University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
5-3-1, 1-3-1
Minnesota State
2-3-0, 0-3-0
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No. 4 Minnesota Earns 500th All-Time WCHA Conference Victory
10/25/2024 8:43:00 PM | Women's Hockey
MINNEAPOLIS - On Friday, the No. 4 ranked Golden Gophers became the first program in WCHA history to reach 500 conference wins, taking down Minnesota State 8-2 at home. Minnesota moves to a 5-3-1 (1-3-1 WCHA) record on the season.
The Maroon and Gold wasted little time getting on the board, as fifth-year forward Natalie Mlynkova would send the puck to the back of Minnesota State's net 43 seconds into the first period, assisted by Abbey Murphy and Gracie Graham. With under three minutes left in the period, Sophomore forward Lauren O'Hara brought the Gopher's lead to 2-0 with her first goal of the season, assisted by Sydney Morrow and Chloe Primerano.
Minnesota then built upon its lead dramatically in the second period, adding three goals and allowing none. Junior forward Josefin Bouveng brought the lead to 3-0 just over a minute into the period with her third goal of the season, assisted by Primerano. Natalie Mlynkova tallied her second score of the game, and third on the year, three minutes later to make it 4-0. Senior forward Ella Huber then got involved, scoring the Gophers' first shorthanded goal of the season to extend the lead to 5-0.
The Gophers' scoring run continued after second intermission. Redshirt-senior forward Abbey Murphy tallied her 7th goal of the season just 21 seconds into the third period, assisted by Huber and Mlynkova. Then, on the Maroon and Gold's first power play of the game, senior forward Peyton Hemp brought the game to 7-0 with her second goal of the season, assisted by Huber and Bouveng. Junior forward Madison Kaiser tallied Minnesota's 8th and final score of the night with 11:05 left in the third, scoring her second goal in two games, assisted by Bouveng and Kate Kosobud. The Mavericks would get on the board twice in the final six minutes of the game, bringing the final score to 8-2 in the Gophers' first conference win of the season.
Freshman goaltender Hannah Clark, in her fourth career start, made 18 saves on the night and picked up her second career victory.
Quotable:
"Really happy, coming off a hard weekend last weekend" said head coach Brad Frost. "Proud of how our group just came out right off the bat, right off the hop, and we got one early there, and were able to extend the lead as we went. Lot of good things, offensively, defensively. Overall, really happy with how we played here tonight."
Additional Quotes from Coach Frost:
On Natalie Mlynkova
"She's got a ton of talent and a lot of ability. She was a little snakebit for a few games, but she keeps doing the right things, playing the right way, and we saw a couple special goals for her tonight."
Notable:
- Six Gophers notched multiple points on Friday (Natalie Mlynkova, Abbey Murphy, Chloe Primerano, Sydney Morrow, Josefin Bouveng, Ella Huber).
- Ella Huber's three points brought her career total to 98.
- Peyton Hemp's goal brought her career point total to 95.
- Sydney Morrow notched both her 50th and 51st career points with her two assists on the night.
- Minnesota scored a season-high eight goals, the team's most since Dec. 2, 2023.
- Minnesota's last shorthanded goal came against Cornell on Nov. 25, 2023.
- Kate Kosobud recorded her first point as a Gopher with her assist tonight.
- Natalie Mlynkova tallied her first multi-goal game in the Maroon and Gold.
- Abbey Murphy notched her fourth multi-point game of the season.
- Minnesota outshot Minnesota State 35-20.
Up Next:
The Gophers will head to Mayo Clinic HSEC in Mankato, Minn. on Saturday, Oct. 26 at 2:00 p.m. CT to take on the Mavericks in the second game of this weekend's series.