University of Minnesota Athletics
Road Series with Huskies Up Next
1/30/2018 12:00:00 AM | Women's Hockey
| No. 7 Minnesota (19-8-2) at St. Cloud State (6-17-3) | |
| Game 1 | Friday, Feb. 2 | 3 p.m. |
| Game 2 | Saturday, Feb. 3 | 3 p.m. |
| Location | Herb Brooks National Hockey Center | St. Cloud, Minn. |
| Game 1 | Game Day Live | SCSU Video | Free Audio | Live Stats |
| Game 2 | Game Day Live | FOX Sports North | FOX Sports GO | Free Audio | Live Stats |
| Official Sites | Minnesota | St. Cloud State |
| Social Media | @GopherWHockey | Facebook | Instagram |
Jan. 30, 2018
MINNEAPOLIS -- The No. 7 Golden Gopher women's hockey team is back on the road this week, traveling to St. Cloud, Minn., for a WCHA series with the Huskies. Puck drop is set for 3:07 p.m. CT both Friday and Saturday. Saturday's game will air live on FOX Sports North.
About the Series: Minnesota vs. St. Cloud State
Minnesota is 79-3-2 in 84 all-time games against St. Cloud State. The Gophers are on a 37-game winning streak over the Huskies dating back to Oct. 2010. The Gophers are 3-0-0 against St. Cloud State this weekend, including a WCHA sweep with 3-0 and 4-3 wins at Ridder Arena and a non-conference 2-1 win.
Last Time Out: Gophers Sweep Mavericks
Minnesota (19-8-2, 12-6-2-0 WCHA) won 4-2 and 2-0 to earn a sweep over Minnesota State in its final home series of the regular season last weekend. Six different players scored goals, and Sidney Peters earned both wins in net, including a 32-save shutout in game two. Grace Zumwinkle (1g-1a), Alex Woken (1g-1a), and Caitlin Reilly (1g-1a) led the Gophers with multiple points in the series.
Scouting the Huskies
St. Cloud State (6-17-3, 4-13-2-0 WCHA) hosts Minnesota Duluth on Wednesday before this weekend's series with Minnesota. The Huskies most recently dropped a WCHA series on the road at Wisconsin, falling 4-0 and 3-2. After starting the season 2-12-0 in their first 14 games, the Huskies are 4-5-3 since Nov. 22 with four losses to the Badgers and one to the Gophers.
Freshman forward Laura Kluge leads the Huskies with 19 points (6g-13a), including a team-high 13 assists. Sophomore forward Kayla Friesen (3g-8a) is second on the team with 11 points, and junior forward Julia Tylke (6g-3a) and sophomore forward Hallie Theodosopoulos (6g-2a) are tied with Kluge for the team lead with six goals each.
Sophomore Janine Alder (2-10-1) and freshman Emma Polusny (4-7-2) have split time in net for SCSU. Alder was recently named to Switzerland's women's hockey roster for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. Both goaltenders' save percentages rank among the best in the nation this season; Polusny's .937 save percentage lands fourth in the country while Alder ranks fifth at .935.
Twenty Years of Gopher Women's Hockey
Minnesota enters this week's series with St. Cloud State with an all-time program record of 616-128-51. The 2017-18 season marks the 21st season in Gopher women's hockey history, and Minnesota secured the program's 599th and 600th all-time wins on the road at Bemidji State earlier this season.
Senior Salute
The Gophers celebrated the team's four seniors, Sydney Baldwin, Cara Piazza, Sidney Peters, and Caitlin Reilly last weekend. From 2014-15 to 2017-18, the seniors have led Minnesota to a 114-23-12 overall record for a .805 winning percentage. In WCHA games, the seniors are 77-15-12 (.798). The class has made three NCAA Frozen Four appearances and won back-to-back NCAA titles in 2015 and 2016. There Gophers were WCHA regular-season champions in 2015 and WCHA Final Face-off runners-up in 2016 as well.
Road Warriors
Minnesota opened the season with a perfect 10-0-0 road record over the first half of the regular season, earning sweeps at Bemidji State, Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota State, Mercyhurst, and Lindenwood. The Gophers are currently 10-2-0 in road games.
Career-High Scoring
Sydney Baldwin (8g-17a), Nicole Schammel (14g-11a), Sophie Skarzynski (6g-16a), Caitlin Reilly (8g-14a), Alex Woken (9g-10a), Patti Marshall (1g-13a), and Kippin Keller (2g-8a) have already reached career-highs for scoring this season.
Notable Notes
• Minnesota is 16-1-1 this season when leading at the second intermission while going 1-4-0 when trailing at the second intermission.
• Caitlin Reilly leads Minnesota with seven multi-point games while Nicole Schammel has a team-best three multi-goal games this season.
• Cara Piazza is tied for third in the nation with five game-winning goals this season. More than half of Piazza's goals on the season are game-winners as she has 19 points (8g-11a) in 29 games.
Offensive Defensemen
Sydney Baldwin (8g-17a), Olivia Knowles (6g-10a), and Patti Marshall (1g-13a) are among the WCHA's top-scoring defensemen. Baldwin leads the WCHA and ranks seventh in the nation with 0.86 points per game while Knowles (0.55 points per game) and Marshall (0.48 points per game) rank eighth and 10th, respectively, among WCHA blue-liners.
Immediate Impact
All five of Minnesota's freshmen are seeing significant ice time with all four skaters picking up their first collegiate goals and goaltender Alex Gulstene playing in 12 games (7-2-1). Grace Zumwinkle (13g-17a) leads the team in scoring while Taylor Wente (10g-10a), Olivia Knowles (6g-10a), and Emily Brown (3g-5a) have all registered points on the year.
WCHA's Best Special Teams
Minnesota leads the WCHA and ranks sixth in the NCAA on the power play, converting on 23.0 percent of attempts at 20-for-87. The Gophers also lead the league and rank fifth in the NCAA on the penalty kill at 89.6 percent (69-for-77).
Scoring Milestone
Sydney Baldwin recorded her 50th career point with an assist against Merrimack (Sept. 29). She is tied for second on the team with 25 points (8g-17a) on the season, and her career total stands at 74 career points with 20 goals and 54 assists. Baldwin is tied for ninth in career goals among all-time Gopher blue-liners.
Home, Sweet Home
Including a 9-6-2 mark at home in 2017-18, the Gophers have compiled a record of 119-12-12 in home games at Ridder Arena dating back to 2011-12.
Up Next: Border Battle Season Finale
The Gophers are off next weekend before wrapping up the regular season with a trip to Madison, Wis., to face the Badgers on Friday, Feb. 16 and Saturday, Feb. 17.
Gophers Sign Six for 2018-19
Head coach Brad Frost and the Gophers are pleased to welcome six student-athletes for the 2018-19 season. Abigail Boreen (Somerset, Wis./Hill-Murray School), Taylor Heise (Lake City, Minn./Red Wing High School), Crystalyn Hengler (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie High School), Emily Oden (Edina, Minn./Edina High School), Gracie Ostertag (Shakopee, Minn./Shattuck St. Mary's School), and Catie Skaja (New Prague, Minn./New Prague Senior High School) make up the newest class of Gophers.
Johnson Leads U.S. Under 18 Squad to Gold
Associate head coach Joel Johnson led the U.S. Under-18 Women's National Team to its fourth-straight gold medal at the IIHF Under-18 Women's World Championship in Dmitrov, Russia, in January 2018. Gopher signees Taylor Heise and Gracie Ostertag won their third-straight gold medals representing the U.S. as well.
Frost Enters Second Decade
Head coach Brad Frost is back for his 11th season at the helm of the program with a career record of 319-53-27 in his first 10 seasons. Last season, the Gophers celebrated Frost's 300th career coaching victory with a road sweep at Ohio State in October 2016.
Eight Gophers Headed to Olympic Games
Eight players with Gopher ties will represent their respective countries at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games. Senior Kelly Pannek and alumnae Hannah Brandt ('16), Dani Cameranesi ('17), Amanda Kessel ('16), Gigi Marvin ('09), and Lee Stecklein ('17) were named to the 2018 U.S. Women's Olympic Team, and alumnae Noora Räty ('13) and Mira Jalosuo ('13) have been chosen to represent Finland. Alumna Megan Bozek (USA) and current Gophers Sarah Potomak (Canada), and Amy Potomak (Canada) were centralized with their respective national teams in preparation for the Olympic Games but were not selected to the final Olympic rosters.
Raty is making her fourth Olympics appearance after representing Finland in 2006, 2010, and 2014. Meanwhile, Jalosuo is making her second appearance after joining Raty on Finland's 2014 team. Marvin leads the USA Gophers in making her third Olympic Games appearance after earning silver at both the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver, B.C., and the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. Kessel and Stecklein also return to the line-up for the Red, White, and Blue after earning silver in 2014. Brandt, Cameranesi, and Pannek are making their Olympic debuts.
The PyeongChang Games kick off in South Korea on Friday, Feb. 9 and conclude Thursday, Feb. 25. The women's ice hockey competition begins Sunday, Feb. 11 at the Kwandong Hockey Centre in the PyeongChang Coastal Cluster. The gold-medal game will be held Monday, Feb. 22 at the Gangneung Hockey Centre. The U.S. and Finland join Canada and Russia in competing in Group A.
WCHA Final Faceoff, NCAA Frozen Four Return to Ridder Arena
Minnesota will once again serve as host of the WCHA Final Faceoff in 2017-18, marking the 11th time the league's postseason tournament has been held at Ridder Arena. All-tournament ticket packages for the 2018 WCHA Final Faceoff, to be held Saturday, March 3 and Sunday, March 4, are now on sale.
The NCAA Women's Frozen Four also returns to Ridder Arena this season, marking the fourth time the national championship will be played on the Gophers' home ice. Ticket packages are on sale now and include tickets to both national semifinals on Friday, March 16 and the national championship game on Sunday, March 18. Single-session tickets will go on sale at a later date, subject to availability. Ridder Arena hosted the NCAA Women's Frozen Four in 2010, 2013, and 2015.
Duo Serving as Captains
Seniors Sydney Baldwin and Cara Piazza are serving as the Gophers' co-captains this year. The duo was part of back-to-back national championship teams their freshmen and sophomore years at the University of Minnesota, and they have helped the program advance to three-straight NCAA Frozen Fours. Baldwin, a health services management and human resources development major, is a Minnetonka, Minn., native. Piazza hails from Darien, Ill., and is studying mechanical engineering; she is the first Illinois native to captain the team since Megan Bozek in 2012-13.
Who's New?
WCHA Preseason Rookie of the Year Grace Zumwinkle (Excelsior, Minn.) leads Minnesota's talented freshmen class, which also includes defense Emily Brown (Blaine, Minn.), goaltender Alex Gulstene (Vancouver, B.C.), defense Olivia Knowles (Campbell River, B.C.), and forward Taylor Wente (Maple Grove, Minn.). Junior forward Jackie Pieper (Edina, Minn.), who spent three years at Merrimack College, rounds out Minnesota's newcomers. Freshman Amy Potomak (Aldergrove, B.C.) joins the Gophers for the spring semester, but she is expected to red shirt the season after beginning the year centralized with Canada's National Women's team in preparation for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games.
Who's Back?
Minnesota's 2017-18 roster includes 16 players from last year's team, which advanced to the program's sixth-straight NCAA Frozen Four. Co-captains Sydney Baldwin and Cara Piazza and fellow seniors Sidney Peters and Caitlin Reilly lead this year's team.
Gophers Tabbed as League Favorite
Minnesota was named the WCHA preseason favorite heading into the 2017-18 season. The Gophers collected four first-place votes and 34 points in the annual poll of the league's seven head coaches. The Gophers edged back-to-back defending WCHA champion Wisconsin by one point. Minnesota Duluth and Ohio State tied for third in the poll with 23 points each while Bemidji State (14 points), St. Cloud State (11 points), and Minnesota State (9 points) rounded out the poll.
Season Recap: A Look Back at 2016-17
Minnesota's 2016-17 season came to a close in the semifinal round of the 2017 NCAA Women's Frozen Four. The Gophers posted an overall record of 26-8-5 while going 19-4-5 in WCHA play. Minnesota finished as WCHA regular season runner-up for the second-straight year and tied for third at the WCHA Final Face-Off. Under the leadership of senior captains Lee Stecklein, Dani Cameranesi, and Kate Schipper, Minnesota produced two of the nation's top-10 scorers, multiple All-Americans for the sixth-straight year, a program-record 17 WCHA All-Academic Team honorees, and the NCAA's second-ranked power-play.
Gophers in the NCAA Tournament
Minnesota made its 10th-straight and 15th overall appearance in the NCAA postseason last year. The Gophers saw their streak of NCAA title game appearances come to an end at five but made the program's sixth-straight and 13th overall appearance at the Frozen Four. Since 2011-12, the Gophers are 15-2-0 in NCAA games. Minnesota owns an all-time record of 24-10-1 in NCAA tournament games since 2000-01 as well.
Quest for Eighth National Title in 2017-18
Despite falling short of a third-straight national title in 2017, Minnesota has still won four of the last six national championships and has seven national titles overall (2000, 2004, 2005, 2012, 2013, 2015, and 2016). The program looks for a historic eighth title national crown in 2017-18.
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