University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
18-4-0, 12-4-0
Minnesota State
11-10-1, 5-10-1
Team Stats
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
‘U’ Secures Sweep Over No. 12 Mavericks
1/10/2026 10:22:00 PM | Women's Hockey
MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. – The No. 3-ranked University of Minnesota women's hockey team battled to a 4-3 win over No. 12 Minnesota State on Saturday night at Ridder Arena to complete the weekend series sweep. Minnesota jumped out to an early 2-0 lead before the Mavericks answered with three straight goals. The Gophers responded with two goals of their own to secure the conference victory.
Minnesota opened the scoring 10:42 into the first period. On a two-on-two rush, Josefin Bouveng found Abbey Murphy, who slid the puck through a Mavericks defender's legs before ripping a far-side, high wrist shot for the game's opening goal.
Bella Fanale doubled the Gophers' lead just over five minutes later on a highlight-reel play from Murphy. Murphy lifted the puck to herself, tapped it back down to herself and through a defender's legs, fought off pressure, and delivered a one-handed pass to Fanale, who one-timed home her first goal of the night to make it 2-0.
Minnesota State responded with three consecutive goals to take the lead. The Mavericks scored with just over a minute remaining in the first period before adding goals at the 1:33 and 3:52 marks of the second period.
The Gophers continued to push and found the equalizer midway through the second. At the 11:35 mark, Ava Lindsay took a feed from Jamie Nelson and sniped a far-side, high shot from the left faceoff circle to tie the game at 3-3.
Fanale netted her second goal of the contest and the eventual game-winner at 16:57 of the second period, finishing a rebound just outside the crease off a Murphy shot.
The teams skated through a scoreless third period, which saw Minnesota State pull its goaltender with under a minute remaining. The Gophers held strong defensively to fend off the six-on-five attack and seal the sweep.
With the win, Minnesota improves to 18-4-0 (12-4-0 WCHA), while Minnesota State falls to 11-10-1 (5-10-1 WCHA).
Quotable
"We got better as the game went on, the third period in particular," said head coach Brad Frost. "We did our job in regard to closing out the game. I'm proud of our group. We were up, got down there in the second, but were able to get a couple quick ones in the third to get the lead and then closed it out."
Notable
- Abbey Murphy tallied her 50th point of the season in just 22 games.
- Bella Fanale tallied her fourth multi-goal game of her career.
- Josefin Bouveng extended her point streak to 21 games.
- Layla Hemp made 31 saves on the night.
Up Next
Minnesota heads north next weekend for its final regular-season series against Bemidji State on Jan. 16-17. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. CT on Friday and 3:30 p.m. CT on Saturday. Both games will stream live on B1G+.