Dec. 2 vs. Minnesota State
On Friday, the Gophers hosted the Mavericks at Ridder Arena for a Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) matchup. The last time these two teams met, Minnesota rang up nine goals against Minnesota State.
Minnesota State opened the scoring in the first period as Kennedy Bobyck jammed home her third goal of the season.
Minnesota would not respond until the second period; Abigail Boreen beat Mankato goaltender Alexa Berg with a far side shot on the power play to tie the game.
Abbey Murphy followed up at the eight minute mark, finishing on the backhand off of her own rebound. Murphy’s tally marked her tenth goal of the season and allowed the Gophers to take a 2-1 lead.
Five minutes later, a breakaway allowed Boreen to score her second goal of the period and extend Minnesota’s lead to two goals.
In the final half of the third period, Audrey Wethington finished on a sneaky drop pass from Ella Huber to deliver the dagger.
Skylar Vetter stopped 24 shots as Minnesota took down Minnesota State 4-1.
Dec. 3 at Minnesota State
Minnesota traveled to Mankato on Saturday to round off the series.
On a Mankato power play, a Mavericks’ turnover sprung Taylor Heise on a breakaway; Heise ripped a shot past Berg to open the scoring on the road.
Heise would score once again, waiting out Berg and lifting a backhander over her left pad to increase the Gophers’ lead to two goals.
Murphy would follow three minutes later, one-timing a feed from Heise on yet another Mankato power play. Murphy’s goal increased the Gophers’ short-handed season tally to six goals.
Boreen opened the third period scoring on a 5-on-3 power play for the Gophers with a snipe past Berg.
Just 24 seconds later, Boreen would score again on the remaining power play for her second goal of the game. This would mark Boreen’s second multi-goal game and period of the season.
In the dying seconds of the game, Huber tacked on one more for good measure, tipping in a shot from Allie Franco. Franco’s assist served as her first collegiate point.
Minnesota absolutely dominated on offense with 50 shots on net, still 10 shots shy of their season best of 60 shots in a single game.
Vetter stopped 14 shots, recording her second shutout of the season en route to Minnesota’s 6-0 win over Mankato. Her incredible performances on Friday and Saturday were recognized in the WCHA’s weekly awards as Vetter received her fourth “Goaltender of the Week” award of this season.
Minnesota now sits at 11-1-2 in the WCHA, still in second behind first place Ohio State.
The Gophers’ WCHA play continues on Friday as Minnesota will host St. Cloud at Ridder Arena. Minnesota looks to avenge their loss from Nov. 7, when St. Cloud handed the Gophers their first loss of the season at the 2022 U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Museum Face-Off.