University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
21-4-0, 15-4-0
St. Cloud State
8-15-2, 4-13-2
Team Stats
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
Second Frame Surge Leads No. 3 Minnesota Over No. 14/15 St. Cloud State
1/23/2026 8:38:00 PM | Women's Hockey
ST. CLOUD, MINN. – The No. 3-ranked University of Minnesota women's hockey team used a seven-goal second period to power past No. 14/15 St. Cloud State, earning an 8-1 victory Friday night at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.
After an evenly played opening frame, Minnesota broke through with just under four minutes remaining in the first period. Skating in from the point through the right faceoff circle, Sydney Morrow threaded a pass through the slot to Jamie Nelson. Nelson corralled the feed on her forehand and buried her seventh goal of the season to give the Gophers a 1-0 lead.
Minnesota erupted early in the second period, scoring three times in the opening seven minutes. At 1:37, Morrow delivered a tape-to-tape feed to Josefin Bouveng on the backdoor to double the Maroon and Gold advantage. Just under two minutes later, at 3:09, Nelson notched her second of the night, tucking home a loose puck at the top of the crease.
Nelson completed her first career hat trick moments later, capitalizing on a misplayed puck by the Huskies' goaltender to push Minnesota's lead to 4-0.
The Gophers continued to pour it on, adding four more goals in the final six minutes of the period to take an 8-0 lead into the second intermission. Abbey Murphy extended her dominant stretch with a power-play goal at 14:14, rifling home a backdoor rebound. Kendra Distad followed with a one-timer from the low slot off a feed from Emma Kreisz at 15:41. Bella Fanale made it a two-power-play-goal period with a finish on a two-on-one rush at 16:59. The second-period outburst was capped at 19:18 when Ava Lindsay converted a feed from Nelson below the goal line, snapping a glove-side shot high and off the bar.
St. Cloud State found the scoreboard midway through the third period to cut the margin to 8-1, but the remainder of the frame went scoreless.
With the win, Minnesota improved to 21-4-0 overall and 15-4-0 in WCHA play, while St. Cloud State fell to 8-15-2 (4-13-2 WCHA).
Quotable
"A great game here today, obviously the second period was huge, the power play was really good, no penalties on the night, and Hannah Clark played really well," said head coach Brad Frost. "That second period, exploding for seven goals really kind of put the game away. Overall, a really good game here tonight."
Notable
- Jamie Nelson recorded her first career hat trick and netted her 50th career goal.
- Sydney Morrow reached 100 career points.
- Josefin Bouveng extended her point streak to 24 games.
- Abbey Murphy has now scored in nine consecutive games.
- Hannah Clark made 24 saves in net.
Up Next
The Gophers close the two-game series with the Huskies tomorrow afternoon at Ridder Arena. Puck drop is set for 2:00 p.m. CT in Minneapolis with the action airing live on FOX9+.