Minnesota achieved its first win of the 2022 postseason Friday night by defeating the St. Thomas Tommies 4-0.
The start to this game was similar to every other Gophers, Tommies game this season, lopsided. Shots on goal were Minnesota 25, St. Thomas 3. Even with a large disparity in that category, the Tommies kept the Gophers at bay in the scoring column, finishing the period only down one score. Audrey Wethington nine minutes into the game scored the first goal for either team, putting Minnesota up 1-0.
St. Thomas in the second period fired no shots on net, while the Gophers blasted 18, with two goals going through the pads of Alexa Dobchuk. The two Minnesota scores were courtesy of Taylor Heise and Abigail Boreen. Heise’s goal was her 27th, she currently is top in the nation in scoring. At the period’s close, St. Thomas had as many shots on goal as the Gophers have scored. Minnesota led 3-0 outshooting the Tommies 43-3.
Amy Potomak was the lone player to score in the third period, extending the Gophers lead to 4-0, which would be the final score. Minnesota outshot St. Thomas 53-9 as Gopher goaltender Lauren Bench recorded a shutout.
“Good game here tonight,” said head coach Brad Frost. “Playoff hockey, it gets a little tougher. Just proud of how our team controlled play and had a bunch of quality chances. Their goaltender played really really well. But, overall a good win to take a 1-0 lead in the series and we’re looking forward to tomorrow and getting back after it.”
The Gophers clash with St. Thomas in game 2, Saturday at 4 PM. If necessary, a third game will be played on Sunday afternoon.
