#2 Gophers earn road sweep of #13 Bulldogs: Takeaways
Minneapolis, MN – After six straight home games, the #2-ranked Gopher Women’s Hockey team headed north this weekend to face the University of Minnesota Duluth. With the World Championships looming, both teams were without several key players.
The Gophers were without defender Chloe Primerano and forwards Julia Schalin and Tereza Plosová. The Bulldogs had five players out of the lineup: Claire Kraemer, Ève Gascon, Paulina Salonen, Tuuli Tallinen, and Ida Karlsson.
In game one, Minnesota jumped out to an early two-goal lead behind a pair of Bella Fanale first-period goals. The Bulldogs fought back; a UMD power-play goal cut the Gopher lead to one early in the second period. With less than a minute left in the third, Bulldog freshman defender Renée Lapointe tied the game. The Gophers responded in overtime, outshooting the Bulldogs 4-0. With less than a minute left, Ava Lindsay beat Marilou Grenier with a shot from the top of the circle to win the game for the Gophers.
On Saturday afternoon, the Gophers jumped out to an early lead once again. Elevated in the lineup because of players out on international duty, freshman forward Maddie McCullough scored her seventh goal of the season. However, just over a minute later, UMD tied the game. The Gophers took the lead once again before the first period expired when sophomore forward Sienna D’Alessandro scored her first of the season. In the second period, Sloane Hartmetz scored her first goal of the season to give the Gophers a 3-1 lead. The Gophers survived a late Bulldog push to win 3-2 and take the series. The two wins were the Gophers’ first road sweep of a ranked team this season.
Top line gets going on Friday night
It was the Gophers’ top line that powered the offense in game one. Ava Lindsay, Bella Fanale, and Adrianna Milani accounted for all three Gopher goals in the game. Coming into the contest, sophomore forward Bella Fanale had scored three goals in her first eight games. Fanale scored twice in the first period against the Bulldogs to give the Gophers an early lead. Freshman forward Adrianna Milani had two assists in the game; she has a team-leading 14 points in 10 games.
Senior captain Ava Lindsay had a much-needed offensive breakout on Friday night. Lindsay has gotten off to a bit of a slow start offensively; coming into the weekend, she hadn’t scored a goal and tallied just five points. On Friday night, Lindsay scored the overtime game-winner and assisted on one of Fanale’s goals. It was Lindsay’s first multi-point game of the season. The overtime game-winner was Lindsay’s 100th career point in maroon and gold.
The Gophers will hope that Friday night’s game-winning goal will kickstart Lindsay offensively. Minnesota will need her and the top line to produce while they are without some key forwards over the next few weeks.
Depth powers Saturday afternoon’s win
If Friday night’s win was about the top line, Saturday afternoon’s win was once again about the Gophers’ depth. Head Coach Greg “Boom” May has praised the Gopher depth all season, and they’ve been given a chance to shine with players out on international duty. On Saturday, Freshman forward Maddie McCullough opened the scoring for the Gophers with a great shot off a one-on-one rush. McCullough has impressed in her first ten games with the Gophers; she’s second on the team with 7 goals, playing predominantly in a fourth-line role.
The fourth line also got in on the action on Saturday afternoon. Sophomore forward Sienna D’Alessandro scored her first goal of the season late in the first period to give Minnesota a 2-1 lead. The goal was D’Alessandro’s first point of the season in seven games.
D’Alessandro’s linemate this weekend, Rachel Piggott, has been providing quite a spark from the bottom of the lineup recently. Piggott has only played in five games this season, first appearing in the Friday night win over Ohio State. Since then, she’s scored a point or more in her last four games, including a three-point night against Lindenwood last weekend. Piggot tallied assists in both games against UMD, and she’s now scored one goal and six points in her first five collegiate games.
Hannah Clark shines in goal
Hannah Clark has been good in the net for the Gophers all season, but this weekend’s series in Duluth might have been her best so far. Clark started both games of the series, making 25 saves in Friday night’s overtime win. She made a number of big saves, including several on odd-skater rushes, to keep the game close and allow Minnesota to prevail in overtime. On Saturday, Clark made 29 saves to hold off the Bulldogs and secure the sweep.
“She was really, really good all weekend,” Head Coach Greg “Boom” May said postgame on Saturday. “She made some huge saves for us today down the stretch…She was great, she was great all weekend, and she keeps getting better. She seems to be in a good zone right now, so hopefully we can keep it going.”
Saturday afternoon’s win was Clark’s 50th career victory. Across the two-game series, Clark finished with a .931 save percentage.
The Gophers have a weekend off and will return to action Friday, November 13th, when they take on the St. Cloud State Huskies at Ridder Arena.