Power Play Club

View the March 11th Penalty Box Post newsletter (includes graphics & photos)

Goals for a Goal: Counting continues into NCAA Tournament

As the Gopher Women's Hockey team enters NCAA Tournament play, we continue to count the goals they've scored this season. And it's not too late to enroll in the Power Play Club's Goals for a Goal campaign to convert each of those goals into a donation back to the team! Headed into the Big Dance, they have lit the lamp 171 times, with 27 of them coming on the power play!! If you still wish to make a pledge, please do so online at z.umn.edu/GoalsForAGoal, where you'll also have the option to double the amount for power play tallies! All proceeds go back to the team through the Gopher Women's Hockey Enhancement Fund!

NCAA Tournament – Single-elimination
Quarterfinal – #4-seeded Minnesota Golden Gophers (26-11-1)
vs. #5-seeded Northeastern University Huskies (28-8-1)
Saturday, March 14 at 2:00 p.m. CT
Ridder Arena

Entering their fifth consecutive NCAA Women's Ice Hockey National Collegiate Tournament, the Golden Gophers earned a second-straight top-4 seeding and home ice for the quarterfinals. They will face the #5-seeded Northeastern University Huskies this Saturday, March 14 at 2 p.m. at Ridder Arena, with the winner advancing to the Frozen Four the following weekend.

Tickets are on sale online through the U. of M. Ticket Office or by phone at 1-800-U-GOPHER.

Game coverage – Video of Saturday's game will streamed on the ESPN+ subscription service. Free audio play-by-play with announcer Dan Hamann will be streamed on GopherSports.com starting 15 to 20 minutes before puck drop here. Free live stats will be available here.

Previously against Northeastern – The Golden Gophers and Huskies have met 8 times previously with Minnesota holding a 4-2-2 record, but six of those games occurred in the Gophers' first three seasons (1997-2000), including the lone postseason matchup (1998 AWCHA 3rd Place Game).

Even the most recent meeting was still 18½ years ago, coming in the opener of the 2007-2008 season at Ridder Arena. Minnesota took a 2-0 lead on first-period goals by Rachael Drazen (power play) and Emily West. The Huskies cut into the lead three times, but Erica McKenzie netted the next three Gopher goals for a hat trick, and Kim Hanlon stopped 19 shots for a 5-3 victory.

Analyzing the Huskies – For the sixth time in their program's history, Northeastern claimed the Hockey East Regular-Season Championship, clinching the title with four games to spare and finishing the schedule with a 21-2-1 record in the league and a 26-7-1 mark overall. Notably, the Huskies split a Thanksgiving weekend series against now-#3 Penn State, winning the opener 3-2 before falling 4-1 in the rematch. In the conference playoffs, they defeated Boston University in the quarterfinals, 2-1 in double OT, and Vermont in the semifinals, 3-1, but lost to UConn in the championship game, 2-1 in double OT.

Northeastern averaged 3.00 goals-per-game across all contests, second-best in Hockey East, and they feature two 40+ point scorers; more precisely, senior Lily Shannon (#2) and freshman Stryker Zablocki (#21) each have 43 points on the season, with Shannon tallying 19 goals & 24 assists and Zablocki recording 18 goals & 25 assists. Four other Huskies have each posted 20+ points, with three of them lighting the lamp 10 or more times apiece: sophomore Morgan Jackson (#92) has 28 points on 11 goals & 17 assists, junior Julie Lalonde (#6) tallied 26 points on 10 goals & 16 assists, sophomore Éloïse Caron (#91) lit the lamp 15 times with 9 assists for 24 points, and senior defender Jules Constantinople (#41) also reached 24 points on 7 goals & 17 helpers.

Northeastern was also second in Hockey East in scoring allowed, yielding 1.70 goals-per-game. Sophomore Lisa Jönsson (#1) has been the Huskies' primary goaltender, going 20-6-1 in 27 starts, with 4 shutouts, a 1.60 goals-against average, and a .941 save percentage. Freshman netminder Renna Trembecky (#31) is 8-2-0 in her ten starts with 1.79 GAA and a .927 SV%. Fifth-year goalie Paige Taborski (#35) has not played this year, but went 4-4-1 in the 2024-2025 season with one shutout, a 1.79 GAA and .926 SV%.

Last week for Northeastern – The Huskies have technically been without a home rink since historic Matthews Arena permanently closed this past December, playing their “home” games over the remainder of the season at BU's Walter Brown Arena. Hosting Vermont in the Hockey East semifinals last Tuesday, Morgan Jackson tallied a goal & an assist, Jules Constantinople and Éloïse Caron also lit the lamp, and Lisa Jönsson stopped 20 of 21 shots in a 3-1 victory.

But despite Northeastern being the top team in the conference, Hockey East made the decision to have #2-seeded UConn host the championship game this past Saturday. Each team found the back of the net in the second period; UConn's Sadie Hotles lit the lamp 2:22 into the stanza and Rylie Jones evened the score for Northeastern on a power play less than five minutes later. After that, the contest turned into a goaltending duel and remained tied 1-1 through the third frame, a first overtime, and well into a second extra period; UConn's Tia Chan stopped 57 shots, while Jönsson made 54 saves. However, Kyla Josifovic beat Jönsson on a rebound 15:23 into the second OT to give UConn the 2-1 victory, the Hockey East Playoff Championship, and the NCAA Tournament autobid.

2026 Patty Kazmaier Award Top 3 Finalists to be named today

The announcement of the Top 3 Finalists for the 2026 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, presented to the best player in Division I Women's Ice Hockey, is expected today (Wednesday, March 11). We send one more shoutout to Gopher Women's Hockey forward Abbey Murphy on being named a Top 10 Finalist again this year!

The Top 3 Finalist announcement will be shared on X and Facebook, with more details posted on pattykaz.com.

Other NCAA Tournament Matchups

First Round (Regional Semifinals)

Yale (25-9-0) vs. Minnesota Duluth (20-14-3) – at Ohio State
Thursday, March 12 at 6 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. CT

Connecticut (27-8-2) vs. Princeton (23-10-0) – at Penn State
Thursday, March 12 at 7 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. CT

Quinnipiac (28-8-3) vs. Franklin Pierce (23-11-2) – at Wisconsin
Thursday, March 12 at 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT

Quarterfinals (Regional Finals)

Connecticut / Princeton at #3-seed Penn State (32-5-0)
Saturday, March 14 at 2 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. CT

Quinnipiac / Franklin Pierce at #2-seed Wisconsin (32-4-2)
Saturday, March 14 at 2 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. CT

Yale / Minnesota Duluth at #1-seed Ohio State (34-4-0)
Saturday, March 14 at 6 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. CT

The full bracket is available on NCAA.com. These games will also be streamed through the ESPN+ subscription service.

You can receive the Penalty Box Post newsletter via email by signing up here.

Follow the Power Play Club online at www.powerplayclub.org, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PowerPlayClubMN, or on X at x.com/powerplayclub.

Follow the Gopher women's hockey team and all Univ. of Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletics at gophersports.com. You can also find the Gopher women's hockey team on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GopherWomensHockey and on X at x.com/GopherWHockey.