The top-ranked Minnesota Gophers dominated their in-state foes, the Bemidji State Beavers, 7-0 with goalie Lauren Bench shutting out the team she transferred from in her 100th career start as a netminder.
“That one was obviously very special, my 100th career start, I didn’t know if I’d ever get to it,” said Bench. “Just being here and being with my teammates doing everything they could to help me get a shutout was just the best. I knew they had my back and it was just a fun, fun game against my former team.”
Peyton Hemp got the Gophers in the scoring column early as she found an opening through the five-hole and shot the puck through, giving Minnesota a 1-0 lead over the Beavers. Near the end of the period, Abigail Boreen netted the Gophers’ second goal of the game from the crease. Even with those early scores, Bemidji’s defense held strong throughout the first period, keeping up with the No. 1 Gophers in shots on goal and actually leading 9-8 during the period.
In the second period, the Gophers started to take over on offensive opportunities, leading for most of the period in shots on goal. At the period’s close, the Gophers led in shots on goal 27-21. In the middle of the period, Audrey Wethington tipped in a pass from her sister, Madeline Wethington to bolster the Gophers lead to 3-0. This was the fourth scoring connection between the Wethington sisters in their collegiate careers.
“We have a sisterly connection,” said Audrey Wethington. “We live together, we take two classes together, genetics and physics, we are always around each other. We shared a room growing up together and are both pre-med.”
Catie Skaja and the Gophers continued to pummel the Beavers in the third with Skaja serving up a goal right in front of Bemidji’s net to extend Minnesota’s lead even further to 4-0. The Gophers still didn’t take their foot off the gas pedal up by four goals as Amy Potomak, Peyton Hemp, and Savannah Norcross all found the back of the net. Hemp’s goal was her second of the game, her first multi-goal game of the season. Minnesota would win in a 7-0 blowout over the Bemidji State Beavers. Gophers led in shots on goal 50-26.
“Solid win here, we just got better as the game went on,” said head coach Brad Frost. “A little bit of a slow start, but we were able to get those couple of goals to get us going.”
The Gophers return to Ridder Arena on Saturday, Feb. 4 to play the Beavers at 4 PM CST.
