University of Minnesota Athletics
Kessel and Lorence Earn WCHA Weekly Awards
10/12/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Hockey
Oct. 12, 2011
Gopher players Amanda Kessel and Meghan Lorence earned weekly honors from the WCHA this week as Kessel was named the Co-Offensive Player of the Week along with Ohio State's Natalie Spooner, and Lorence earned the Rookie of the Week award.
Sophomore forward Amanda Kessel had six points last weekend, including five goals and an assist, to lead the host Golden Gophers to a conference sweep over St. Cloud State. In last Friday's (Oct. 7) 6-0 win over the Huskies, she scored two goals, including the game-winner, and added an assist. In last Saturday's (Oct. 8) 8-0 victory over SCSU, Kessel had three goals within eight minutes in the second period, marking the first natural hat trick (a hat trick in which three goals are scored in succession by one player in one game) by a Gopher player since Sarah Erickson accomplished the feat on Oct. 10, 2009. Kessel, who was also +5 on the weekend and tallied 13 shots, marked her second collegiate hat trick. The honor is Kessel's fourth WCHA weekly award as she was named the WCHA Rookie of the Week three times last season.
A freshman forward, Lorence scored a goal in each game of the weekend series from her left wing slot against SCSU, helping Minnesota to 6-0 and 8-0 victories. Last Friday (Oct. 7), Lorence scored with :09 seconds remaining in the second period, putting Minnesota up 5-0 at the intermission. On Saturday (Oct. 8), Lorence got her second collegiate goal, also in the second period, to give Minnesota a 7-0 lead. In addition to her two goals, she also fired 11 shots on goal in the series and earned a +3 plus/minus rating.
