ROCHESTER– It is rare after a two-game series both teams, even the one on the losing side of the weekend, feel like they have achieved something.<\/p>\n
Both fourth-ranked Minnesota and RIT, which won only four games last year, can feel good about their series in Rochester.<\/p>\n
For Minnesota, it was an opportunity to start their season, two weeks after most of the country, find out what kind of team they have, and grab two wins.<\/p>\n
For RIT, it was an opportunity to show they are no longer the team superior opponents can expect to rout and could be a team which can make some noise in the CHA.<\/p>\n
Minnesota won 3-0 on Friday and 5-1 on Saturday, but there’s much more behind those scores.<\/p>\n
“We’re trying to build our team’s identity and try to figure out who we are and who we are going to be,” Minnesota coach Brad Frost said.\u00a0 “I thought we did a really good job building on our practices.\u00a0 Finally, we’re playing another opponent and having that opportunity.\u00a0 Overall, I was pleased with our effort and our energy.”<\/p>\n
“One of the biggest things is we can skate with anybody,” RIT coach Celeste Brown said.\u00a0 “There was actually moments in this (Saturday) game today where we put Minnesota on their backs and controlled play.”<\/p>\n
Last season, Minnesota’s Abbey Murphy scored 29 goals, second in the nation … and also second on her team … to Taylor Heise.\u00a0 In fact, two of their top three scorers from 2022-23 graduated.\u00a0 So, Murphy will be relied on a lot.<\/p>\n
On Friday, she scored twice and assisted on the other score.<\/p>\n
“She’s great,” Frost said.\u00a0 “Just the way she finds those seams and the ability to shoot off the pass.\u00a0 She’s tremendous.\u00a0 She makes us go for sure and she is an incredibly offensive threat.”<\/p>\n
The reason for the Gophers late start is a combination of trying to setup nonconference games and the fact the school begins classes after Labor Day.<\/p>\n
“So we don’t start practice until eighth, ninth, 10th, so the last thing you want is to practice five days and then start playing,” Frost explains.<\/p>\n
It took awhile for Minnesota to get on the scoreboard in their first game.\u00a0 Murphy did her magic in the last second of the first period on the power play.\u00a0 She received a drop pass behind the net from Ella Huber, and as Huber drew the defense to her, Murphy quickly did a wraparound.<\/p>\n
Her second goal, on the power play again and with an RIT defender suffering a broken stick, was classic Murphy.\u00a0 With her team passing the puck around, Murphy roamed into the slot, received a pass from Huber, and blasted a quick one-timer.<\/p>\n
The assist on the third goal was perhaps her prettiest play.\u00a0 She threaded a pass to Madeline Wethington who one-timed it in.<\/p>\n
With a 3-0 lead after two periods, one would have thought Minnesota would ratchet it up and cruise away.\u00a0 Not so fast.<\/p>\n
It was RIT who controlled long patches in the third period, creating space and time in the offensive zone.<\/p>\n
Frost said, “They built a little momentum in the third, playing us zero, zero.\u00a0 They did a nice job of blocking shots and causing a few more turnovers for us.”<\/p>\n
Brown explained, “We took away time and space from them so we could execute our breakout to leave our zone and regroup to go down and play offense.”<\/p>\n
Surely now that Minnesota got their game legs under them, Saturday night would be the expected blowout.\u00a0 It started out anything but.<\/p>\n
The Gophers did jump out to a quick lead a minute in.\u00a0 Maggie Nicholson banked one off the post.<\/p>\n
In perhaps the biggest statement of the series, the Tigers responded with an impressive display of smart, disciplined, gritty hockey.<\/p>\n
“They were generating just as many chances as we were, so we knew we had to go back to our game and I thought we did that in the second,” Frost said.<\/p>\n
A power play goal early in the second gave Minnesota a 2-0 lead.\u00a0 Murphy, from the left circle, fired in a wrister to the upper far corner.<\/p>\n
But once again, RIT refused to fold, scoring their first goal of the weekend with a two-man advantage.\u00a0 After moving the puck around, Lindsay Maloney from the right side down low placed it near side.<\/p>\n
Late in the period, Madison Kaiser regained the two-goal lead for Minnesota.\u00a0 After receiving a quick pass from Murphy, Kaiser one-timed it from the slot.<\/p>\n
A beautiful shorthanded goal early in the third finally started making Minnesota feel comfortable.\u00a0 Huber single-handedly brought the back into the zone, cut across the net to shake the defenders off her, and backhanded it in.<\/p>\n
Ava Lindsay scored her first collegiate goal on the power play.\u00a0 She had an open lane from the high right slot and saw a gap on the far side where she placed it.<\/p>\n
“I thought we got better,” Frost said.\u00a0 “Obviously a really tight game there, and in the second just for us to continue to pull away and play better and better and more sound was really encouraging.”<\/p>\n
And to see scoring from players other than Murphy pleased the coach: “Obviously, Murph is an incredible talent, but we need others to score if we are going to be successful.\u00a0 So, this was a good night for that for others to step up.”<\/p>\n
Murphy (who went 3-2-5 with three penalties on the weekend) was happy about that as well, “We need that.\u00a0 We have a lot of young kids.\u00a0 We had one just score her first goal.\u00a0 It’s going to be the first of many.\u00a0 I think it’s going to be a big thing for us — a lot of goals coming from younger kids.”<\/p>\n
Once again, though RIT relied on their outstanding goalkeeper, Sarah Coe, it was the defense that stepped up big.\u00a0 A defense which played smart positionally all weekend, keeping dangerous shots to a minimum.<\/p>\n
“Sarah is a stud,” Brown said.\u00a0 “You put her on any team, and she’s a stud.\u00a0 She gives us a chance every single game.\u00a0 But definitely, I think our D and centers did a great job tonight.\u00a0 They are getting better at picking up sticks.”<\/p>\n
Shots were 41-17 and 45-19, respectively, in favor of Minnesota.\u00a0 Again, a dual accomplishment — strong performance by Minnesota but far less shots given up than in the past by RIT.<\/p>\n
Minnesota accomplished what they set out to do.<\/p>\n
“Feel like we were getting teased with a couple of exhibition games,” Murphy said.\u00a0 “Everybody was looking forward to it.\u00a0 Obviously, two wins is a great start to the season.”<\/p>\n
Next up is a much shorter trip for Minnesota (2-0-0) as they play St. Thomas, first in the Xcel Center, then at their opponent’s rink.<\/p>\n
Murphy said, “They’re fast.\u00a0 They’re gritty.\u00a0 They are tough to play against.\u00a0 Similar game to what we had before with them.”<\/p>\n
For RIT, though certainly not happy without getting a win, they made a statement.\u00a0 So much so, that Brown said after the games, “I wish we could play them again.”<\/p>\n
Instead, RIT will take their deuces wild record (2-2-2) and host two games next weekend against Union.\u00a0 They will also celebrate the school’s 2011-12 Division III national championship.\u00a0 A team which Celeste Brown played on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ROCHESTER– It is rare after a two-game series both teams, even the one on the losing side of the weekend, feel like they have achieved something. Both fourth-ranked Minnesota and RIT, which won only four games last year, can feel good about their series in Rochester. For Minnesota, it was an opportunity to start their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":142571,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[949],"tags":[819],"coauthors":[824],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n