#2 Gophers finish off homestand with sweep of Lindenwood
The #2-ranked Gopher Women’s Hockey team swept the Lindenwood Lions in a rare Thursday/Friday series. On Thursday night, the Gophers blitzed the Lions to the tune of an 11-0 win. 16 different Gophers recorded a point, and 10 Gophers had multiple points.
On Friday afternoon, the Gophers once again jumped out to an early lead. This time, however, Lindenwood responded. The Lions scored once in the second period and again in the third to keep the game close. However, Minnesota had an answer both times and defeated Lindenwood 5-2.
Three Stars of the Series
Adrianna Milani: The goals just won’t stop coming for Adrianna Milani. Just like last weekend against Ohio State, it was a first-period Adrianna Milani goal that got the Gophers off and running in the opening game against Lindenwood. Milani added another goal in the third period on Thursday night for her fourth multi-goal game of the season. Two more goals on Friday afternoon bring Milani’s total to 10 goals in her first eight NCAA games. It’s easy to forget Milani is doing all of this at just 17 years old.
“When she gets the puck on her stick, she’s throwing that thing through the back of the net. She shoots so hard. Like she’s trying to shoot so hard every time and she has a great quick release. If you look, her goals are not always going to the same spot. she’s just a gifted goal scorer.”
Head Coach Greg “Boom” May on Adrianna Milani’s shot after Thursday night’s win.
Sloane Hartmetz & Gracie Graham: I realize I am cheating a little bit here, but Hartmetz and Graham continue to be spectacular for the Gophers. The pair had the best plus-minus rating among Gopher defenders in both games. On Thursday night, Graham and Hartmetz were +5. On Friday, they were +3, giving the pairing a whopping +8 on the weekend.
Graham scored her third goal of the season on Thursday night. Her shot from the point has become a real weapon for the Gophers, and I’ve thought Graham has done a great job being patient and letting offensive chances come to her. Hartmetz tallied four assists on Thursday night. The freshman leads all Gopher defenders with 7 assists. She’s second among Gopher defenders with a +12 rating on the season. The only defender with a better plus-minus rating is Graham at +13.
Madison Kaiser: Bumped up to the Bella Fanale, Adrianna Milani line before Thursday night’s game, Madison Kaiser responded with a great series. Kaiser tallied one assist in Thursday evening’s game, but she was especially good on Friday afternoon. In the first period on Friday, Kaiser set up Milani’s opener. Later, she finished off a great passing play to double the Gophers’ lead on the power play. Kaiser had another assist on Milani’s third-period goal that iced the game for the Gophers. Across the weekend, Kaiser tallied one goal and four points.
Quotes from the Head Coach
Prior to this weekend, Lindenwood had played two tight games with #6-ranked Penn State. After Thursday night’s win, I asked Head Coach Greg “Boom” May about how the Gophers held Lindenwood to just ten shots.
“I think it’s just our effort,” May said. “Like, consistently, you know. Maddie Kaiser, the game’s out of reach, I think there’s a minute and a half left, and she’s still tracking back full speed and killing a play at their offensive blue line, not even allowing an entry. Sarah Paul blocks a shot with, I don’t know, three and a half minutes left or so as a player’s coming down Broadway…I think we’re buying into just playing the right way and playing hard consistently. When we play hard consistently and 200 feet, we’re really tough to play against.”
The Gophers’ fourth line was on fire again Thursday night. Maddie McCullough scored two goals, Rachel Piggott had three points, and Avery Hovland tallied an assist. Postgame, I asked May about the success of the fourth line.
“I don’t even know how many that line had,” May said with a laugh. “I know the individual forwards had at least three together, but they were out there when D scored also. They might have been out there for 4 or 5 goals today, and they’re supposedly our 4th line. I say this all the time, but we have really good hockey players in the stands right now…It’s a luxury, and it’s also a pain in the you-know-what for me to make those decisions, but I’m hoping like crazy that it’s for the better as we continue on this season.”
After Friday afternoon’s win, May was asked about the importance of the Gophers’ depth when they take on the University of Minnesota Duluth next weekend. Minnesota will be missing several key players who are representing their countries at the World Championships.
“We’ve been talking about our depth since I got the job here. I’m hoping that our depth shows through, and I know it will,” May said. “And the nice thing, too, is that throughout this entire time, when we’ve been healthy, everybody’s been playing. We had new players come in today that didn’t play yesterday, and the same thing last weekend. So everyone’s getting experience, everyone’s getting playing time, everyone sees their worth, sees their value. So my hope and my feeling is that next week is just gonna be another game. There are just three other players in that maybe weren’t in when our group is healthy. But again, we’re not the minority either. Duluth is going to be missing players as well. And it’s just, unfortunately, where we’re at right now with Worlds being in November.”