It was a special weekend for Nicole Schammel.
The redshirt sophomore faced her former team, the Minnesota State-Mankato Mavericks, over the weekend and had a career-best series with four points en route to a Gophers series sweep.
“I played with different linemates, I think that we meshed really well,” Schammel said. “The team just played our most solid weekend of the year and helped me get a couple points on the board.”
Schammel and the Gophers started a big offensive output against the Mavericks with Saturday’s game.
She scored the first goal of Friday’s game, which also marked her first ever at Minnesota.
Senior forward Dani Cameranesi followed her teammate’s lead and turned a first period power play into a goal to up the score to 2-0 for the No. 2 Gophers.
Despite a necessity for scoring to stay in the game, Minnesota State suffered from many mistakes and penalties throughout the second period.
Minnesota took advantage of the errors and Cameranesi scored two more goals to complete a hat trick, the fifth of her career.
The Gophers buried the Mavericks in the third period and allowed no opposing goals while junior defenseman Sydney Baldwin scored the final goal of the game for a 5-0 Minnesota win.
Minnesota outshot Minnesota-State 35-10 and redshirt junior Sidney Peters saved all 10 shots she faced for her third shutout of the season.
Cameranesi led the Gophers with her hat trick, while junior forward Kelly Pannek had three assists.
“I think we’re getting a lot of good bounces,” Pannek said of her line with Cameranesi and freshman forward Sarah Potomak. “We’re all determined to get the puck in the net. We all like to score, we like to make plays, and it’s worked out really well so far, just reading off each other and competing together. I think the three of us against three players against any team down low it’s going to be a really good outcome.”
Sunday’s game saw more from Schammel, as she scored two more goals for the Gophers.
Minnesota came out swinging in the second period despite starting it with a 1-1 tie. The Gophers scored six goals in the second stanza, which was highlighted by a shorthanded goal from Pannek, as she beat the Minnesota State goaltender one-on-one.
“She is probably the most competitive kid we have,” said head coach Brad Frost. “To see her be able to get that step after being out there awhile was a huge goal for us.”
It only took two more minutes for Pannek to strike again, this time on the power play.
Minnesota poured it on some more, as Cameranesi scored two goals straight, followed by a goal from Schammel to close out the period.
The Gophers took that momentum into the final period, as Schammel scored yet again, followed by the eighth and final goal, scored by sophomore forward Taylor Williamson.
Minnesota was led again by its terrific trio of Potomak, Pannek, and Cameranesi in the 8-1 victory, which combined to score five goals and eight assists in the final game.
“They read off of each other so well, and they’re playing with a ton of confidence right now,” Frost said. “It seems like everything they’re putting to the net is going in. Hopefully they can sustain being a really good first line throughout the whole year.”
