The Minnesota Gophers women’s hockey team didn’t have to travel far for their road game this week, cruising just twelve miles down I-35 to hand another defeat to their crosstown foes, the University of St. Thomas Tommies.
The dominant 7-1 win is Minnesota’s third straight over St. Thomas and moves their goal differential against the Tommies to 22-5 on the season so far.
Catie Skaja began the Gophers offensive onslaught by scoring her 15th goal of the season three minutes into the contest, a career-high for the senior forward. Following Skaja, Amy Potomak and Madeline Wethington both netted goals to end the Gophers with a commanding 3-0 lead after the first period.
After an Abigail Boreen Gophers goal, St. Thomas managed to not get shut out this game by scoring their one and only goal in the second period thanks to Maddy Clough. The next two goals were scored by Taylor Heise 13 seconds apart from each other to boost the Gophers to a massive 6-1 lead over the Tommies.
The final period had far fewer goals occurring than the first two. The single score came from Crystalyn Hengler of Minnesota to set the final score at 7-1in Minnesota’s favor.
The Gophers led in shots on goal 59-12 and Skylar Vetter saved 11 shots and achieved her sixth win of the season. The Tommies started the game with Alexa Dobchuk in net stopping 39 shots, then Eryn Cooley was subbed in saving 13.
“A great start to our weekend and a really solid overall effort,” said head coach Brad Frost. “Congratulations to Taylor Heise on her 150th career point. Our top line had some great production once again. Overall, it was a really good team win. We played well defensively and so did Skylar [Vetter] in net. We’re looking forward to Saturday and having the opportunity to celebrate our seniors.”
Minnesota will end the regular season with one last game against the Tommies at Ridder Arena on Saturday for their senior day celebration. Puck drop is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. CST, and the game will be available on BTN+.
