The No. 2 Gophers women’s hockey team concluded a successful first half of the season by beating the Minnesota State Mavericks 4-0 in the 2019 U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Museum Women’s Faceoff Classic.

The Saturday matinee started off in the Gophers favor as Taylor Heise continued her consistency of putting pucks in the goal. Heise opened the scoring with a goal with just under five minutes left in the first period. With the goal, Heise has cashed in for the Gophers 11 times this season. Along with Heise, Grace Zumwinkle, Sarah Potomak and Alex Woken are among the top 30 in the nation in goals scored. The consistent offensive production has kept the Gophers among the toughest teams in the nation to defend.

The rest of the goals that found the net for the Gophers came in the second period from Madeline Wethington, Emily Oden and Amy Potomak. Sydney Scobee made 18 stops for the shutout, her fifth of the season.

“A really good evening here out at Dakotah! Ice Center and the Hockey Hall of Fame game — just a really great night, great atmosphere with the stands packed and a good hockey game,” head coach Brad Frost told the media. “I’m proud of our team. We defended well, and scoring those three goals in the second was big to build that lead. Overall, it was a really good first half, and we’re excited about the break but also excited about how our team played here in the first half of the season.”

Minnesota currently sits at second, behind Wisconsin, in the NCAA rankings with a 15-1-3 record. The Gophers rank second in goals this season and have been stout defensively, holding opponents to 27 goals all season, ninth best in the country.

Fans will have to wait until the new year to see the Gophers again. They take on the Yale Bulldogs  in their next series on Jan 4. With the win, Minnesota closed out 2019 on an NCAA-best 10-game unbeaten streak, having gone 7-0-3 since Oct. 26.