University of Minnesota Athletics
Saturday, February 26
4:00 PM
University of Minnesota
28-7-1
5
vs
1
St. Thomas
5-27-1
1
2
3
F
St. Thomas (MN)
0
1
0
1
Minnesota
3
2
0
5
Photo by: Brad Rempel
Gophers Sweep Tommies, Advance to WCHA Final Faceoff
2/26/2022 7:32:00 PM | Women's Hockey
Minnesota defeats St. Thomas, 5-1 in game two to sweep WCHA quarterfinal series.
MINNEAPOLIS – The No. 1 Golden Gopher women's hockey team advanced to the WCHA Final Faceoff with a 5-1 victory over St. Thomas on Saturday afternoon at Ridder Arena. Minnesota won the first two games of the three-game series to move to 30-1 all-time in the first round of the WCHA Tournament.
Minnesota (28-7-1) jumped all over St. Thomas (5-27-1) to start game two, scoring three goals in the opening period to set the stage for a quarterfinal-series sweep. Senior forward Catie Skaja provided early offense for Minnesota, scoring two goals in the first seven minutes of the contest for her third multi-goal game this season. The nation's leading scorer, Taylor Heise, capped off a three-point day (1g-2a) with her fifth shorthanded goal of the season. Forwards Emily Oden and Audrey Wethington each tallied their ninth goals of the season in the second period to extend the Gophers' lead. St. Thomas' Jenna Hartung tallied the lone goal for the visitors.
Lauren Bench stopped 18 shots for her 13th victory of the season. The sixth-year senior has won her last six starts and is 9-2-0 in the second half of the season. Swiss Olympian Saskia Maurer made 52 saves in the defeat.
Quotable
"In the postseason you want to play well and advance," said head coach Brad Frost. "We were able to do that with a win here today. We're really proud of our group for the way they played this entire weekend. Today in particular, we were buzzing and getting chances. We played pretty well defensively and stayed out of the box more than we did yesterday. All in all, a really good weekend. Congratulations to Olivia Knowles for playing in 165 games as a Gopher and setting the program record. All in all, we're looking forward to next weekend and being in the semifinals of the WCHA Final Faceoff."
Notable
Fifth-year defender Olivia Knowles set a new program record for games played with 165. Heise's five goals down a skater is most in the country and third-most in a single season in program history. With a goal from Audrey Wethington, Minnesota's third forward line has now scored in each of the past five games.
Up Next
The Gophers advance to the WCHA Final Faceoff next weekend at Ridder Arena. Minnesota will face either Minnesota Duluth or Minnesota State in the Saturday semifinal.
Minnesota (28-7-1) jumped all over St. Thomas (5-27-1) to start game two, scoring three goals in the opening period to set the stage for a quarterfinal-series sweep. Senior forward Catie Skaja provided early offense for Minnesota, scoring two goals in the first seven minutes of the contest for her third multi-goal game this season. The nation's leading scorer, Taylor Heise, capped off a three-point day (1g-2a) with her fifth shorthanded goal of the season. Forwards Emily Oden and Audrey Wethington each tallied their ninth goals of the season in the second period to extend the Gophers' lead. St. Thomas' Jenna Hartung tallied the lone goal for the visitors.
Lauren Bench stopped 18 shots for her 13th victory of the season. The sixth-year senior has won her last six starts and is 9-2-0 in the second half of the season. Swiss Olympian Saskia Maurer made 52 saves in the defeat.
Quotable
"In the postseason you want to play well and advance," said head coach Brad Frost. "We were able to do that with a win here today. We're really proud of our group for the way they played this entire weekend. Today in particular, we were buzzing and getting chances. We played pretty well defensively and stayed out of the box more than we did yesterday. All in all, a really good weekend. Congratulations to Olivia Knowles for playing in 165 games as a Gopher and setting the program record. All in all, we're looking forward to next weekend and being in the semifinals of the WCHA Final Faceoff."
Notable
Fifth-year defender Olivia Knowles set a new program record for games played with 165. Heise's five goals down a skater is most in the country and third-most in a single season in program history. With a goal from Audrey Wethington, Minnesota's third forward line has now scored in each of the past five games.
Up Next
The Gophers advance to the WCHA Final Faceoff next weekend at Ridder Arena. Minnesota will face either Minnesota Duluth or Minnesota State in the Saturday semifinal.
Team Stats
UST
MIN
Shots
19
60
PPG
0
0
SHG
0
1
Penalties
1
2
Penalty Mins
2
4
Faceoffs Won
21
27
Game Leaders
+/-
2
Goals
1
Sh
11
A
2
+/-
3
Goals
2
Sh
5
A
0
+/-
1
Goals
1
Sh
7
A
0
+/-
1
Goals
1
Sh
4
A
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's HockeyF
/ Women's Hockey
D
/ Women's HockeyF
/ Women's HockeyF
/ Women's HockeyF
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