University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
15-5-1
Penn State
17-4-1
Team Stats
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
Gophers Fall to Nittany Lions on Final Day of East/West Showcase
1/4/2025 8:00:00 PM | Women's Hockey
MINNEAPOLIS - The No. 3-ranked Golden Gopher women's hockey team drops to a 15-5-1 (9-4-1 WCHA) record after a 6-2 defeat at the hands of No. 11/12 Penn State (17-4-1, 8-0-0 AHA) on Saturday.
The Minnesota loss closes out the 2025 East/West Showcase at Ridder Arena and snaps the Gophers' four-game win streak.
Penn State opened the game in a scoring spree, tallying four goals in the first period, tying the most given up by Minnesota in a single period all season. Stella Retrum struck first, getting the Nittany Lions on the board 4:35 into the game. Grace Outwater then brought Penn State up 2-0 three minutes later, followed by Abby Stonehouse with a score of her own at the midway point of the period. The Nittany Lions would score one more time before first intermission, courtesy of Maddy Christian, bringing their lead to 4-0 heading into the second. Despite trailing in scores, Minnesota led 12-6 in shots on goal during the first period.
The Gophers finally got on the board 7:05 into the second period by way of junior defender Sydney Morrow's fifth power play goal of the season, assisted by Ella Huber and Josefin Bouveng. However, Penn State's Stella Retrum would tally her second goal of the game less than a minute later, bringing the Nittany Lion lead back to four. The score remained 5-1 at second intermission, with each team recording 10 SOG during the second period.
Morrow sent her second puck to the back of the Penn State net, assisted by Nelli Laitinen, 2:46 into the third period, bringing the game back within three. However, the Gophers were hampered by four penalties throughout the last eleven minutes of game, including one that saw the Nittany Lions regain their four-goal advantage. Penn State would cement its 6-2 victory as the period came to a close, despite Minnesota holding a 34-25 total shot advantage throughout the game.
Saturday marked only the third loss of freshman goaltender Hannah Clark's career, dropping her to an 11-3-1 record in net, and only the fourth game of Clark's career in which she recorded a save percentage lower than .900.
Quotable:
"Tough one, obviously," said head coach Brad Frost. "Certainly on the scoreboard anyways. Six-two loss, giving up four in the first, score one, and they score right back. Every time we got some momentum, they seemed to tamper it down a little bit. But our team played hard. It wasn't for a lack of effort and compete. Had some great chances, and pucks weren't going in here tonight, but we'll regroup and be better on Monday."
Notable:
- Sydney Morrow recorded a team-high fifth power play goal of the season.
- Sydney Morrow recorded her seventh and eighth goals of the season.
- Sydney Morrow recorded her fifth multipoint and second multigoal game of the season.
- Saturday marked the first non-conference loss for the Gophers of the season.
- Saturday marked the most goals allowed in a game by Minnesota this season, and most since Jan. 13, 2024.
- The Gophers outshot the Nittany Lions 34-25.
Up Next:
The Maroon & Gold will be back at Ridder Arena next weekend for their first WCHA conference action of the new year. The Gophers will take on the St. Thomas Tommies on Friday, Jan. 10 at 6:00 p.m. CT and Saturday, Jan. 11 at 2 p.m. CT.