University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
13-1-2, 11-1-2-0
St. Cloud State
5-13-1, 2-9-1-1
Gophers Shut Out Huskies in 7-0 Win
12/6/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Hockey
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Dec. 6, 2014
MINNEAPOLIS - Freshman Sydney Baldwin (Minnetonka, Minn.) scored her first collegiate goal, sophomore Kelsey Cline (Bloomington, Minn.) had a career-best three assists, and junior Milica McMillen (St. Paul, Minn.) scored two goals to lead the No. 2 Minnesota women's hockey team to a 7-0 win and series sweep over St. Cloud State at Ridder Arena Saturday afternoon.
Minnesota (16-1-2, 11-1-2-0 WCHA) received points from 10 different players in the win, including multiple points from senior Rachael Bona (Coon Rapids, Minn.), freshman Kelly Pannek (Plymouth, Minn.) and junior Hannah Brandt (Vadnais Heights, Minn.) along Baldwin, Cline and McMillen.
Six different players scored goals on Saturday. After a 12-0 win on Friday night, 15 of the Gophers' 16 skaters recorded at least one point this weekend. Eleven players scored goals against St. Cloud State (5-12-1, 2-8-1-1 WCHA) as well.
"We've had a lot of shots over the last few weekends and not a ton of goals," head coach Brad Frost said. "This weekend they happened to go in, so it was good to see. The more scoring you can get from a multitude of sources, the better off you're going to be."
For the second-straight game, the Gophers took a 3-0 lead into the first intermission. Baldwin opened the scoring at the 7:41 mark, firing a shot from the point off an assist from Pannek. SCSU goaltender Katie Fitzgerald got a piece of it, but it snuck past her to set off Minnesota's annual Teddy Bear Toss and put the Gophers up 1-0.
Sophomore Kate Schipper (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) and Cline teamed up for Minnesota's second goal on a give-and-go pass. Schipper fed Cline, who worked it down low and fed it back to Schipper on the doorstep. Schipper then one-timed her fourth goal of the season into an open net at 10:21 of the first period.
Brandt gave the Gophers a three-goal lead at the 17:34 mark of the opening frame off an assist from Bona.
The second period saw McMillen score her NCAA-leading seventh power-play goal of the year. She buried a feed from Pannek and Brandt at the 6:34 mark of the middle frame, converting on Minnesota's second power play of the game.
The Gophers added goals from seniors Rachel Ramsey (Chanhassen, Minn.) and Meghan Lorence (Mounds View, Minn.) along with McMillen's second of the game in the third period to seal the 7-0 win and the sweep over the Huskies.
Three Gophers scored their first career goals this weekend as Paige Haley (Red Wing, Minn.) and Nina Rodgers (Plymouth, Minn.) each scored their first college goals in Friday's win along with Baldwin's first collegiate tally today.
Junior goaltender Amanda Leveille (Kingston, Ont.) recorded a 14-save shutout and improved to 13-1-1 on the season. Fitzgerald finished with 32 saves for St. Cloud State as the Gophers outshot the Huskies, 39-14. With Saturday's win, Minnesota ends the first half of the regular season on a nine-game winning streak.
"We break our season up into quarters. The first quarter was prior to the Four Nations Cup, and after that we've had four or five series and won all those games," Frost said. "We've given ourselves an opportunity to fight for a conference championship in the second half, and we're really looking forward to it."
The Gophers now have a four-week break from competition, returning to action to host St. Lawrence on Sunday, Jan. 4 and Tuesday, Jan. 6. 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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