Seven players made their Gophers women’s hockey debut as the team opened their season with a road series sweep over the No. 9 UConn Huskies Saturday.
Two scored their first goals as Gophers over the weekend. Freshman Chloe Primerano tallied her first Gopher and collegiate goal on a powerplay during the first period on Friday, while fifth-year transfer Natálie Mlýnková tied the game in the third period on Saturday.
Minnesota started the series on Friday with four goals in the first period, enough to claim a 4-1 win. The victory gave Gophers head coach Brad Frost his 500th career win, putting him sixth all-time in NCAA women’s hockey career wins.
The Gophers erased two different UConn leads to win 3-2 in overtime on Saturday. Senior captain Abbey Murphy scored the overtime game-winner, her third goal of the weekend.
Primerano added two assists on Saturday, including the lone assist on Murphy’s overtime winner, for a total of three points over the weekend.
Frost said Primerano, a 17-year-old defender from North Vancouver, British Columbia, came to Minnesota with a lot of media attention surrounding her. In February, Frost compared Primerano’s publicity in Canada to that of Connor Bedard, the 2023 NHL first-overall draft pick and North Vancouver native.
“She’s über-talented, skates really well, sees it well, shoots it extremely hard and accurately,” Frost said. “She’s just a rink rat and loves to play. It’s going to be super exciting just to watch her and her progression.”
Primerano was not the only player from British Columbia to debut this weekend for the Gophers. Freshman Gracie Graham appeared in the lineup for both games against the Huskies. Primerano said having Graham with her made the adjustment easier.
“It’s always great having someone that you know and coming in with a friend,” Primerano said.
Primerano played on a defensive pair with junior transfer Sydney Morrow, who also made her Gopher debut over the weekend.
Before making their Gopher debuts, Morrow and Mlýnková, who played at Colgate and Vermont last season, respectively, talked about their first impressions of Minnesota as transfer students. Both said they adjusted well and found their community within Minnesota.
Morrow praised the Gophers players’ dedication to hockey as well as the program’s history of Olympians. Mlýnková, who represented Czechia in the 2022 Olympic Games, was standing next to Morrow and laughed.
Mlýnková said she believes her role on the team is to bring maturity and leadership as she has four years of college and 10 years of international experience.
“I think I’m someone that’s very disciplined on the ice and off the ice,” Mlýnková said. “I want to step up my game, learn more and get the most out of the last year I have.”
Morrow, who grew up in Connecticut, said the 2014 national championship game between Minnesota and Clarkson in Hamden, Connecticut was the first hockey game she attended in person. She said knowing the Gophers’ history of excellence was why she chose the program after leaving Colgate.
“I want to be the best and I know this program is going to challenge me to do that,” Morrow said. “I think the constant competition and ability for me to raise a bar at such an awesome program was definitely a big ‘why’ for me.”
Minnesota is Morrow’s third team in her college hockey career, playing for Colgate last year and Ohio State her freshman year. Morrow played against Minnesota three times her freshman year and appeared in a shootout but was never rostered for a regulation win against the Gophers.
Last year at Colgate, Morrow had over a point per game as a defender and was named to the All-USCHO third team. Mlýnková was Vermont’s leading scorer last season and won Hockey East Player of the Year.
In her four years at Vermont, Mlýnková never played against the Gophers. She said she expects a different style of hockey in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) compared to Hockey East.
Mlýnková will get her first taste of WCHA hockey as a Gopher and Morrow will return to her former campus on Oct. 11 when the Gophers travel to Ohio State to take on the reigning NCAA national champions.