The Thrilling World of Minnesota’s Athletic Legacy

MINNEAPOLIS – The No. 3-seeded Golden Gopher women’s ice hockey team falls to a 15-5-1 (9-4-1 WCHA) record following a 6-2 loss to No. 11/12 Penn State (17-4-1, 8-0-0 AHA) on Saturday.

The Minnesota defeat concludes the 2025 East/West Showcase at Ridder Arena and ends the Gophers’ four-game winning run.

Penn State commenced the match with a scoring flurry, netting four goals in the first period, equalling the highest number conceded by Minnesota in a single period this season. Stella Retrum initiated the scoring, placing the Nittany Lions on the scoreboard 4:35 into the contest. Grace Outwater then pushed Penn State ahead 2-0 three minutes later, followed by Abby Stonehouse with a goal of her own at the midpoint of the period. The Nittany Lions would find the net once more before the first intermission, thanks to Maddy Christian, leading to a 4-0 advantage heading into the second period. Despite trailing in points, Minnesota led in shots on goal 12-6 during the first period.

The Gophers eventually found the net 7:05 into the second period through junior defender Sydney Morrow’s fifth power play goal of the season, with assists from Ella Huber and Josefin Bouveng. Nonetheless, Penn State’s Stella Retrum would score her second goal of the contest less than a minute later, restoring the Nittany Lion lead to four. The score was 5-1 at the second intermission, with both teams registering 10 shots on goal in the second period.

Morrow sent her second puck to the back of the Penn State net, with assistance from Nelli Laitinen, at 2:46 into the third period, narrowing the game back to three. However, the Gophers were hindered by four penalties in the closing eleven minutes of the match, including one that allowed the Nittany Lions to reclaim their four-goal lead. Penn State would solidify its 6-2 win as the period came to an end, despite Minnesota maintaining a 34-25 total shot advantage throughout the contest.

Saturday represented only the third defeat of freshman goaltender Hannah Clark’s career, reducing her record to 11-3-1 in net, and only the fourth match of Clark’s career where she recorded a save percentage below .900.

Quotable:

“Disappointing one, obviously,” remarked head coach Brad Frost. “Certainly on the scoreboard anyways. Six-two defeat, yielding four in the first, scoring one, and they respond immediately. Every time we gained some momentum, they seemed to dampen it a bit. But our squad played hard. There was no lack of effort and competition. Had some excellent opportunities, and pucks just weren’t going in here tonight, but we’ll regroup and perform better on Monday.”

Notable:

– Sydney Morrow recorded a team-leading fifth power play goal of the season.

– Sydney Morrow tallied her seventh and eighth goals of the season.

– Sydney Morrow achieved her fifth multipoint and second multigoal game of the season.

– Saturday marked the first non-conference defeat for the Gophers this season.

– Saturday saw the most goals conceded in a match by Minnesota this season, and the highest since Jan. 13, 2024.

– The Gophers outshot the Nittany Lions 34-25.

Up Next:

The Maroon & Gold will return to Ridder Arena next weekend for their first WCHA conference match of the new year. The Gophers will face the St. Thomas Tommies on Friday, Jan. 10 at 6:00 p.m. CT and on Saturday, Jan. 11 at 2 p.m. CT.