Arlan Marttila

Goalie Danielle Butters and Minnesota State held the No. 1 Minnesota Golden Gophers off the scoreboard for more than 34 minutes, the best any defense has done this year, but eventually Minnesota’s top line got enough rubber by her to secure a 3-0 victory over the Mavericks. Hannah Brandt tallied twice and Noora Räty turned … Read more

Four Nations week results at home and abroad The annual Four Nations Cup tournament, matching the national teams of the United States, Canada, Sweden, and Finland, was held this week in Finland. In anticipation of losing players to national team commitments, a number of top college teams did not schedule a game, so the slate … Read more

Questions answered Last week, I questioned whether No. 8 Boston College, clearly one of the most talented squads in the country, was playing like a top-10 team. The Eagles responded with their best week of the season in a Wednesday-Saturday home-and-home series with archrival Boston University. BC blew out the No. 3 Terriers, 7-1, to … Read more

Minnesota broke loose with a three-goal middle period on the road in Duluth and went on to defeat the Bulldogs 4-1. Maryanne Menefee connected twice for the Gophers (11-0-0, 7-0-0 WCHA) and Bethany Brausen and Megan Bozek added a goal each. Junior wing Jamie Kenyon scored for Minnesota-Duluth (3-5-1, 2-4-1 WCHA). Brausen broke a scoreless … Read more

Is it back to normal or just the new normal? Either the results this past week weren’t as wild as in previous weeks, or I’m starting to adjust to the current landscape, because the winners and losers weren’t as surprising. That’s not to say that there weren’t some scores that raised a few eyebrows, due … Read more

Amanda Kessel returned to action for Minnesota and sparked her team to a 4-2 victory on the road at North Dakota. Kessel scored twice and added an assist for the Gophers (10-0, 6-0 WCHA). “I felt pretty good,” Kessel said. “I was a little out of shape, but it felt good being out there.” Minnesota … Read more

With Amanda Kessel out of the lineup, Minnesota was deadlocked 1-1 with North Dakota and looking for another source of production as the third period wound down. The Gophers (9-0, 5-0 WCHA) found it from sophomore Rachael Bona, Kessel’s replacement on the Hannah Brandt line. UND turned the puck over at its own blue line … Read more

Not even hindsight is 20/20 in wake of inexplicable results Each week when I sit down to do my game predictions, I think this would be easier if the outcomes were more predictable. Sometimes there are games or series that make one say, “Yes, I should have seen that,” after the results are in the … Read more

Minnesota goaltender Noora Räty stopped all 20 Ohio State shots Saturday in posting an 8-0 victory, her 83rd career win, which ties her with Jody Horak for the most wins in Gophers’ history. Räty, though, was humbled by the fact after the game. “I don’t really think about it, because if I thought about those … Read more

Ohio State came to Minneapolis with five wins in its first six games, off to the best start in program history and alone in first place of the WCHA, but ran into a Minnesota team that has been even hotter. The Gophers (7-0, 3-0 WCHA) received four-point efforts from both Amanda Kessel and Hannah Brandt, … Read more