The St. Thomas women’s hockey team couldn’t find a win and despite first-year defender Maddy Clough sinking one in the second period, the Tommies fell 7-1 to No. 1-ranked University of Minnesota Thursday at St. Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Heights.
Although the Tommies (5-24-1, 3-22-1 WCHA) blocked 26 shots and played solid defense in their last regular season home game, the Gophers’ (25-7-1, 20-6-1) continuous pressure and 59 shots on goal proved too much for St. Thomas.
“Compared to our first game against Ohio State, one thing that I think has gone up is that we’ve done so much better in our D zone, and I think that was really evident out here tonight,” Clough said. “We’re playing really good man-to-man and it’s fun to play.”
St. Thomas pushed its losing streak to four games while the Gophers extended their five-game win streak to six; their last series with the Gophers resulted in two blowouts of 8-0 and 8-1.
“We knew that this year would be challenging and when you’re playing number one in the country,” interim coach Bethany Brausen said, “it’s always going to be especially challenging but certainly things to build on for the future.”
Before puck drop, the Tommies honored four seniors: forwards Anna Erickson and Anna Solheim; defender Megan Cornell; and goaltender Eryn Cooley. All besides Cornell played four years at St. Thomas.
“I’ve been with Anna (Erickson) and Anna Solheim for the past four years, and they’ve made this transition just so fun, and they’ve been such a great support to not only myself but also the whole team with their leadership and experience,” Cooley said. “That group is really special.”
Three minutes into the game, Minnesota secured the first in a series of Gopher goals when senior forward Abigail Boreen chipped a pass across the Tommies’ net that landed with senior forward Catia Skaja, who skirted the puck past junior goaltender Alexa Dobchuk.
The Tommies got a few good shots off in the first – Solheim had a promising opportunity halfway through the period, first-year forward Abby Promersberger rushed the zone a few minutes later, and Clough almost buried a rebound – but they couldn’t get the puck past the Gophers’ first-year goaltender Skylar Vetter.
By the end of the first period, Dobchuk saw 22 shots to Vetter’s seven and the Gophers had locked in two more goals from senior forward Amy Potomak and junior defender Madeline Wethington, putting the Tommies behind 3-0.
While the score remained stagnant during the first 8 minutes of the second, the Gophers got their fourth goal 8:19 into the period. Clough, assisted by sophomore forward Breija Parent and Promsberger, answered back for the Tommies just 25 seconds later with a shot from the hashes.
“It just popped out to the point and it was wobbly, and then I just wound up – I wasn’t that confident on even getting it through because I was like, I might whiff this,” Clough said, “but I just went for it.”
The Tommies went scoreless after Clough’s goal, however, with the second period ending 6-1 for the Gophers.
With 11:58 remaining in the third, Cooley replaced Dobchuk – who had 39 total saves – to finish out the game. Cooley saved 12 of 13 shots faced.
“It was honestly an honor,” Cooley said. “It’s been a … year filled with adversity, so to be able to just get the opportunity on my senior night – that was really, really cool.”
While the Gophers defeated the Tommies, the team saw the game, as well as their entire inaugural Division I season, as an opportunity for growth.
“One thing that our team’s done well is we compare ourselves to ourselves, and we just try and get 1% better each day,” Cooley said. “ I think that’s kind of, again, something so unique to our team and just really shows how we handle adversity.”
Brausen has seen her team perform well despite the absence of Coach Joel Johnson, who brought the USA women’s hockey team to a silver-medal at the Olympics Wednesday night, and first-year goaltender Saskia Maurer and defender Nicole Vallario, who got fourth for Team Switzerland.
“I think it’s been awesome for not only our goaltenders, but everyone across the board,” Brausen said. “Anytime you lose a couple of your top players, I think everyone is either going to rise to the occasion or they’re going to find a reason to make that an excuse and with our group it’s been really promising to see them absolutely rise to it.”
St. Thomas will face the Gophers again at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 19 at Mariucci Ice Arena in Minneapolis; the game will be their last of the regular season.
Lauren Price can be reached at lauren.price@stthomas.edu.