University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
14-1-2
Princeton
6-6-1
Gophers Sweep Tigers with 5-2 Win
11/30/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Hockey
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Nov. 30, 2014
PRINCETON, N.J. - Five different Gophers scored goals as Minnesota (14-1-2, 9-1-2-0 WCHA) secured a non-conference road sweep with a 5-2 win over Princeton at Hobey Baker Rink Sunday afternoon.
Junior Hannah Brandt (Vadnais Heights, Minn.) and sophomore Dani Cameranesi (Plymouth, Minn.) led the Gophers with three points each on one goal and a pair of assists. Sophomore Megan Wolfe (Eagan, Minn.) and freshman Kelly Pannek (Plymouth, Minn.) each recorded two assists as well.
Junior goaltender Amanda Leveille (Kingston, Ont.) made 19 saves in the win. Meanwhile, Princeton's Kimberly Newell stopped 47-of-52 shots for the Tigers as the Gophers outshot the home team, 52-21.
"It was a great sweep on the road here, playing a very tough Princeton team," head coach Brad Frost said. "With a lot of travel and two really good, hard-fought games, I'm happy with how we came out of it. It was nice to see our team playing hard and creating a lot of offense this weekend."
Junior Maryanne Menefee (Lansing, Mich.) opened the scoring at the 5:37 mark of the first period. She sent a give-and-go pass through the slot to Brandt, who passed it right back to Menefee on Newell's stick side. Menefee then buried her fifth goal of the season to put Minnesota up 1-0. Cameranesi also picked up an assist on the play.
The Gophers controlled the second period, outshooting the Tigers 24-5 and extending their lead to 3-0. Just 29 seconds into the period, junior Milica McMillen (St. Paul, Minn.) scored her NCAA-best sixth power-play goal of the season, burying a feed from freshman Kelly Pannek (Plymouth, Minn.) and Brandt.
Cameranesi then scored her team-leading 15th goal of the season with 3:08 to go in the middle frame. Freshman Sydney Baldwin (Minnetonka, Minn.) sent the puck into the Tiger zone, and Wolfe directed it to Cameranesi at the left faceoff dot. From there, Cameranesi maneuvered around a Princeton player to get the shot past Newell.
Princeton scored twice in the third period, book-ending two Gopher goals. The Tigers made it 3-1 on a goal by Kelsey Koelzer at 8:39 before junior Rachael Bona (Coon Rapids, Minn.) and Brandt solved Newell just 52 seconds apart to make it 5-1. The Tigers added a late tally by Jaimie McDonell in the final 20 seconds.
Minnesota returns home to host St. Cloud State in its final series of 2014 next weekend. The Gophers and Huskies face off at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 5 and 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6 at Ridder Arena.
"We're looking forward to getting back home and finishing off our first half against St. Cloud," Frost said.
The Gophers are pleased to host High School Weekend when they host St. Cloud State. Teams should send rosters to gsm@umn.edu with the subject "Gopher Women's Hockey High School Day" to register.
Minnesota will also hold its annual Teddy Bear Toss on Saturday; fans are encouraged to bring teddy bears to donate to the Gophers' annual toy drive by throwing them on the ice after the first Gopher goal.
Free audio and live stats will be available at GopherSports.com, and both games will be streamed online via BTN Plus (subscription required).
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