitlin Kraemer found the back of the net on a power play in the first period, but Bella Fanale pulled the Gophers even 7:03 into period two.  The teams played the remaining 33 minutes of regulation without scoring, but it was Henderson again ending the contest in overtime, this time at the 1:47 mark for a 2-1 score.

In addition to her two overtime game-winners, Henderson also dished out two assists to lead UMD with four points.  Kraemer assisted on Saturday's GWG, giving her two points in the contest, and Gascon stopped 65 shots.  Hannah Clark made 29 saves for the Gophers on Friday and Layla Hemp stopped 24 shots on Saturday.

Olympic recap: Murphy leads Gopher contingent in scoring

Wrapping up our coverage of the 2026 Olympic Women's Ice Hockey Tournament in Milan, Italy, we once again give a shout-out to all nine Gopher Women's Hockey representatives who played in the competition: current Gophers Josefin Bouveng, Nelli Laitinen, Abbey Murphy, and Tereza Plosová, and alumnae Taylor Heise, Natálie Mlýnková, Kelly Pannek, Lee Stecklein, and Grace Zumwinkle.

We send an additional congratulations to Heise, Murphy, Pannek, Stecklein, and Zumwinkle on earning the gold medal with Team USA!!

Here's our quick summary of how the nine did individually in the tournament:

  • Abbey Murphy (USA) – 2 goal, 5 assists

  • Taylor Heise (USA) – 2 goals, 3 assist

  • Natálie Mlýnková (Czechia) – 3 goals, 1 assist

  • Josefin Bouveng (Sweden) – 1 goal, 1 assist

  • Kelly Pannek (USA) – 2 assists

  • Lee Stecklein (USA) – 2 assists

  • Tereza Plosová (Czechia) – 1 goal

  • Grace Zumwinkle (USA) – 1 assist

  • Nelli Laitinen (FIN) – No scoring

We add a special recognition for Mlýnková.  As we previously noted, her single Olympic tournament mark of three goals this year and her career total (to-date) of four goals in the Olympics (after scoring once in 2022) are both Czechia national records!!  Congratulations, Natálie!!

GWH recruit Sander named MN Co-Defenseman of the Year

We send congratulations to incoming Gopher Women's Hockey freshman class of 2026-2027 member Katya Sander (Holy Family Catholic HS / Chanhassen, MN) upon being named a co-winner of the inaugural Defenseman of the Year award by Let's Play Hockey at the annual Ms. Hockey Minnesota Banquet this past Sunday, February 22.

Sander (on the right in the picture, with fellow winner Mia Miller of Northfield HS) posted 10 goals & 12 assists in 26 games as a senior for the Fire.  She recorded two assists in their 3-0 victory over Edina in the Minnesota class AA third-place game.

 
Around the WCHA...

Mavericks earn road sweep of Tommies – Entering the final weekend of the regular season in sixth in the league standings, Minnesota State got two goals & two assists from Mercury Bischoff, a goal and 3 assists from Taylor Otremba, two goals from Sophie Stramel, and an overtime game-winner from Kianna Roeske to sweep St. Thomas in St. Paul, 5-2 and 4-3 (OT).  The wins moved MSU past St. Cloud State and into 5th place.  Ella Boerger tallied two goals & three assists and Rylee Bartz added two goals & two helpers for UST.

Buckeyes earn road sweep of Beavers – Emma Peschel recorded 7 points on 2 goals & 5 assists, Kaia Malachino tallied 5 goals & an assist – including her first collegiate hat trick on Friday, and Sloane Matthews (3g, 2a) & Maxine Cimoroni (1g, 4a) each added 5 points as Ohio State rolled to 7-1 and 6-3 road victories over Bemidji State.  Raeley Carney and Hannah Graves each had a goal & an assist for BSU.

Other playoff quarterfinals / Best-of-3 / Feb. 27 & 28 and (if necessary) March 1

  • #5-seed Minnesota State University at #4-seed University of Minnesota Duluth
    Friday at 2:00 p.m. CT / Saturday & Sunday at 1:00 p.m. CT

  • #7-seed University of St. Thomas at #2-seed Ohio State University
    Friday at 6:00 p.m. ET / Saturday & Sunday at 3:00 p.m. ET

  • #8-seed Bemidji State University at #1-seed University of Wisconsin
    Friday at 6:00 p.m. CT / Saturday at 3:00 p.m. CT / Sunday at 2:00 p.m. CT


Final regular-season standings:
1. Wisconsin – 72 points (.857 pts%), 23-3-2-1, 1-1 in OT (29-3-2 overall)
2. Ohio State – 70 points (.833 pts%), 24-4-0-0, 2-0 in OT (30-4-0 overall)
3. Minnesota – 57 points (.679 pts%), 18-9-1-1, 1-2 in OT (24-9-1 overall)
4. Minn. Duluth – 48 points (.571 pts%), 15-10-3-2, 2-0 in OT (19-12-3 overall)
5. Minnesota State – 29 points (.345 pts%), 9-17-2-1, 2-1 in OT (15-17-2 overall)
6. St. Cloud State – 27 points (.321 pts%), 7-19-2-1, 1-4 in OT (11-21-2 overall)
7. St. Thomas – 24 points (.286 pts%), 7-20-1-0, 3-5 in OT (12-21-1 overall)
8. Bemidji State – 9 points (.107 pts%), 3-24-1-0, 1-0 in OT (6-25-3 overall)

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