University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Preview Minnesota Duluth
10/21/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Hockey
Oct. 21, 2015
MINNEAPOLIS - Head coach Brad Frost, senior forward Hannah Brandt, and freshman forward Sarah Potomak preview this weekend's series against Minnesota Duluth (4-4-0, 2-2-0 WCHA). No. 1 Minnesota (6-0-0, 4-0-0 WCHA) welcomes the Bulldogs to Ridder Arena at 6 p.m. CT Friday and 4 p.m. CT Saturday.
On the rivalry with Minnesota Duluth...
Brad Frost: We will start watching video on Duluth this week and communicate the importance of these six points, but also the rivalry and the history. With Nadine Muzerall being one of our assistant coaches, the history goes way back when she played, as well. She always reminds the players about that, as well.
They've won five national championships, we've won six. It's a huge rivalry, being in the same University of Minnesota system, just a lot of great games. They bring out the best in us; we bring out the best in them. So, even though they have a new coach and probably a new system up there, I think it's going to be some really close, competitive games.
Hannah Brandt: It's fun having Nadine, our coach, she was a big part of the tradition, so she always reminds us about how big of a rivalry it is. It's fun to hear her stories, as well.
On the team's scoring production...
Sarah Potomak: I think it just proves that we have so much depth, and the goals aren't just coming from just one player, it's coming from almost everybody. I think that's really kind of scary, but it's cool that it's coming from everyone, just showing how good we can be.
Frost: It's neat. We knew when we put Sarah with Hannah and Dani that there was a chance for some great things. In my opinion, the jury is still out. We've played some good teams, but we're playing a better team this weekend, and we will continue to play better teams throughout the year. So, we'll see what they can do against top-notch competition, but right now they have a real good chemistry and a good thing going, so hopefully that will certainly continue.
Brandt: I think me and Dani played really well together last year, and this year we got to add Sarah, who has done an outstanding job already as a freshman. I think we really clicked this last weekend, and I'm hoping to continue that moving forward.
On goaltending...
Frost: Sid has played at a really high level, even before she came to the University of Minnesota. She was the Under-18 goalie for Team USA and has had some great experiences that way. As you mentioned, Amanda is still our number one. She's proven that over the last four years, but whatever goalie we have in the net, we certainly trust them to do their job, just like we trust any of our other players to do theirs.
I think the three of them, when you add Emma in there as well, I think all three of them support each other well, push each other. It's so important for them to have a great relationship, both on the ice and off the ice. Goaltending is such a hard position because it's an individual position in a team sport. Only one of them can play each game. To have a great attitude and put the team first is critical.
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