University of Minnesota Athletics
No. 1 Gophers to Open Season at Home
10/1/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Hockey
| No. 1 Minnesota (0-0-0) vs. Penn State (0-0-0) & No. 6 Boston University (0-0-0) | |
| Friday, Oct. 3 | Boston University vs. St. Cloud State | 4 p.m. |
| Penn State vs. Minnesota | 7 p.m. | |
| Saturday, Oct. 4 | Penn State vs. St. Cloud State | 4 p.m. |
| Boston University vs. Minnesota | 7 p.m. | |
| Location | Ridder Arena |
| Tickets | MyGopherSports.com |
| Travel | Local Weather | Parking | Preferred Hotels |
| Live Video | Gophers vs. Penn State | Gophers vs. BU |
| Free Audio | Gophers vs. Penn State | Gophers vs. BU |
| Live Stats | | | | |
| Official Sites | Minnesota | Penn State | Boston University | St. Cloud State |
| Social Media | @GopherWHockey | Facebook | Instagram |
Oct. 1, 2014
MINNEAPOLIS - The No. 1 Minnesota women's hockey team enters the 2014-15 season as the WCHA preseason favorite and sits atop the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine preseason national polls.
The Gophers open the 2014-15 season at home this weekend. Minnesota hosts Penn State at 7 p.m. Friday and faces Boston University at 7 p.m. Saturday. The season-opening weekend at Ridder Arena also includes St. Cloud State taking on BU at 4 p.m. Friday and the Huskies facing the Nittany Lions at 4 p.m. Saturday.
Fans traveling to Ridder Arena this weekend should be aware of a detour on southbound Interstate 35W in northeast Minneapolis. Southbound I-35W from Highway 280 in Roseville to 4th Street SE in Minneapolis will close Friday, Oct. 3 at 10 p.m. through 5 a.m. Monday, Oct. 6, weather-permitting. Fans should plan alternate routes and build in extra travel time.
About the Series: Minnesota vs. Penn State
Friday's game marks the first-ever meeting between Minnesota and Penn State in women's hockey.
About the Series: Minnesota vs. Boston University
The Gophers are 3-0-0 all-time against the Terriers, including victories in the 2014 NCAA quarterfinal round and the 2013 NCAA championship game.
Most recently, Minnesota defeated BU, 5-1, at Ridder Arena last March to advance to the 2014 NCAA Women's Frozen Four; the Gopher also won their fifth national championship with a 6-3 victory over the Terriers in the 2013 national title game.
Scouting the Opponent: Penn State
The 2014-15 season marks the third year of Penn State women's hockey at the varsity level. The Nittany Lions (0-0-0) posted a 4-29-3 overall record and went 1-18-1 in CHA play last season, picking up wins over Vermont, Union, Lindenwood and Colgate.
PSU returns 16 letterwinners, nine of its top-10 scorers and 80 percent of its scoring from a year ago. The Nittany Lions also add eight freshmen and one transfer forward to their lineup. Juniors Jordin Pardoski and Shannon Yoxheimer have been named team captains.
Pardoski was an assistant captain last season, the only underclassmen to wear a letter. She has appeared in all 71 games, recording six goals and 12 assists for 18 points. Meanwhile, Yoxheimer is the leading Nittany Lion in career goals (22), assists (25) and points (47) in her 70 games played at PSU.
Defenseman Sarah Wilkie and forward Laura Bowman have been named assistant captains for the Nittany Lions this season. Wilkie is one of six returning defensemen, joining Pardoski, Jeanette Bateman and Paige Jahnke as PSU's most experienced blue-liners. Meanwhile, Bowman was one of PSU's top freshmen last season, scoring a team-best 10 goals and earning All-CHA Rookie Team honors.
Scouting the Opponent: Boston University
Boston University (0-0-0) enters the 2014-15 season after posting a 24-13-1 overall record last season. The Terriers won their third-straight Hockey East title last year and fell to the Gophers in the NCAA quarterfinal round.
BU returns 19 letterwinners and welcomes five freshmen to the squad this season. The Terriers' top returning offensive threat is junior Sarah Lefort, a 2014 Second-Team All-American who led the NCAA with 32 goals. Boston University must replace goaltender Kerrin Sperry but has three young goaltenders to fill the role: freshman Erin O'Neil, sophomore Victoria Hanson and sophomore Mia Becker.
The Terriers also welcome the return of 2014 Olympian Marie-Philip Poulin, who scored two goals, including the game-winning goal in overtime, to help Canada claim its fourth consecutive gold medal at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.
BU is the preseason favorite to capture its fourth-straight Hockey East championship and is ranked in the top 10 of both preseason national polls. The Terriers entered the USCHO.com poll at No. 6 and are ranked fourth in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll.
Friday's game against St. Cloud State marks the Terriers' season-opener. BU topped Queen's University, 3-0, in its lone exhibition game. Sophomore Maddie Elia scored two goals and all three Terrier netminders combined to make 32 saves.
2014-15 Gopher Roster: Who's Back?
Minnesota returns 16 players from its 2014 national runner-up team while losing five players from last year's squad. The Gophers also regain 2014 U.S. Olympian Lee Stecklein, who missed the 2013-14 season while earning a silver medal with Team USA at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, and add four freshmen to bolster their lineup.
The Gophers return eight of their top 10 scorers from last season, led by junior Hannah Brandt and senior Rachael Bona. Brandt and Bona combined for 126 points last season. Brandt led the Gophers and ranked second in the nation with 65 points (23 goals, 42 assists), and Bona had a career-best 61 points (23 goals, 38 assists) as a junior.
Minnesota also returns All-American defensemen Rachel Ramsey (12 goals, 31 assists) and Milica McMillen (11 goals, 28 assists), who ranked second and third in the nation for scoring among defensemen in 2013-14. Adding Stecklein and freshman Sydney Baldwin, the 2014 Minnesota Ms. Hockey, to the blue line will further strengthen the Gopher defense, which ranked second in the nation and held opponents to just 1.20 goals per game last season.
Along with Brandt, Bona, Ramsey and McMillen, Minnesota returns additional scoring threats in junior Maryanne Menefee (18 goals, 19 assists) and senior Meghan Lorence (18 goals, 17 assists). Sophomores Dani Cameranesi (19 goals, 17 assists) and Kate Schipper (seven goals, 22 assists) also return after outstanding rookie campaigns.
Junior goaltender Amanda Leveille returns for the Gophers after playing in all 41 games last season. She led the nation with a .945 save percentage and ranked second in the NCAA with a 1.22 goals against average as a sophomore. Senior Shyler Sletta and redshirt freshman Sidney Peters also return between the pipes.
Minnesota Adds Four Freshmen for 2014-15
Four freshmen join the Gophers for their rookie seasons this year. Defenseman Sydney Baldwin and forwards Kelly Pannek, Cara Piazza and Nina Rodgers will make their Maroon and Gold debuts in 2014-15.
The 2014 Minnesota Ms. Hockey, Baldwin led Minnetonka High School to an unprecedented three-straight Minnesota Class AA State titles in 2011, 2012 and 2013. She finished her varsity career with 112 points on 39 goals and 73 assists.
Pannek, also a standout soccer player, led Benilde-St. Margaret's High School to a runner-up finish at the 2014 Minnesota Class AA State Tournament. She was named to 2014 Minnesota Class AA All-Tournament Team after leading all players with 11 points on seven goals and four assists in the tournament and recorded 88 points during her senior season.
Piazza joins the Gophers from Darien, Ill., where she played for the Chicago Mission. Piazza served as assistant captain of U-19 Chicago Mission team last season. She and the Mission finished 2-2-0-0-0 in pool play at 2014 USA Hockey Girls' Tier I National Championship after earning national runner-up finishes in 2013 and 2011 and finishing third in 2010.
Rodgers scored 50 points, including 26 goals, as a senior for Hopkins High School last season. A 2014 Minnesota Ms. Hockey finalist, Rodgers helped Hopkins to a third-place finish at the 2010 Minnesota Class AA state tournament as well.
Quartet Set to Captain Minnesota
Seniors Rachael Bona and Rachel Ramsey will serve as captains, and they will be assisted by senior Meghan Lorence and sophomore Lee Stecklein. Bona was a top-10 finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award as a junior last season. The Coon Rapids, Minn., native ranked third in the nation and second on the team with a career-high 61 points (23g-38a), and she was recognized as an All-WCHA Second Team honoree.
The 2014 WCHA Defensive Player of the Year, Ramsey ranked second in the nation in scoring among defensemen with 43 points on 12 goals and 31 assists last season. A native of Chanhassen, Minn., she earned her first All-American honors in 2014 and ended the season ranked fifth among all-time Gopher defensemen with 97 career points.
Lorence and Stecklein will serve as assistant captains of the 2014-15 squad. Lorence recorded a career-high 35 points on 18 goals and 17 assists in 35 games last season. She also led Minnesota with seven game-winning goals, including netting the game-winner in the Gophers' 4-0 win over Minnesota State on the outdoor ice at TCF Bank Stadium in the Hockey City Classic.
Meanwhile, Stecklein missed the 2013-14 season while competing with the U.S. Women's National Team at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. She recorded one assist and played in five games at the Olympics. In her rookie season with the Gophers, Stecklein played in all 41 games and registered 12 points on three goals and nine assists.
Gophers Tabbed No. 1 in Preseason Polls
Minnesota has been picked to win the 2014-15 WCHA league title, according to the annual preseason poll of the league's head coaches. The Gophers collected six first-place votes and 48 points in the poll. Wisconsin came in second with 44 points and two first-place votes. Minnesota Duluth (34 points) edged out North Dakota (33 points) for third place, and Ohio State (26), Minnesota State (17), Bemidji State (13) and St. Cloud State (9) rounded out the coaches' poll.
Minnesota also earned the preseason No. 1 ranking in both the USCHO.com Division I Women's Poll and the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Women's College Hockey Poll. No. 1 Minnesota, No. 2 Wisconsin, No. 3 Boston College and No. 4 Harvard make up the top four teams in both polls, and No. 8 North Dakota and No. 10 Minnesota Duluth (USCHO poll) also represent the WCHA among the national preseason top 10 teams.
Brandt Collects WCHA Preseason Honors
Junior forward Hannah Brandt, the 2014 WCHA Player of the Year, has been named the league coaches' preseason WCHA Player of the Year for the second-straight season.
Last season, Brandt led the nation with 42 assists and ranked second in the NCAA with 65 points, including 23 goals. She wrapped up her sophomore season as a top-three finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award and an AHCA/CCM First Team All-American honoree.
Looking Back at 2013-14
Minnesota concluded the 2013-14 season just short of a national championship three-peat with a runner-up finish at the 2014 NCAA Women's Frozen Four. The Gophers fell to Clarkson, 5-4, in the title game in Hamden, Conn., after rallying past Wisconsin in a 5-3 come-from-behind win to advance to the championship game for the third-straight year.
Despite falling short of an NCAA three-peat, the Gophers enjoyed a highly successful and exciting 2013-14 campaign, which included earning the program's sixth WCHA Final Face-off title and eighth WCHA regular season title, playing in the program's first-ever outdoor game in the Hockey City Classic at TCF Bank Stadium and making the program's 10th NCAA Frozen Four appearance. The Gophers also completed their historic NCAA-record 62-game winning streak and celebrated countless individual successes en route to compiling the second-most wins in program history at 38-2-1.
Up Next: Gophers at Bulldogs
Minnesota opens WCHA play on the road at Minnesota Duluth next week. Puck drop is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT at AMSOIL Arena next Friday and Saturday, Oct. 10-11.
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