University of Minnesota Athletics
Players Mentioned
Five Gophers Take Gold at 2025 IIHF Women’s World Championships
4/23/2025 1:14:00 PM | Women's Hockey
MINNEAPOLIS - Five Gophers (Taylor Heise, Abbey Murphy, Kelly Pannek, Lee Stecklein, Grace Zumwinkle) helped the U.S. Women's National Team take home gold at the 2025 IIHF Women's World Championships in Czechia on Sunday morning. The gold medal game saw the United States take down Canada 4-3 in overtime, completing a perfect 7-0 record at this year's tournament.
The championship showdown saw Heise and Murphy each tally crucial points for the United States. Murphy tallied the Americans' second goal of the game, giving Team USA a 2-0 lead. Canada tied the game at 2-2, before a Heise goal, with an assist from Murphy, made it 3-2. In overtime, Heise notched a game-winning assist.
With the victory, Stecklein brought her gold medal count to six and total medal count to eight. Pannek earned her fourth gold and sixth overall medal, both Heise and Murphy secured their second gold and fourth overall medal, and Zumwinkle clinched her first gold and fifth overall medal.
An overall mix of 12 current, former, and future Gophers competed across six tournament teams, with 11 recording at least one point:
United States (1st Place)
Taylor Heise (2g-3a)
Abbey Murphy (3g-3a)
Kelly Pannek (4g-4a)
Lee Stecklein (2g-1a)
Grace Zumwinkle (1a)
Canada (2nd Place)
Chloe Primerano
Finland (3rd Place)
Nelli Laitinen (3a)
Krista Parkkonen (1a)
Czechia (4th Place)
Natalie Mlynkova (4g-2a)
Tereza Plosova (1g)
Sweden (6th Place)
Josefin Bouveng (2g-3a)
Hungary (10th Place)
Emma Kreisz (1g)