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WCHA notebook: Minnesota takes the top spot in the nation

Published

2 years ago

November 2, 2022

WCHA notebook: Minnesota takes the top spot in the nation

After a giant weekend of video games within the WCHA, a brand new workforce takes the highest spot within the nationwide polls — the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

MINNESOTA (#1), 7-0-1 General, 7-0-1 Convention:

The Minnesota Golden Gophers transfer as much as the

No. 1 general workforce within the nation

after a regulation win and a shootout loss towards earlier primary workforce, Ohio State.

Minnesota struck first in recreation one on the highway towards the Buckeyes, however Ohio State potted two objectives within the second interval for a 2-1 lead heading into the ultimate body. The Gophers rallied for 3 unanswered objectives within the third to win the primary recreation in regulation, 4-2.

The subsequent night time,

Abbey Murphy

netted two of the 4 objectives for Minnesota, however the two groups would come out with a 4-4 tie. Particular groups have been a giant consider night time two, as 13 penalties have been known as between each squads. Ohio State grabbed the additional convention level after successful the shootout.

Minnesota’s

Skylar Vetter

earned WCHA Goaltender of the Month, and of the Week, honors for October whereas additionally being the Howies Hockey Tape Efficiency of the Week. Teammate’s

Abbey Murphy

is Ahead of the Month and

Taylor Heise

is Ahead of the Week.

The Golden Gophers might be again residence this weekend for a collection towards fifth-ranked Minnesota Duluth. Puck drop is ready for six p.m. Friday and a pair of p.m. Saturday at Ridder Area.

Minnesota will even be taking part in within the U.S. Hockey Corridor of Fame Museum Girls’s Face-Off Traditional in Andover, Minn., towards St. Cloud State on Monday, Nov. 7 at 7 p.m.

BEMIDJI STATE, 3-8-1 General, 1-7-0 Convention:

The Bemidji State Beavers had a back-and-forth weekend, splitting with Minnesota State (RV).

The Beavers scored two unanswered objectives to win night time one, 2-1.

Shelby Breiland

and

Reece Hunt

scored the 2 factors for the workforce whereas

Hannah Hogenson

made 26 saves in internet.

Bemidji State misplaced night time two, 3-0, after Minnesota State potted all three objectives within the second interval.

The Beavers might be at residence once more this weekend as they tackle convention rival St. Cloud State. Puck drop is ready for Friday at 3 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m.

WISCONSIN (#3), 10-2 General, 7-1 Convention:

The Badgers had a tricky job this weekend, taking over Minnesota Duluth on the highway.

Wisconsin took a 2-1 extra time loss in recreation one, with a lone objective from

Lacey Eden

Cami Kronish

stopped 23 of 25 photographs on objective.

The subsequent night time, freshman

Caroline Harvey

netted two objectives alongside aspect one a-piece from teammates

Nicole LaMantia

and

Lacey Eden

. Wisconsin was outshot 38-26 within the recreation, however got here out with a win due to a strong exhibiting from goaltender

Jane Gervais

Caroline Harvey

‘s efficiency earned her WCHA Rookie of the Month honors. She is also the Nationwide Rookie of the Month for her six objectives and 13 assists all through the month of October.

Wisconsin may have a weekend off earlier than taking over Minnesota, Nov. 19-20.

ST. CLOUD STATE, 4-6 General, 2-6 Convention:

The Huskies earned their first convention sweep of the 2022-23 season this previous weekend towards St. Thomas.

The Huskies exploded within the second interval on Friday night time, scoring 4 objectives to safe a 4-1 win towards the Tommies.

Klara Hymlarova

scored two objectives and teammate

Jenniina Nylund

posted a objective and two assists.

The subsequent night time was a 4-0 shutout for SCSU. Hymlarova and Nylund each netted one other objective within the Saturday recreation, whereas teammate

Emma Gentry

had two objectives and

Addi Scribner

tacked on two assists. Goaltender

JoJo Chobak

earned the shutout.

St. Cloud will look to tackle extra convention factors this weekend in a highway collection towards Bemidji State. Puck drop is ready for 3 p.m. on Friday and a pair of p.m. on Saturday.

The Huskies will even participate within the U.S. Hockey Corridor of Fame Museum Girls’s Face-off Traditional in Andover, Minn., for a one-game collection towards Minnesota at 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 7.

OHIO STATE (#2), 8-1-1 General, 8-1-1 Convention:

After being the No. 1 workforce within the nation for your entire season up to now, the Buckeyes drop to No. 2 after a loss and a tie to Minnesota.

In recreation one, the Buckeyes had a 2-1 lead heading into the third, however have been unable to cease a rallying Gopher squad. Ohio State scored objectives from

Jenna Buglioni

and

Sophie Jaques

, however fell 4-2.

The subsequent night time, the Buckeyes got here from behind late within the recreation to tie issues up 4-4. The sport is recorded as a tie after neither workforce was capable of finding the again of the web within the additional body, however OSU will come out with the additional convention level after successful a shootout.

Raygan Kirk

stopped three of 4 shootout makes an attempt.

Defender

Sophie Jaques

is WCHA Defender of the Month for October after posting a team-high 15 factors. She can also be Defender of the Week.

Ohio State will hit the highway and head to St. Paul to tackle St. Thomas in a Saturday/Sunday collection with puck drop at 6 p.m. and a pair of p.m., respectively.

MINNESOTA STATE, 3-7 General, 3-7 Convention:

The Minnesota State Maverick break up their weekend contest with WCHA foe Bemidji State. Because of this, the workforce is now not receiving votes within the nationwide polls.

Sydney Langseth

gave MSU a 1-0 lead in night time one, however the workforce was unable to attain after the primary interval and would fall by a last rating of 2-1.

The Mavericks got here out looking for revenge the following night time, and would just do that by attaining a 3-0 shutout win. Three totally different MSU gamers scored objectives and netminder

Alexa Berg

was good in internet.

Freshman

Taylor Otremba

(Lakeville, Minn.) earned WCHA Rookie of the Week honors after posting three factors over the 2 video games, which included scoring her first profession objective.

Minnesota State may have a change of tempo this weekend as they may play a house collection towards non-conference opponent Sacred Coronary heart (3-5-1). Sport occasions in Mankato are set for 3 p.m. on Friday and 1 p.m. on Saturday.

ST. THOMAS, 1-7 General, 0-6 Convention:

The Tommies had a tricky weekend, dropping two video games towards St. Cloud State in a home-and-home collection.

St. Thomas fell in recreation one by a last rating of 4-1, with the groups lone objective coming from

Luci Bianchi

The subsequent night time, the Tommies have been shutout 4-0.

Saskia Maurer

and

Alexa Dobchuk

break up time in internet for the weekend.

St. Thomas will look to raised their luck this weekend, however may have a giant job forward as they may play second-ranked Ohio State at residence on Saturday and Sunday with recreation occasions at 6 p.m. and a pair of p.m., respectively.

MINNESOTA DULUTH (#5), 7-3 General, 3-3 Convention:

The Bulldogs performed a two-game battle at residence towards Wisconsin and got here out with a break up.

UMD was down 1-0 for a majority of recreation one, however scored late in a recreation off a objective from

Gabbie Hughes

to ship issues to extra time.

Nina Jobst-Smith

then received the win for the Bulldogs within the additional body.

The subsequent night time was simply as powerful because the night time earlier than, however the Bulldogs would drop recreation two, 4-3. Goaltender

Emma Soderberg

was in internet for each nights.

The Bulldogs have a good greater match-up coming their approach, as they may journey to Ridder Area this weekend to tackle the top-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers. Puck drop is 6 p.m. on Friday and a pair of p.m. on Saturday.

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NCAA Division II and III football playoffs: Minnesota State Mankato stuns Augustana in final minutes

Published

7 hours ago

November 23, 2024

Press Room

NCAA Division II and III football playoffs: Minnesota State Mankato stuns Augustana in final minutes

Matthew Jaeger kicked a 34-yard field goal as time expired as Minnesota State Mankato scored 10 points in the final three minutes to rally for a 20-19 victory over Augustana on Saturday in Sioux Falls, S.D., in the first round of the NCAA Division II playoffs.

The Mavericks had lost to NSIC rival Augustana three times in the past two seasons. It looked glum again Saturday as the Vikings took a 19-10 lead with 3 minutes, 11 seconds remaining on Jake Pecina’s fourth field goal of the game.

Minnesota State started its next possession at its 12-yard line but drove 88 yards in seven plays, capped by Grant Guyett’s 33-yard TD catch from Hayden Ekern and Jaeger’s PAT to pull within 19-17 with 1:35 to play.

The Mavericks’ Lorenzo Jones then recovered an onside kick near midfield. On third-and-4 from the Vikings 39-yard line, Ekern ran 16 yards for a first down at the Vikings 23 with 21 seconds to go. The Mavericks reached the 17-yard line before Jaeger’s final kick.

Ekern passed for 175 yards and two TDs for the Mavericks, who lost to Augustana 34-16 on Oct. 26 in Mankato.

Richard Agyekum and Joey Goettl each had interceptions which led to 10 points for the Mavericks.

The Mavericks (9-3) will play at Colorado State Pueblo, which had a first-round bye, next week.

Bemidji State 24, Angelo State 14: Connor Carver’s 59-yard TD run with just over two minutes remaining and Isaiah John’s interception with 51 seconds remaining helped the Beavers earn a first-round victory in San Angelo, Texas.

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Preview: Wild vs. Oilers | Minnesota Wild

Published

15 hours ago

November 23, 2024

Press Room

Preview: Wild vs. Oilers | Minnesota Wild

Last Season on Wild vs. Flames

Minnesota went 2-1-0 against Calgary.

Minnesota won the series-opening contest, 5-2, at Scotiabank Saddledome (12/5), earned a 3-2 shootout victory at Xcel Energy Center in the second matchup (12/14) and fell to the Flames, 3-1, in the series finale in St. Paul (1/2).

LW Matt Boldy led the Wild with four points (3-1=4). C Marco Rossi (1-2=3) had three points and LW Marcus Johansson (0-2=2) had two points. G Filip Gustavsson went 2-0-0 with a 1.92 GAA and a .940 SV% in two starts. G Marc-Andre Fleury was 0-1-0, stopping 30-of-32 shots in the third meeting.

D MacKenzie Weeger led Calgary with four points (0-4=4). LW Yegor Sharangovich had three points (1-2=3). G Dan Vladar went 0-1-1 with a 3.47 GAA and a .896 SV% in two starts. G Jacob Markstrom won his lone start, stopping 28-of-29 shots faced. G Dustin Wolf entered in the second period of the first contest and stopped 11-of-13 shots faced for Calgary.

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Penn State Vs. Minnesota: Keys to the Game

Published

23 hours ago

November 23, 2024

Press Room

Penn State Vs. Minnesota: Keys to the Game

Penn State is entering its penultimate game of the 2024 regular season, a final away matchup at Minnesota to face P.J. Fleck’s Golden Gophers. Minnesota (6-4) stands in the way of a potential 11-1 finish for the Nittany Lions. And while Fleck’s squad is unranked and a 12-point underdog, according to DraftKings, it has enough talent to cause fits for Penn State.

The Nittany Lions (9-1) have excelled this season when favored to win, avoiding letdowns against unranked opponents. A 33-30 overtime victory over USC is the closest call that James Franklin’s group has had. To maintain that success, Penn State will need some strong execution against a rested and well-prepared Minnesota squad.

Penn State vs. Minnesota predictions

Protecting the ball

Minnesota’s defense feasts on turnovers. While they’ve mostly come through 16 interceptions, the Golden Gophers also have forced seven fumbles, recovering four. Ball security, of course, is key in every game but will become especially important for Penn State when facing an opportunistic defense that tends to end up with the ball one way or another.

“They do have some ball hawks in their secondary, but they make plays when the plays come to them,” Penn State quarterback Drew Allar said. “I can’t just give them opportunities, because they’ll capitalize on it. And you know, a decent amount of their picks have actually been forced by their D-line, whether it’s like, a tipped pass that just falls into a linebacker or the quarterback getting hit and the ball … just finds a way to their hands.”

One mistake from Allar or Beau Pribula through the air could easily become a wasted possession for Penn State. With the Nittany Lions ranked fourth in the latest College Football Playoff rankings, they can’t afford to give Minnesota’s offense extra scoring chances and find fuel for a potential home upset. The turnover battle could wind up telling the story of Saturday’s game, especially if it happens to swing in Minnesota’s favor.

“We’ve always preached about ball security, no matter what, who we’re going against, and it’s definitely a talking point for us every week, so we’re going to take great pride in that,” Allar said. “Obviously, with a team like this, the way they’re built, they’re similar to us in the fact that they want to control the ball and they want to force turnovers. So we’re just going to have to be disciplined and stick to our game plan.”

An efficient offensive ground game

Going back to its success in favorable matchups, Penn State is 66-3 against unranked teams since 2016, when factoring out the 2020 season. For as much criticism as Franklin and the Nittany Lions faced for losing to Ohio State a few weeks ago, and for losses against other top-5 opponents in past seasons, they almost always take care of business when they’re “supposed” to win. And one key in avoiding potential upsets is keeping the opposing team’s offense off the field.

Against unranked, but certainly capable opponents in West Virginia, USC, Wisconsin and Washington, running backs Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen racked up a combined 494 rushing yards on 99 attempts, nearly 5 yards per carry. As Penn State faces a similar opponent this week, controlling the clock and letting two of the top backs in the Big Ten go to work can help the Nittany Lions diminish any momentum Minnesota finds.

With Fleck’s secondary also being one of the conference’s best, Penn State would be wise to avoid risking any big-shot throws and attack the defense where it’s most vulnerable. The Golden Gophers allow 119.8 rushing yards per game — and in each of its conference losses to Iowa, Michigan and Rutgers, Minnesota allowed at least 109 rushing yards.

“I would say where we need to get better at is just being able to strain a little bit more in the run game, and get more finishes and more movement against teams to create more running lanes for Nick [Singleton] and Kaytron [Allen],” offensive lineman Anthony Donkoh said Wednesday. “I feel like going into [practice] and going into this game, we’re going to have a really good plan to be able to combat [Minnesota’s takeaways].”

Andy Kotelnicki brings his Minnesota roots to Penn State’s offense

Make Darius Taylor’s day a rough one

Minnesota starting back Darius Taylor has three games this season with at least 120 rushing yards. Minnesota won each game, including a 25-17 victory over ranked Illinois. In the Golden Gophers’ three conference losses, Taylor managed just 32.7 rushing yards per game and ran for 3.0 yards per carry.

Taylor adds some complexity as a strong receiving back (312 receiving yards), but when he’s running well out of the backfield, Minnesota’s offense has clicked much more. Quarterback Max Brosmer, completing 67.1 percent of his passes this season, is also at his best when he has a strong ground game to lean on, focusing on his efficiency and avoiding turnovers rather than having to do the heavy lifting offensively.

In 2022, Penn State successfully slowed Minnesota quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis in a blowout win. But when the Golden Gophers pulled off a 31-26 upset in 2019, the Nittany Lions’ defense let quarterback Tanner Morgan do whatever he wanted, racking up 339 yards and three touchdowns on 18-for-20 passing. That type of production from Brosmer would be disastrous this time around. But should the Nittany Lions handle Taylor and Minnesota’s run game well, containing the Golden Gophers’ senior quarterback should become simpler.

“[Brosmer] I think is playing really well. … In the last three or four games he’s done a really good job of protecting the football. Their running back, No. 1, Darius Taylor, is a big back and has been playing really well for the last two years,” Franklin said. “… We’re going to have to go and play well to find a way to get a win on the road here in the Big Ten.”

The Nittany Lions will take on Minnesota at 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday on CBS.

More Penn State Football

Is Penn State’s defense getting overlooked this season?

For James Franklin, another pivotal moment at Minnesota

James Franklin weighs in on the Big Ten, SEC and the College Football Playoff

Daniel Mader, a May 2024 graduate of Penn State, is an Editorial Intern with The Sporting News. As a student journalist with The Daily Collegian, he served as a sports editor and covered Nittany Lions women’s basketball, men’s volleyball and more. He has also covered Penn State football for NBC Sports and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, with additional work in the Centre Daily Times, Lancaster Online and more. Follow him on X @DanielMader_ or Instagram @dmadersports.

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