Gophers to Close Out Regular Season with Mavericks

MINNEAPOLIS -- The No. 3 Golden Gopher women's hockey team wraps up the regular season by hosting Minnesota State at Ridder Arena at 7:07 p.m. CT Friday and 4:07 p.m. CT Saturday.

The Gophers are pleased to celebrate Fan Appreciation Weekend in addition to honoring their six seniors prior to Saturday's game for the team's annual Senior Day. In addition, this weekend is Dodge County, Thief River Falls, and Minnetonka Community Weekend.

Last Time Out: Gophers Sweep Beavers
Most recently, Minnesota (23-5-3, 15-5-2-1 WCHA) earned a road sweep at Bemidji State, picking up 4-1 and 6-3 wins led by Grace Zumwinkle (2g-3a), Sarah Potomak (1g-3a), Alex Woken (2g-1a), Taylor Heise (1g-2a), and Emily Oden (1g-2a). Sydney Scobee earned both wins in net, combining for 34 saves on 38 shots faced.

About the Series: Minnesota vs. Minnesota State
The Gophers are 91-3-3 all-time against the Mavericks. Minnesota has won 46 consecutive games against Minnesota State, dating back to January 2010. This season, the Gophers are 3-0-0 against the Mavericks with a sweep in Mankato, Minn., behind 6-0 and 7-1 wins along with topping Minnesota State by a score of 4-0 in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Museum Women's Faceoff Classic in Prior Lake, Minn.

Senior Salute
The Gophers will celebrate their six seniors, captain Patti Marshall, assistant captain Alex Woken, Kippin Keller, Sarah Potomak, Katie Robinson, and Sydney Scobee prior to Saturday's game against Minnesota State. The senior class has led Minnesota to an overall record of 105-30-12 in 147 games (.755 winning percentage) from 2016-17 to 2019-20. The have made three NCAA tournament appearances, including a 2019 NCAA runner-up finish. The class has raised banners as 2019 WCHA regular-season champions and 2018 WCHA Final Faceoff champions, and these six Gophers have combined for 120 goals and 214 assists for 334 points as a class.

Scoring Milestones
Sarah Potomak is Minnesota's active career scoring leader, ranked 11th in Gophers' history with 170 career points (62g-108a). She is chasing 10th-ranked Kelly Pannek (72g-114a) with 186 career points.

Two Gophers hit milestones in Minnesota's sweep over Bemidji State (Nov. 15-16) as S. Potomak recorded her 150th career point and Grace Zumwinkle recorded her 100th point. Amy Potomak, Alex Woken, Taylor Heise, and Emily Brown have all reached the 50-career points mark this season, and Patti Marshall recorded her 50th career assist against Harvard (Nov. 30).

Top Line Delivers
Grace Zumwinkle (20g-18a), Sarah Potomak (16g-21a), and Taylor Heise (15g-20a) have all surpassed the 30-point mark this season.

Coaching Milestone
Head coach Brad Frost is closing in on 400 career wins at the helm of the Gophers. Entering the final series of the regular season, Frost's career coaching record stands at 398-75-34. He currently ranks fifth among all-time NCAA national collegiate women's hockey coaches with 398 career wins.

League's Best Goaltending
Sydney Scobee ranks third in the NCAA with seven shutouts this season. She leads the WCHA with a 1.62 goals against average and ranks second in the league with a .932 save percentage while ranking among the nation's top goaltenders in both categories as well.

Notable Notes

The Gophers are perfect on the penalty kill over their last nine games, going 22-for-22.
Minnesota leads the WCHA and ranks second in the nation at 92.5 percent (74-for-80) on the penalty kill this season.
Madeline Wethington has a team-best four game-winning goals this season; four of her six career goals have been game-winners. Grace Zumwinkle and Sarah Potomak each have three game-winners on the year as well.
Three Gophers have reached career highs for points this season: Alex Woken (14g-15a), Catie Skaja (7g-7a), and Gracie Ostertag (1g-8a).

Up Next: WCHA Postseason
The WCHA postseason begins with three best-of-three, quarterfinal-round playoff series hosted by the second, third, and fourth-place regular-season teams, scheduled for Feb. 28 through March 1. The three winning teams will then join the 2019-20 WCHA regular-season champion at the WCHA Final Faceoff to compete for the league's playoff championship and its automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.

WCHA Final Faceoff Returns to Ridder Arena
The 2020 WCHA Final Faceoff, which will crown the postseason champion of the league's 21st season, will take place at Ridder Arena on March 7-8. All-session ticket packages grant access to each of the tournament's three games and are priced at $20 (general admission bench for seniors/students and youth), $25 (general admission bench for adults) and $35 (reserved chairback).

Gophers Celebrate Hockey Day Minnesota
Minnesota played its second outdoor game in program history when the Gophers hosted the Buckeyes outdoors at Parade Stadium in downtown Minneapolis as part of this year's Hockey Day Minnesota celebration. With a 2-1 win over Ohio State, the Gophers are undefeated in outdoor games after the program's first-ever outdoor game saw the Maroon & Gold earn a 4-0 win over Minnesota State in the Hockey City Classic at TCF Bank Stadium on Jan. 17, 2014.

Gopher Nation
With games against Boston College and Harvard at the Country Classic in Nashville earlier this season, Tennessee became the 15th state in which Minnesota has played games since the first year of the program in 1997-98. The Gophers have competed in Connecticut, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, and Wisconsin.

Gophers Add Seven for 2020-21
Head coach Brad Frost and the Gopher women's hockey program are pleased to announce the addition for seven incoming student-athletes for the 2020-21 season. Forward Addie Burton (Orono, Minn./Blake School), forward Anne Cherkowski (Coldstream, B.C./Pursuit of Excellence), defense Josey Dunne (O'Fallon, Mo./Chicago Mission), forward Tella Jungels (Edina, Minn./Edina High School), forward Abbey Murphy (Evergreen Park, Ill./Chicago Mission), defense Maggie Nicholson (Minnetonka, Minn./Minnetonka High School), and forward Audrey Wethington (Edina, Minn./Blake School) make up the newest class of Gophers.

Twenty Years Ago
This season marks the 20-year anniversary of Minnesota's 1999-2000 AWCHA national championship season. Under the direction of head coach Laura Halldorsen, the 1999-2000 Gophers became the first women's team to win a national title in Minnesota history. After defeating rival Minnesota Duluth by a score of 3-2 in the national semifinal, the Gophers went on to defeat Brown, 4-2, to claim the national title.

2018-19 Season in Review
Minnesota wrapped up the 22nd season of Gopher women's hockey as NCAA and WCHA Final Faceoff runners-up in 2018-19. The Maroon & Gold took home the program's 10th WCHA regular-season title and said goodbye to eight graduating seniors in head coach Brad Frost's 12th season at the helm of the program. The Gophers posted an overall record of 32-6-1 as they fell one game short of a national title.

Quest for Eighth National Title Continues
Minnesota has won seven national championships (2000, 2004, 2005, 2012, 2013, 2015, and 2016) and looks for a historic eighth title national crown in 2019-20.

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Players Mentioned

Emily Brown

Taylor Heise

Kippin Keller

Patti Marshall

Emily Oden

Gracie Ostertag

Kelly Pannek

Amy Potomak

Sarah Potomak

Katie Robinson

Sydney Scobee

Catie Skaja

Madeline Wethington

Alex Woken

Grace Zumwinkle