No. 13 St. Cloud State (5-1) vs. Bemidji State (0-5-1)

If there’s a silver lining here, it’s that Bemidji State hung with a top-15 team in the country, staying with the Huskies in game one to the tune of a 2-2 tie after two periods. Unfortunately for the Beavers, Hailey Armstrong’s goals were for naught, as the Huskies scored three times in the final period to secure a 5-2 win. CC Bowlby scored two of St. Cloud State’s five goals, with single scores coming from Laura Zimmerman, Klara Hymlarova, and Avery Farrell. 

Bowlby continued her strong weekend for the Huskies with the first goal of game two, scoring at the 5:48 mark of the second period to break a 0-0 tie. Dayle Ross and Alice Sauriol added goals in the third period for a 3-0 victory. Sanni Ahola pitched the shutout for the Huskies, finishing with 17 saves.

After registering a goal and two assists on the weekend, St. Cloud State’s Alice Sauriol was named the WCHA’s Rookie of the Week. 

The Beavers will next travel to top-ranked Wisconsin, while the Huskies will take on No. 4 Minnesota in Minneapolis. 

No. 4 Minnesota (4-0) vs. St. Thomas (4-2)

The growing pains finally caught up to St. Thomas over the weekend, as the youthful Tommies were blanked in both contests against fourth-ranked Minnesota by scores of 8-0 and 4-0 in WCHA action.

Minnesota’s Abbey Murphy put on a show on Friday at the Xcel Energy Center, netting her first collegiate hat trick and adding a pair of assists. Ella Huber scored twice for the Golden Gophers and Audrey Wethington. Peyton Hemp and Emma Conner each scored once. Skylar Vetter turned aside 27 Tommie shots for the impressive shutout performance. 

Game two was played at St. Thomas’s home arena, and the Tommies found comfort in the familiar confines for two periods, heading into the third period knotted at 0-0 with the Golden Gophers. However, the dam burst less than four minutes into the final stanza. Emma Kreisz, Nelli Laitinen, Josefin Bouveng, and Abbey Murphy (surprise) scored in the last 16 minutes for a 4-0 final.

This time, Lucy Morgan earned the blank sheet for Minnesota with 16 saves, while former Golden Gopher Olivia King stopped 30 of 34 shots in the loss. 

The Golden Gophers will host St. Cloud State on Tuesday night before a 10-day break between games, then head to Ohio State for a two-game series over Oct. 27 and 28. 

St. Thomas will host No. 2 Ohio State this weekend, with the second game broadcast on FOX 9+ in local markets. 

No. 8 Minnesota Duluth (2-2) 

After a sweep of Long Island in which the Bulldogs didn’t allow a goal and surrendered only 22 shots, the Bulldogs were greeted by a much rowdier guest in No. 2 Ohio State. 

The Buckeyes got a hat trick from Hadley Hartmetz and single goals from Jenna Buglioni and Sloane Matthews on Friday night, quickly erasing and then eclipsing the 1-0 lead spotted to the Bulldogs by Katie Davis. Reece Hunt also scored for UMD, and the Bulldogs were within one goal of OSU entering the third period. 

Hannah Bilka and Emma Peschel scored less than two minutes apart from each other in the second period of the second game of the series, and the two power-play goals proved to be enough for a 2-0 win. Raygan Kirk picked up the shutout for the Buckeyes with 16 saves. UMD’s Eve Gascon stopped 40 shots in the hard-luck loss.

Minnesota State (2-2) 

Ouch. 

Top-ranked Wisconsin thumped Minnesota State 6-0 and 9-0 last week, setting a standard for rude hosting usually reserved for people who don’t offer an alternative for pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving. 

A five-goal first period set the tone in game one for the Badgers, with Lacey Eden and Kirsten Simms each scoring twice in the opening period. Britta Curl and Laila Edwards also scored for the Badgers. Badger goaltender Jane Gervais earned a 22-save shutout in the win.

Instead of the early knockout punch like in game one, the Badgers opted for death by a thousand body blows in the second contest, scoring three times in the first, four times in the second, and twice more for good measure in the third period of Friday’s 9-0 victory. 

Marianna Picard and Kirsten Simms each scored two goals for Wisconsin, spearheading an attack that saw seven players tally goals. Also scoring for the Badgers were Caroline Harvey, Lacey Eden, Britta Curl, Katie Kotlowski, and Casey O’Brien. Simms’ two goals and two assists tied for a game-high of four points with teammates Curl and Harvey, who recorded one goal and three assists.

Curl’s performance leaves her the leading scorer in women’s Division I hockey with six goals and 20 points in six games.