The Minnesota women’s hockey team traveled to Nashville this weekend to compete in the 2019 Country Classic. Friday was a bit of struggle for the Gophers as they faced off against No. 8 Boston College, which resulted in a 2-2 tie. Saturday, the Gophers rebounded against a talented Harvard squad that was previously ranked in the top-10 and secured an impressive 4-0 victory.
Gophers outshoot Eagles by a wide margin, but come away with a tie
Boston College struck first on Black Friday, scoring with a short-handed goal from Delaney Belinskas. Not long after, the Gophers responded as Taylor Wente scored to even the game.
Early in the second period, the short-handed Eagles scored again with a goal from Kelly Browne. Neither team scored again before heading into the final period, where the Gophers rebounded once more. A much-needed goal was made halfway through the period on a power play from leading scorer, Grace Zumwinkle. The game went into overtime and both goalies held their ground for a 2-2 tie.
Minnesota outshot the Eagles in the third period and overtime 19-2, yet only came out with one goal.
“A really good hockey game here tonight, I’m really proud of our team,” head coach Brad Frost told the media. “They played really well in particular in the third, outshooting BC 15-1 and then 4-1 in the overtime. We had some great chances, hit some pipes.”
This marks the Gopher’s third tie of the season. Minnesota also tied Minnesota-Duluth and scored in an overtime shootout after tying Wisconsin in regulation.
Gophers put together a complete game to stifle Harvard
Minnesota’s offense on Saturday started out slow against the Harvard Crimson, with a 0-0 tie heading into the second period. However, that’s when the Gophers started to take the game over, once again showing why they have been coined “a second-period team.”
The scoring was quick, and in a blink of an eye the score was 2-0 with goals from Sarah Potomak and Alex Woken only five minutes into the period.
The Harvard Crimson failed to score again in the third while the Gophers kept rolling with two more goals from Abigail Boreen and Sarah Potomak.
Frost praised his team’s offensive efforts after the game.
“I thought we were really good tonight, defended well, were able to apply the pressure to a really hot goaltender and we’re really happy with the win,” he said.
Goaltender Sydney Scobee finished with 21 saves in the afternoon. The senior netminder has become a consistent force in between the pipes this season, keeping almost every game in reach for the Gophers.
Minnesota will take on the Minnesota State Mavericks in Prior Lake for the 2019 U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Museum Game on Dec. 7. This is the last game before a long break with no games until the Gophers return home in early January.
