No team in women’s college hockey is truly untouchable.
The Gophers women’s hockey team learned that this weekend after getting swept by Minnesota State University-Mankato in their first loss to a team ranked below them.
Heading into the series, Minnesota State was unranked but receiving votes in the United States College Hockey Online poll. Meanwhile, Minnesota sat comfortably at the No. 2 spot and topped the NCAA Power Index rankings. They were poised for a chance to prove themselves even further. Instead, the weekend unraveled, and they plummeted to No. 4 in the NPI percentage along with slipping to No. 3 in the USCHO poll.
For Minnesota State, the sweep earned them a spot at No. 15 in the USCHO rankings and marked a milestone first sweep of the Gophers since the 2006-2007 season, a drought older than a few players on both rosters.
This was not the only chaos in the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Across the NCAA, many top teams were challenged by lower or even unranked teams.
No. 1 University of Wisconsin-Madison needed overtime to pull off a win against University of St. Thomas, unranked Bemidji State University split with then-ranked No. 10 St. Cloud State University and Union College stunned the then-ranked No. 4 Cornell University team with an overtime win.
Only a handful of teams followed set expectations, including Ohio State University’s sweep of University of Minnesota-Duluth and Penn State University’s undefeated streak, though they have yet to face a ranked team.
Still, even in that national context, Minnesota being swept stands out. It may be too early to sound the alarms, but questions have certainly been raised.
A major part of the Gophers’ struggle came from not being able to beat junior goaltender Hailey Hansen. The Gophers outshot the Mavericks in both games, but simply could not convert. Hansen stopped 66 of the 68 shots she faced against one of the top scoring offenses in the country.
The Gophers lost the first game 3–1 and the second 4–1. Their only goals of the weekend came from graduate student Abbey Murphy and senior Josefin Bouveng. Bouveng’s goal and assist on Murphy’s goal extended her point streak to 15.
Head Coach Brad Frost did not hide his frustration after their first loss on Friday.
“Disappointing to say the least,” Frost said. “We weren’t sharp, passes were off and shots were just missing the net.”
Minnesota State’s ability to capitalize on Gophers’ mistakes is reminiscent of last year’s Western Collegiate Hockey Association tournament, where they stole a double overtime game from the Gophers.
“We had plenty of chances to get more than one here tonight, but so did they,” Frost said. “We weren’t reloading, we weren’t on top of pucks and overall it was not positive.”
One rough weekend is too early to sound alarms, but it certainly raises questions, especially as injuries have started to impact the roster.
To make the abrupt team system malfunction worse, the series also saw injuries mount up.
The Gophers have already been without redshirt senior forward Sarah Paul since mid-October, and now two more forwards are in question after the weekend. Junior forward Ava Lindsay — who entered the weekend leading the country in assists — was not available on Saturday. Freshman Sienna D’Alessandro exited Saturday’s game early, dealing another blow to the team’s depth.
The timing of their schedule offers the Gophers some relief. They have a bye week before their final series of the calendar year, giving them a chance to reset and reorganize.
If the weekend proved anything, it proved the Gophers are not alone in needing a reset. Unpredictability is defining the season, with the rankings shifting on a weekly basis. There is no clear number one or stable top five just yet. It is truly anyone’s game.
