WCHA Weekly Roundup: Feb. 14-15

It was an all-Minnesota team weekend in the WCHA as the regular season begins to wind down, and the weekend was incredibly fun! Let’s dive in!

Series of the Week: Number-11 St. Cloud State vs. Number-three Minnesota

It was a home-and-home series for the number-three ranked Minnesota and number-11 St. Cloud State. The teams kicked off the series at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis – a place where the Huskies had never won. Their all-time record was 0-60-2 on the road against Minnesota. But Friday was a day to make history.

This game wasn’t for the faint of heart. 😉 The Huskies got out to a 1-0 lead six minutes into the game, when Sofianna Sundelin, who has been on fire lately, scored her 10th goal of the season on the power play. St. Cloud then followed up with another goal two minutes later from Emma Gentry, her 55th career goal, for a 2-0 lead heading into the first intermission. The Gophers were able to get on the board a little over a minute into the second period thanks to Emma Kreisz, cutting the lead to one. In the third period, Ava Lindsay tied the game at two on the power play midway through.

Then the game got close. St. Cloud took the 3-2 lead with less than five minutes left in the game, when Sundelin found the back of the net again for her second multi-goal game of the season. But two minutes later, Minnesota answered back to tie the game again, as Ella Huber scored with the extra attacker on, working out perfectly for the Gophers. It was looking like overtime, something the Huskies had been getting used to, but with 30 seconds left, Ella Anick called game with a long shot from the blueline after St. Cloud had missed two opportunities to score. This was the first road win against Minnesota in 63 games for the Huskies and it was head coach Brian Idalski’s 50th win, becoming the first coach in program history to achieve that feat in less than three seasons.

Saturday’s game shifted to St. Cloud, and also shifted gears as Minnesota looked to bounce back and make history of their own. The Huskies held on to a 1-0 lead for the majority of the game off Gentry’s second goal of the weekend just four minutes in. Still, Minnesota found a way to get back into the game. The teams went scoreless through the second period, but in the third the Gophers found the net twice: Audrey Wethington scored four minutes into the period and two minutes later, Emma Conner added another goal on the power play. St. Cloud tried to tie the game with the extra attacker on but couldn’t find the back of the net. Minnesota goaltender Hannah Clark recorded her 19th win as she stopped 29 shots. The Gophers’ win snaps a four game losing streak and also gives the program its 800th win in program history. They are the first WCHA program to reach that milestone. Congratulations to the Gophers!

In next weekend’s regular season finale, Minnesota hosts sixth-ranked Minnesota Duluth while the Huskies travel to Columbus to face second-ranked Ohio State.

Around the Conference:

Speaking of Duluth, they wrapped up their series against Minnesota State with a monster 8-2 win on Friday. The offense took over right away as three Bulldogs recorded a multi-goal game, including reigning Rookie of the Week forward Caitlin Kraemer, who had two goals and an assist. Clara Van Wieren recorded her second career hat trick and finished the night five points. Her teammate Olivia Wallin finished with six points in Friday’s win. It is the most points scored by a WCHA player in a game this season. With the win, Duluth clinched home ice in the first round of the WCHA playoffs.

Saturday’s game saw the Bulldogs win 4-1 for the sweep. Minnesota Duluth’s Olivia Mobley scored a shorthanded goal to open the scoring. Zoey Krock scored another goal for the Bulldogs less than three minutes later to make it 2-0. While Minnesota State were able to cut the lead to one just three minutes after that, UMD answered back with another Mobley goal midway through the period for a 3-1 lead at the end of the first. The teams went scoreless in the second and a majority of the third period as well – technically, neither team scored again, because the Bulldogs’ fourth goal of the day never made it to the back of the net! MK O’Brien’s empty netter was pretty unbelievable. She had the puck on her stick, but since she was tripped by an opposing player on her way to the empty net, she was awarded the goal anyway. She finished the night recording two points.

Next week Minnesota Duluth travels to play number-four ranked Minnesota while Minnesota State visits St. Thomas.

The Tommies managed a weekend split against Bemidji State over the weekend, even after being shut out on Friday with a 5-0 loss. The Beavers recorded their first road victory in conference play this season with the win. Bemidji’s Hailey Armstrong opened the scoring with less than two minutes left in the first period, but the Beavers added four more goals in the third period alone, including another from Armstrong. Goaltender Eva Filippova earned her first shutout of the season after making 27 saves.

Bemidji was looking for the sweep on Saturday and they were in a good position to do so. The Beavers’ Morgan Smith got on the board with three minutes remaining in the first period. She followed it up with her second goal of the game minutes into the second period, but the Tommies weren’t going out without a fight. With St. Thomas down by one in the second, Chloe Boreen scored on the power play late to tie the game at two. Boreen wasn’t done as she added another goal in the third. Lauren Stenslie scored her third goal in her last five games to extend the Tommies lead to two. Bemidji was still trying to find a way to stay in the game as Smith found the back of the net for her second career hat trick, but it wasn’t enough as St. Thomas went on to win 4-3. Smith is only the second player to record two hat tricks in the same season.

Bemidji will host top-ranked Wisconsin next week while St. Thomas welcomes Minnesota State to conclude the WCHA regular season.

WCHA All-Academic Team announcement

The WCHA announced the 2024-25 WCHA All-Academic Team and it includes 129 student-athletes. The list is made up of student-athletes who have a GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. Eligibility for the academic recognition is based on GPAs from the last two semesters or three quarters, and that candidates have achieved at least sophomore status. The selections are made with the help of the Faculty Athletic Representatives at every school. 

Minnesota State has 21 honorees while St. Cloud State has 20, the two with the most out of the eight schools. Every school has at least double-digit honorees.

Congratulations to all!  

You can check out the full list below.

Senior Spotlight

The eight teams of the WCHA have been commemorating their senior class as the regular season comes to an end. The teams have also been hosting ceremonies to celebrate those seniors and I thought it would be nice to include some of those photos in this gallery. Enjoy!

Weekly Awards:

WCHA Forward of the Week: Clara Van Wieren - Minnesota Duluth

Van Wieren recorded her second career hat trick in Friday’s 8-2 win against Minnesota State. She also had two assists for a five point night. She is currently on a four-game scoring streak where she has recorded eight points in those four games. 

WCHA Defender of the Week: Tova Henderson - Minnesota Duluth

Henderson tied for the most points by a defender with three points over the weekend. She also had three blocks and was part of the penalty kill unit that limited the Mavericks to one power play goal in six attempts. Like Van Wieren, Henderson is also on a four-game scoring streak, with five assists in that span.

WCHA Goaltender of the Week: Eva Filippova - Bemidji State

Filippova received her first weekly honor of the season after her second career shutout on the road against St. Thomas. She recorded a .975 save percentage and a 0.66 goals against average in her two starts over the weekend.

WCHA Rookie of the Week: Morgan Smith - Bemidji State

Smith is back for the third time this season as the Rookie of the Week. The Winnipeg native recorded her second career hat trick over the weekend. She had an assist in Friday’s 5-0 win against St. Thomas and scored all three goals for the Beavers in Saturday’s loss. She became the second skater in program history to record multiple hat tricks in one season.

Looking Forward:

It is the last weekend of the regular season! What a ride this season has been, but we still have one more weekend to go and I hope all eight teams have fun in some way. No shutouts – sorry goalies – or perhaps goals galore, and a goalie one too? In all seriousness there is still WCHA postseason seeding to be determined after this weekend, as second to fourth place is separated by five points and sixth and seventh place are separated by one point. Anything can happen this weekend and some teams may flip places. Regardless of how much second to fourth place changes this weekend, Minnesota, Minnesota Duluth, Ohio State, and Wisconsin already clinched home ice for the first round of the playoffs.

Weekly Scoreboard:

Friday:

St. Cloud State 4 Minnesota  3

Bemidji State 5 St. Thomas 0 

Minnesota State 2 Minnesota Duluth 8

Saturday:

St. Cloud State 1 Minnesota  2

Bemidji State 3 St. Thomas 4

Minnesota State 1 Minnesota Duluth 4

Full schedule here