University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
St. Thomas
Players Mentioned
Murphy Tallies Five Points in Gophers’ Dominant Win Over Tommies
12/7/2024 12:01:00 AM | Women's Hockey
MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn. - The No. 3-ranked University of Minnesota women's hockey team moved to a 12-4-1 (8-4-1 WCHA) record on Friday after a 5-0 road victory over St. Thomas. The Gophers are now 17-0 all-time against the Tommies.
Junior forward Josefin Bouveng opened up scoring on the night with a goal halfway through the first period. It was Bouveng's fourth goal of the season so far, assisted by Abbey Murphy and Nelli Laitinen. Laitinen's assist marked the 50th point of her career, having notched 10 goals and 40 assists in her three years as a Gopher defender. Minnesota led 1-0 heading into the first intermission, totaling 12 shots on goal while holding St. Thomas to seven.
Bouveng tallied her second goal of the night on a Gopher power play 10:06 into the second period, assisted by Murphy and Natalie Mlynkova. Just over a minute later, redshirt-senior forward Abbey Murphy then recorded her third point of the evening with a goal of her own, assisted by Ella Huber. With under six minutes remaining before second intermission, Murphy scored her second goal, assisted by Chloe Primerano and Huber, and fourth point of the game. Minnesota led 4-0 heading into the third period, outshooting St. Thomas 19-5 in the second.
Within the first three minutes of the third period, freshman defender Chloe Primerano tallied her second career goal, assisted by Murphy and Emma Conner. Murphy finished the night with five total points (2g-3a), tying her single-game career-high. The Gophers outshot the Tommies 15-2 in the third period, totaling to 47 SOG versus St. Thomas' 14 SOG on the night.
Freshman goaltender Hannah Clark recorded her first career shutout, making 14 saves on 14 total shots throughout her full 60 minutes between the pipes. Clark moves to an 8-2-1 record this season and a .925 save percentage.
Quotable:
"Really complete hockey game," said head coach Brad Frost. "I thought offensively, defensively, we did some really, really good things. In the second period, we were able to blow it open a little bit. We defended well, we blocked shots, really limited their opportunities, and were able to offensively do some things that we wanted to do. Nice power play goal there tonight, too."
Additional Quotes from Coach Frost:
On Abbey Murphy's Five-Point Performance
"[Murphy] just continues to do what she does. She's playing the right way, and when she plays like that, she's one of, if not the best player in the country. And so I'm happy for her. Obviously, a big night from a points perspective."
On Hannah Clark's First Career Shutout
"[Clark is] carrying the load. She's been playing some really, really good hockey. Got some help there from the cross bar with under a minute to play, but I'm happy for Hannah. She deserves it, she's been playing great. We're going to ride her here, all the way throughout the year, so we're excited about that."
Notable:
- Abbey Murphy tied her single-game career-high of 5 points.
- Abbey Murphy recorded her ninth multi-point game of the season.
- Abbey Murphy recorded her fourth multi-goal game of the season.
- Friday marked Josefin Bouveng's first multi-goal game of the season and fourth of her career.
- Josefin Bouveng recorded her third multi-point game of the season.
- Nelli Laitinen recorded her 50th career point with her assist on Josefin Bouveng's first goal on Friday.
- Ella Huber recorded her sixth multi-point game of the season.
- Chloe Primerano recorded the second goal of both her season and career.
- Chloe Primerano tallied her third multi-point game of the season.
- Hannah Clark recorded the first shutout victory of her career.
- Hannah Clark recorded the Gophers' second shutout victory of the season.
- The Gophers have tallied at least one power play goal in eight of their last nine games.
- The Gophers outshot the Tommies 47-14, their second-largest margin of the season.
Up Next:
The No. 3 Gophers will head return to Mendota Heights tomorrow to finish their road series against the Tommies. The two squads will face off at St. Thomas Ice Arena at 6:00 p.m. CT.