University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
20-5-3,16-4-3-2WCHA
Minnesota State
6-21-3,3-18-2-0WCHA
Gophers Shut Out Mavericks, 5-0
2/3/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Hockey
Feb. 3, 2017
MANKATO, Minn. - Eight different Gophers recorded at least one point led by the line of Sarah Potomak (1g-2a), Kelly Pannek (1g-2a), and Kate Schipper (1g-2a) as the No. 4 Golden Gopher women's hockey team cruised to a 5-0 win over Minnesota State on the road at MSU's Verizon Wireless Center Friday night.
Minnesota (20-5-3, 16-4-3-2 WCHA) earned its second-straight shutout as Sidney Peters made nine saves in the first two periods before Serena D'Angelo made three saves on three shots faced in the third period. The Gophers outshot the Mavericks, 34-12, for the game, and Brianna Quade made 29 saves in net for MSU.
"It was a solid win here tonight," head coach Brad Frost said. "Nice shutout by Sid Peters and Serena D'Angelo. Really, all four lines, all six defensemen, and both goalies who played, everybody played really well with great focus and great energy. It was a lot of fun out there, and we're looking forward to tomorrow."
The Gophers scored twice in the game's opening three minutes and never looked back. Sophie Skarzynski put Minnesota on the board with her second goal of the season at the 2:05 mark of the opening frame before Pannek scored her 15th of the year just 55 seconds later. The Gophers outshot the Mavericks, 11-3, in the first period and took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission.
Minnesota logged three more goals in the second period, including the team's first power-play goal in its last six games. Potomak scored her 16th of the season on the Gophers' lone power play of the game at the 5:09 mark of the middle frame before Cara Piazza scored her fifth goal of the season and Schipper netted her ninth of the year to give the Gophers the 5-0 lead after forty minutes of play.
"It was nice to get Cara and Kate back and get somewhat of a semblance closer to our full lineup," Frost said. "Both of them made a big impact for us here tonight."
The teams played a scoreless third period, and Minnesota cruised to its third-straight win. The Gophers are now unbeaten in their last 45 games against the Mavericks at 44-0-1 dating back to Dec. 7, 2007. In addition, Minnesota remains undefeated in night games this season, going 10-0-1 in games beginning later than 4 p.m. in 2016-17.
Minnesota was one-for-one on the power play while holding Minnesota State scoreless on two opportunities with the man advantage. The Gophers lead the NCAA in both power play percentage (28.4) and penalty kill (92.2).
With her three-point effort, Potomak now has 96 career points with 31 goals and 65 assists, looking to become the 33rd Gopher in program history to surpass the century mark for scoring.
The Gophers and Mavericks wrap up this weekend's series with Minnesota's final regular-season road game of the year at 3:07 p.m. CT Saturday afternoon in Mankato, Minn.
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