Almost 10 minutes into the Gophers game against Bemidji State on Saturday, senior captain Hannah Brandt made program history.
Then she did it again in the third period.
Brandt scored her 100th career goal in the beginning of the game, plus another four to become Minnesota’s all-time leading scorer. Her career-high five goals in the game tied the program record for goals in a game.
“When she got that first one, it just kept on going,” head coach Brad Frost said Saturday. “Five on the night and all-time leader in Gophers women’s hockey history points-wise, what an accomplishment.”
Brandt had been struggling to find the back of the net for a while prior to Saturday’s performance.
Brandt had six points in the team’s five games from Oct. 23 to Nov. 13 but no goals.
The Gophers had a week off before their series against Bemidji State, and when the team returned to action on Friday, Brandt started out slowly with no points on the night.
The second game went differently.
“It exemplifies what an amazing athlete she is,” assistant coach Nadine Muzerall said. “Scoring five goals in one game against the No. 4 team in the country, it says a lot about her as a complete player.”
The program record for most goals in the game Brandt tied was originally set by Muzerall, when she scored five also against Bemidji State in 2000.
The Saturday performance continued a pattern of Brandt scoring more in the second game of a series. Twenty-one of her 26 points this season have come in the second game.
“I’m not really sure the cause of that,” Brandt said on Saturday. “Tonight was just one of those nights where the puck kept coming to me when I was in front of the net.”
Whatever Brandt is doing seems to be working well. She now has 247 career points, surpassing Natalie Darwitz’s record set in 2005.
Brandt took more games to reach her scoring total than Darwitz, however, as she has played in 134 games with the Gophers, and Darwitz played in 99.
Darwitz left the Minnesota program early and participated in the 2006 Olympics for the United States.
With the all-time program points record now in her grasp, Brandt has more work to do to collect a few more before the end of her senior year.
Brandt needs two more assists to move past Darwitz’s total of 144 for the most in Minnesota history.
Muzerall, who played on the inaugural 1997-98 Minnesota team, also still holds the program record for goals with 139.
Brandt is currently in third place for goals in team history with 104, behind Muzerall and Krissy Wendell.
Brandt has the team’s 21 remaining regular season games and any postseason games the Gophers play in to break the record.
Though it might be tough, Muzerall said Brandt is certainly capable of matching her record.
“She’s not a player that sits and ‘Oohs and ahs’ about it, it just happens naturally,” Muzerall said. “If she keeps playing the way she did Saturday, she’ll surpass me with no problem.”
