Goals for a Goal – Gophers continue lighting the lamp
Adding another nine goals to their total this past weekend, the Gophers have tallied 37 through their first six games of the season, 5 of which have come on the power play! Help us provide financial support by pledging to convert each of those goals into a donation to the Minnesota Women's Hockey program through the Goals for a Goal program. Register your pledge for every goal scored 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.
PPC member enrollment remains open for 2025-2026!
As the Gopher Women's Hockey season continues, so does membership enrollment to the Power Play Club for 2025-2026! Your enrollment donations are our biggest source of financial support for the 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 do not submit a donation at this time; donation instructions for Locker Sponsors will be sent at the start of November.
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".
Looking ahead – Schedule change Jan. 10 vs. Minnesota State University - Mankato
As announced by the University via social media and in an email to season ticket holders, the Gopher Women's Hockey team's game on Saturday, January 10, at Ridder Arena has changed to a 7:30 p.m. start due to Big Ten Network picking up live television coverage of the contest. Note that the previous night's game – Friday, January 9 in Mankato – remains scheduled to start at 6:00 p.m.
PPC event times adjusted – With the change to the game time, the Power Play Club's Chalk Talk with a member of the GWH coaching staff on January 10 will now start at 6:00 p.m. Locker Sponsors – Our special event with the team will also still occur that day but with a new start time. More details on both activities will be shared as we get closer to that date.
#3 Minnesota Golden Gophers (6-0-0, 2-0-0-0 WCHA)
vs. #2 Ohio State Univ. Buckeyes (4-0-0, 2-0-0-0 WCHA)
Saturday and Sunday, October 18 & 19
Both games at 2:00 p.m. – Ridder Arena
Remaining undefeated and coming off a sweep of their first conference series of the season, the Gopher Women's Hockey team sets up to host a national top-three matchup when the also-unbeaten #2-ranked Ohio State University Buckeyes visit Ridder Arena. The two squads will square off this Saturday and Sunday, October 18 & 19, with both games scheduled to start at 2:00 p.m.
Game coverage – Sunday's contest will be televised live on FOX 9+ in the Twin Cities and surrounding area. Both games will have video streaming through the B1G+ subscription service (Saturday / Sunday). Free audio play-by-play can be found on GopherSports.com (Saturday / Sunday). Live stats will also be available via GopherSports.com.
Last year against Ohio State – The Gophers posted a 2-2-1 record against the Buckeyes in 2024-2025, though they dropped the shootout point following the tie. In Columbus last October, OSU took the opener 4-3 and played Minnesota to a 1-1 tie in the rematch. Meeting at Ridder Arena in the second half of the regular season, the Gophers earned a 3-1 win on January 31 before the Buckeyes responded with a 7-3 victory on February 1. The teams met again in the WCHA Final Faceoff semifinals in Duluth, with the Gophers coming from behind to win 6-2 after initially trailing 2-0.
Abbey Murphy (4g, 2a) & Ella Huber (3g, 3a) led Minnesota with 6 points apiece over the five games, with Peyton Hemp (2g, 1a), Chloe Primerano (1g, 2a), Audrey Wethington (1g, 2a), and Sydney Morrow (3a) each adding 3 points. Ohio State had a quartet of players each tally 5 points: Jocelyn Amos (3g, 2a), Joy Dunne (2g, 3a), Emma Peschel (1g, 4a), and Makenna Webster (5a). Kiara Zanon (2g, 2a) & Jenna Bugioni (1g, 3a) each added four points for the Buckeyes, and Sloane Matthews posted a hat trick in the second game at Ridder. Skylar Vetter played between the pipes for the first game in Columbus, making 21 saves but taking the loss; Hannah Clark went 2-1-1 in the other four meetings, stopping a combined 111 shots with a .910 save percentage and 2.69 goals-against average. OSU's Amanda Thiele started four of the games and also entered the other in relief; she finished with an .890 SV% and 2.78 GAA; Hailey MacLeod got the other start, stopping 19 of 22 shots in two periods.
Analyzing the Buckeyes – Ohio State is working with a reloaded roster after all six of their 2024-2025 graduate student players were drafted by PWHL teams. Still, they retain the #2 ranking nationally after finishing second in last year's WCHA standings with a 19-6-3-2 conference record (3-0 in OT), posting a 5-0-0 mark in regular-season non-conference play, and advancing to the NCAA Championship Game before losing to Wisconsin 4-3 in overtime. Starting 2025-2026, they have sweeps at Colgate (5-3 & 9-4) and home against Bemidji State (more on those games shortly).
Joy Dunne (#16) returns for her junior season after leading the Buckeyes in all three scoring stats as a sophomore, posting 29 goals & 33 assists for 62 points; with four games played in the new hockey year, she's tied for fourth with 4 points (2g, 2a). Junior Jocelyn Amos also returns after tallying 52 points on 27 goals & 25 assists as a sophomore; she has 3 goals to start the new season. However, the next four players on OSU's 2024-2025 scoring list were among those drafted, leaving (now) sophomore Jordyn Petrie (#19) as the next highest-scoring returner, posting 22 points on 13 goals & 9 assists; she has two goals so far this year. This year's scoring table, though, is led by a trio from Sweden; freshman Hilda Svensson (#8) has 3 goals & 3 assists, sophomore defender Mira Jungåker (#14) has 2 goals & 3 assists, and freshman Jenna Raunio (#9) has dished out 5 helpers.
With Amada Thiele also among the drafted 2024-2025 grad students, senior Hailey MacLeod (#35) remains as the Buckeyes' top goaltender; during her junior year, she posted an 8-1-1 record (with one no-decision) in 11 starts with 3 shutouts, a 1.63 goals-against average, and a .907 save percentage. Starting the new year, MacLeod has played – and won – all four games for OSU, recording one shutout, a 2.01 GAA and an .852 SV%. Two Minnesotans serve as the Buckeyes' backups; sophomore Genny Klein (#1) from Apple Valley played a combined 53½ minutes of relief action last year, yielding 2 goals on 17 shots (.882 SV%), while Moorhead native Taylor Kressin (#30) joined the team as a freshman.
Last action for Ohio State – The Buckeyes opened their conference schedule with a home series against Bemidji State and started the series with a four-goal first period en route to a 6-0 shutout win; Jocelyn Amos lit the lamp twice, Sloane Matthews added a goal & an assist, and Hailey MacLeod needed only 9 saves for the clean sheet. Hailey Armstrong gave the Beavers a 1-0 lead in the rematch on a power-play goal, but Emma Peschel evened the score for OSU before the first intermission and Hilda Svensson, already with an assist on Peschel's goal, lit the lamp in the second period; MacLeod stopped another 9 shots in total for the 2-1 Buckeyes victory. After entering the first game in relief and starting the second contest, BSU netminder Ava Hills stopped a combined 70 of 72 shots over 86 minutes of action.
Gophers sweep Huskies to open WCHA conference play
A five-point performance (2 goals, 3 assists) by Sarah Paul, three more goals by Abbey Murphy, and a combined 28 saves over four periods of action by Hannah Clark helped lead the Gopher Women's Hockey team to a series sweep of St. Cloud State, 4-1 on Friday at Ridder Arena and 5-3 Saturday in St. Cloud.
Following a scoreless first period to open the weekend, Josefin Bouveng lit the lamp off a pass from Paul, but Maria Mikaelyan evened the score for the Huskies later in the second. But Murphy lit the lamp with a ricochet off of SCSU netminder Jojo Chobak, Paul doubled the Gopher lead just 41 seconds later, and Tereza Plosová added a late empty-netter.
In the rematch, Laura Zimmermann lit the lamp on a deflected shot to give the Huskies a 1-0 first-intermission lead despite a 17-7 shots-on-goal advantage for Minnesota. Chloe Primerano evened the score 1:46 into the second period and Murphy converted a power play 9½ minutes later to put the Gophers in the lead, but SCSU got their own power-play goal when another shot deflected off a Gopher, off of Mikaelyan's foot, and into the net to knot the score again. Murphy's third goal of the series put Minnesota back in the lead, but Avery Farrell tallied for the Huskies with 31.1 seconds left in the 2nd to send the contest to the break tied up 3-3. But Paul lit the lamp for the Gophers on a spin-o-rama 55 seconds into period 3, Emma Kreisz added an insurance goal just over 4 minutes after that, and Clark made that stand with 9 saves over a 20-minute relief appearance. Layla Hemp had started for the Gophers and made 14 saves before being relieved. Huskies starting goaltender Emilia Kyrkkö stopped 30 shots over the first 32 minutes of the contest but exited the game following a collision; Chobak replaced her and made another 13 saves.
In addition to her goal Friday, Bouveng was also credited with two assists to finish with a 3-point series. Gracie Graham, Madison Kaiser, and Ava Lindsay each also dished out two assists.
Hannah Clark tabbed as WCHA Goaltender of the Week
Gopher sophomore Hannah Clark was named WCHA Goaltender of the Week after her performance against St. Cloud State, the third weekly honor of her collegiate career. As noted above, she stopped a combined 28 of 29 shots over four periods of action, resulting in a 0.75 goals-against average and .966 save percentage in the series. In addition to Friday's win at Ridder Arena, she was also credited with Saturday's victory as Sarah Paul's game-winning goal was scored after she entered the contest.
Congratulations, Hannah!!
Murphy reaches 2nd in Gopher career goals – With her three goals this past weekend, Abbey Murphy has reached 115 for her career, tying Hannah Brandt for second place all-time in the Minnesota Women's Hockey record book. Entering the upcoming series against Ohio State, Murphy trails only current Buckeyes head coach Nadine Muzerall, who lit the lamp 139 times playing for the Maroon & Gold.
Looking at overall scoring, Murphy is now up to 18 points (12g, 6a) this season, bringing her career total to 213 (115g, 98a). She still remains 9th in Gopher history, but her deficit to Kelly Stephens for eighth place has decreased to 6 points.
Around the WCHA...
Tommies, Mavericks split in Mankato – Ayla Puppe gave Minnesota State a first-period lead against St. Thomas in their weekend opener on Friday, but Nora Sauer scored for UST just 2½ minutes later; the teams played the rest of regulation tied 1-1, but Jenessa Gazdik found an open Teagan Kulenkamp in overtime and she lit the lamp for a 2-1 victory for the Tommies. MSU netminder Hailey Hansen stopped all 15 shots she faced in Saturday's rematch and Kamryn Van Batavia, Whitney Tuttle (PP) and Zoe Lopez (EN) scored for the Mavericks for a 3-0 shutout victory and series split. Hansen finished with 39 saves over the weekend, while St. Thomas' Julia Minotti stopped a combined 50 shots.
Badger power-play goals sink Bulldogs – Third-period goals by Caitlin Kraemer and Molly Cole gave Minnesota Duluth a 3-2 lead in their opener on the road at Wisconsin, but a major penalty on the Bulldogs with 2:09 remaining put the Badgers on the power play and they capitalized twice; pulling the goalie for another extra attacker, Caroline Harvey lit the lamp 6-on-4 with 20.9 seconds to play to knot the score and, back to 5-on-4, Cassie Hall followed with her second goal of the game with just 8.6 seconds left for a 4-3 Wisconsin victory. In the rematch, Harvey tallied another power-play goal and two assists, Laney Potter, Adéla Šapovalivová (PP) & Lacey Eden (PP) also lit the lamp, and McNaughton stopped all 22 shots she faced for a 4-0 shutout victory and series sweep. UMD's Ève Gascon made a combined 95 saves over the weekend.
Upcoming games – Wisconsin will get action started Friday as they play in the 2025 Icebreaker Tournament, hosted by Union College in Schenectady, NY; the Badgers will face Vermont in the opener, then take on either Union or St. Anselm on Saturday. Meanwhile, St. Thomas will face St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth will host Minnesota State, with both of those series also being played Friday and Saturday.
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