University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
17-5-1, 11-4-1
St. Thomas
5-15-2, 2-13-1
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Minnesota Scores Thrice in Third Period to Complete Sweep of St. Thomas
1/11/2025 5:51:00 PM | Women's Hockey
MINNEAPOLIS - The third-ranked Golden Gopher women's hockey team (17-5-1, 11-4-1 WCHA) completed their second sweep of St. Thomas this season with Saturday afternoon's 5-1 victory at Ridder Arena. Minnesota moved to 20-0-0 all-time against St. Thomas.
The Gophers were quick to get on the board, as freshman defender Gracie Graham scored her third goal of the season, assisted by Abbey Murphy and Josefin Bouveng, a little over a minute into the game. Junior defender Sydney Morrow followed up less than a minute later with a goal of her own, assisted by Natalie Mlynkova and Graham. It was the reigning WCHA Defender of the Week's ninth goal of the season. St. Thomas would bring the game back within one near the midway point of the period, thanks to a Nicole Vallario power play goal. The score remained 2-1 heading into the first intermission, with Minnesota leading St. Thomas 11-4 in shots on goal.
Both teams went scoreless throughout the second period while also not registering a penalty. The Gophers out-shot the Tommies 12-5, bringing the total SOG to 23-9 in favor of Minnesota heading into the third period.
The Gophers excelled offensively during the third period, tallying three unanswered goals in the final twenty minutes of the game. Fifth-year forward Natalie Mlynkova scored her 13th goal of the season, assisted by Nelli Laitinen and Audrey Wethington, less than three minutes into the period. Redshirt-senior forward Abbey Murphy then got involved at the ten minute mark, recording her team-leading 18th goal of the year, assisted by Morrow and Graham. Minnesota would once again extend their lead with under four minutes remaining, as senior forward Peyton Hemp cemented the final score at 5-1 with her fourth power play goal of the season, assisted by Laitinen and Ava Lindsay.Â
Freshman goaltender Hannah Clark moved to a 13-3-1 record in net this season after recording 12 saves and a .923 save percentage in Saturday's contest.
Quotable:
"Great win," said head coach Brad Frost. "Had to battle. Again, credit St Thomas, they worked their tails off. [For us] to go into the third [period] two-one and get that one early and extend the lead was huge. Really fun to see our team playing the right way, staying above pucks and reloading, getting pucks to the goal and making it really difficult for St. Thomas to generate anything. Overall, a great win."
Additional Quotes from Coach Frost:
On Gracie Graham
"Gracie's been great. Even though she's a freshman, she uses her size and her stick to her ability. She jumps in offensively when she needs to, defends really, really well, and happened to get on the score sheet a few times today."
On Sydney Morrow
"When [Morrow] has a puck on her stick, good things happen. And so it's been a huge addition for us. She does the right thing, plays the right way. Overall, it's a team effort, and I really felt like our team did a great job."
Notable:
- Gracie Graham recorded her first-career multi-point game.
- Sydney Morrow scored her 25th career goal.
- Abbey Murphy has recorded a point in 18 out of Minnesota's 23 games this season.
- Abbey Murphy recorded her 15th multi-point game this season.
- Natalie Mlynkova recorded her seventh multi-point game this season.
- Peyton Hemp recorded her fourth power play goal of the season, tied for second-most on the team.
- Nelli Laitinen recorded her third multi-point game this season.
- Saturday marked Minnesota's fourth consecutive game with at least one power play goal.
- Minnesota has recorded at least one power play goal in 16 games this season.
- The Gophers are 14-2-0 in games during which they score at least one power play goal.
- Saturday marked Minnesota's 18th game of the season with at least 30 SOG or more.
- Minnesota out-shot St. Thomas 38-13.
Up Next:
The Maroon & Gold will be back on the ice next weekend for a home-and-home series against Minnesota State. The first game will be played at Ridder Arena on Friday, Jan. 17 at 6:00 p.m. CT, and the second game will be played at Mayo Clinic HSEC in Mankato, Minn. on Saturday, Jan. 18 at 2:00 p.m. CT.