Gophers to Wrap Up First Half

MINNEAPOLIS – The No. 2 University of Minnesota women's hockey team (15-2-1, 9-2-1-0 WCHA) returns home to host Robert Morris (8-8-4, 6-1-1 CHA) in its final series of the 2018 calendar year this Friday and Saturday at Ridder Arena. Puck drop is set for 7:07 p.m. CT Friday and 1:07 p.m. CT Saturday.

Fans can follow along with both games by watching online on BTN Plus or FloHockey, and free audio and live stats are available at GopherSports.com.

Teddy Bear Toss and Skate with the Gophers
Minnesota's annual Teddy Bear Toss is on Friday. Fans who bring a new teddy bear to donate will receive free admission; fans are then invited to throw their teddy bears on the ice following the Gophers' first goal. All stuffed animals collected will be donated to the University of Minnesota Masonic Children's Hospital. Minnesota's annual Skate with the Gophers event will be held after Saturday's game. This weekend is also Minnetonka Community Weekend at Ridder Arena.

About the Series: Minnesota vs. Robert Morris
Minnesota is 1-1-0 all-time against Robert Morris. In the lone meeting, the teams split a series at Ridder Arena in October 2008. Minnesota fell 3-2 in game one before winning 7-1 in game two.

Last Time Out: Minnesota Sweeps Yale
Last weekend, Minnesota earned a non-conference road sweep at Yale with 7-1 and 3-1 wins. Grace Zumwinkle (4g-2a), Nicole Schammel (1g-3a), Emily Brown (1g-2a), and Taylor Wente (1g-2a) led the Gophers in scoring against the Bulldogs. Zumwinkle scored her first career hat trick in the Gophers' game one win before Abigail Boreen (1g-1a) and Catie Skaja (2a) led the way in game two.

Spreading the Wealth
Eleven Gopher forwards have scored at least four goals this season and, in total, 18 different skaters have scored goals. Eight different Gophers are in double figures for points, and 21 different players have at least one point on the year. Eleven different players have scored game-winning goals for Minnesota led by Emily Brown, Taylor Heise, Taylor Wente, and Grace Zumwinkle with two apiece.

Special Teams Show Improvement
After starting the season 4-for-27 on the power play and 12-for-17 on the penalty kill over the first eight games of the season, Minnesota is 6-for-21 on the power play and 25-for-27 on the penalty kill with three shorthanded goals over the team's last 10 games. The Gophers lead the WCHA with a .294 power play percentage over the last five weeks, going 5-for-17 on the power play in eight games since Nov. 1. During the same stretch, Minnesota is 20-for-22 on the penalty kill (.909).

Scoring Leaders
Through 18 games this season, Nicole Schammel (5g-18a), Grace Zumwinkle (12g-9a), and Kelly Pannek (9g-8a) lead the Gophers in scoring. Zumwinkle leads the WCHA with 12 goals while Schammel's 23 points are second in the league. Emily Brown (3g-10a) and Patti Marshall (1g-10a) rank second and fourth, respectively, in scoring among WCHA defense. Brown leads WCHA blue-liners with three goals. Meanwhile, Taylor Heise (5g-8a) ranks third in scoring among WCHA rookies as well.

Coaching Milestone
The Gophers' 1-0 win over Wisconsin (Oct. 27) marked the 350th career win for head coach Brad Frost, whose all-time coaching record now stands at 358-66-31. Frost is in his 12th season at the helm of the program.

Scoring Milestones
Kelly Pannek is Minnesota's active career scoring leader as she ranks 10th among all-time Gophers with 172 points (65g-107a). She is chasing Gigi Marvin in ninth place (87g-108a). Pannek's 107 career assists are tied for ninth in program history as well. She recorded her 100th career assist in Minnesota's season-opener. Meanwhile, Sarah Potomak is 31st in program history with 115 career points (39g-76a), trailing 30th-ranked Milica McMillen with 120 career points (44g-76a).

First-Career Goals
Five Gopher rookies have scored their first collegiate goals as Amy Potomak (Sept. 28) and Taylor Heise (Sept. 29) scored in Minnesota's season-opening weekend while Catie Skaja found the back of the net against Minnesota Duluth (Oct. 5), and Emily Oden scored her first two career goals against St. Cloud State (Oct. 13). Most recently, Abigail Boreen netted her first collegiate goal against St. Cloud State (Nov. 17).

Immediate Impact
All seven of Minnesota's rookies have seen significant ice time already as Amy Potomak (4g-8a), Taylor Heise (5g-8a), Emily Oden (5g-4a), Catie Skaja (4g-5a), and Gracie Ostertag (4a) have all appeared in all 18 games while Abigail Boreen (2g-2a) has played in 16 games and Crystalyn Hengler (3a) has appeared in 15 games.

Up Next: Holiday Break
Following its series with Robert Morris, Minnesota has three weekends off from competition for the holiday break. The Gophers return to action in 2019 by hosting the Minnesota Cup on Saturday, Jan. 5 and Sunday, Jan. 6 when the Maroon & Gold welcomes Minnesota State, St. Cloud State, and Minnesota Duluth to Ridder Arena for the four-team tournament.

Twenty Years of WCHA Women's Hockey
The 2018-19 season marks the league's 20th anniversary season. Throughout the season, the WCHA will celebrate the past, present, and future of college hockey's premier conference.

Nationwide Gophers
After Minnesota played in the Windjammer Classic (Nov. 23-24), Vermont is now the 14th state where the Gophers have competed in program history: Connecticut, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin.

Gophers Medal at Four Nations Cup
Kelly Pannek joined Gopher alums Megan Bozek, Hannah Brandt, Dani Cameranesi, Amanda Kessel, and Gigi Marvin in winning gold with the U.S. Women's National Team at the 2018 Four Nations Cup. Fellow Gophers alumna Noora Raty won bronze with Finland in the tournament, while redshirt junior Sarah Potomak was named to Canada's National Women's Team for the tournament but was unable to participate due to injury.

Home, Sweet Home
The 2018-19 season marks the 17th season of Ridder Arena serving as the home of Gopher women's hockey. Minnesota enters the season with a record of 268-42-21 in home games at Ridder Arena, dating back to the 2002-03 season.

Pannek Serving as Captain
Senior Kelly Pannek is Minnesota's captain this year. Pannek returns to Minnesota for her redshirt senior season as an Olympic gold medalist after helping Team USA to gold at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games.

Gophers Tabbed as League Favorite
Minnesota and Wisconsin tied for the top spot in the 2018-19 WCHA Preseason Coaches' Poll with 33 points apiece. Defending WCHA Final Faceoff champion Minnesota and defending WCHA regular season champion Wisconsin collected all seven first-place votes in the poll as the Badgers had four votes and the Gophers received three. Ohio State earned 24 points to edge Minnesota Duluth by one point and secure the third spot in the poll while Bemidji State (16), St. Cloud State (12), and Minnesota State (6) rounded out this year's poll.

Who's Back?
The Gophers return 17 players from last year's team, including seven seniors. Minnesota returns seven of its top-10 leading scorers from last year, including 2018 WCHA Scoring Champion and team scoring leader Grace Zumwinkle (17g-21a). Nicole Schammel returns after recording a career-high 32 points (17g-15a) last season, and Sophie Skarzynski (8g-19a) was one of the Gophers' top-five leading scorers a year ago as well. Along with 17 returners, the Gophers enjoy the addition of three players who red-shirted the 2017-18 season: U.S. Olympic gold medalist Kelly Pannek and Canada's National Women's Team members Amy Potomak and Sarah Potomak.

Heise Leads Incoming Class
Seven newcomers join the Gophers for the 2018-19 season, made up of six true freshmen and one junior transfer. WCHA Preseason Rookie of the Year Taylor Heise (Lake City, Minn./Red Wing HS) leads Minnesota's talented freshmen class, which includes Abigail Boreen (Somerset, Wis./Hill-Murray), Crystalyn Hengler (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie HS), Emily Oden (Edina, Minn./Edina HS), Gracie Ostertag (Shakopee, Minn./Shattuck St. Mary's), and Catie Skaja (New Prague, Minn./New Prague HS) along with Heise. Meanwhile, goaltender Sydney Scobee (Minnetrista, Minn.) joins the Maroon & Gold after spending two years at the University of Vermont where she played in 31 games, posting a .923 save percentage and a 2.59 goals against average.

Season Recap: A Look Back at 2017-18
Minnesota's 2017-18 season came to a close in the NCAA quarterfinal round after the Gophers punched their ticket to the NCAA tournament by winning the program's seventh overall WCHA Final Faceoff title and the team's first since 2013-14. The Gophers posted an overall record of 24-11-3 while going 13-8-3-0 in WCHA action. Minnesota finished third in the WCHA regular season race. Under the leadership of captains Sydney Baldwin and Cara Piazza, Minnesota made the program's 11th-straight and 16th overall appearance in the NCAA postseason. Baldwin collected WCHA Player of the Year, WCHA Defensive Player of the Year, and CCM/AHCA All-American First Team honors while Sidney Peters was selected as this year's recipient of the prestigious Hockey Humanitarian Award. Six newcomers joined the squad for their first season representing the Maroon & Gold while four seniors capped their collegiate careers in Baldwin, Peters, Piazza, and Caitlin Reilly.

WCHA Final Faceoff Returns to Ridder Arena
Minnesota will serve as host of the WCHA Final Faceoff in each of the next four seasons. The 2019 WCHA Final Faceoff is set for March 9-10, and the league awarded the 2020 through 2022 tournaments to Ridder Arena prior to the start of the 2018-19 season. The decision for the host site for the next three-year championship cycle was made following a vetting process by the league's Postseason Tournament Committee of submitted bids, the committee's subsequent recommendation, and a unanimous vote of approval by the WCHA Women's League Board of Directors. The league's postseason tournament has been held at Ridder Arena 11 times, most recently in 2017-18. Ridder Arena has also hosted the NCAA Women's Frozen Four in 2010, 2013, 2015, and 2018.

Goldy's Kids Club Returns in 2018-19
Youth in 8th grade or under can receive exclusive access to sporting events and Gopher gear. Goldy's Kids Club annual memberships run from July to May and allows members to have exclusive access to select ticket deals and special events. New Goldy's Kids Club memberships are $25 for each child and renewals are $20 for each child. All Goldy's Kids Club members receive free admission to all regular-season Gopher women's hockey home games at Ridder Arena.

Quest for Eighth National Title in 2018-19
Minnesota has won four of the last seven 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 2018-19.

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Players Mentioned

Sydney Baldwin

Abigail Boreen

Emily Brown

Taylor Heise

Crystalyn Hengler

Patti Marshall

Emily Oden

Gracie Ostertag

Kelly Pannek

Sidney Peters

Cara Piazza

Amy Potomak

Sarah Potomak

Caitlin Reilly

Nicole Schammel

Sydney Scobee

Catie Skaja

Sophie Skarzynski

Taylor Wente

Grace Zumwinkle