Abbey Murphy got under Wisconsin's skin, and the puck into Wisconsin's net, to lead Minnesota to an important win for her school.
Abbey Murphy got under Wisconsin's skin, and the puck into Wisconsin's net, to lead Minnesota to an important win for her school.
MINNEAPOLIS — Abbey Murphy found the back of the net and a way to get under the skin of the Wisconsin Badgers as well.
Murphy extended her NCAA goal-scoring lead with a pair of tallies to lift No. 2 Minnesota to a chippy 5-3 win over No. 3 Wisconsin.
The redshirt junior recorded her 20th and 21st goals of the season in the first period. She also played the role of agitator, picking up seven minutes in penalties.
“I feel like it gives our team a good amount of energy, kind of gets everyone going,” Murphy said of playing with an edge. “I like being the spark of everything.”
Lucy Morgan had 33 saves for the Golden Gophers, allowing just one goal on 26 shots over the final two periods. Emma Kreisz and Nelli Laitinen had a goal and an assist apiece and Madison Kaiser had two assists for Minnesota, which improved to 14-2-1.
“Lucy was great in her first border battle after being at St. Lawrence for four years,” Minnesota coach Brad Frost said. “(We had) a lot of blocked shots, just a lot of big time plays.”
Friday marked the first meeting between the teams since the 2023 Frozen Four when Wisconsin’s Caroline Harvey delivered the knockout blow in overtime en route to the Badgers’ seventh national championship.
This time, Minnesota made sure to put the game out of reach. Laitinen gave the Gophers the lead for good 7:03 into the second period. The Finnish defender fired a shot from the left point which got through Kreitz in the left circle. The puck fluttered over the shoulder of Jane Gervais and just under the crossbar to make it 3-2.
Sadie Lindsay doubled Minnesota’s lead with the eventual game-winner a little more than four minutes later by knocking in a rebound from the right side of the crease.
The Badgers had a chance to pull within one within the first minute of the third period, but Lacey Eden missed to the left of a wide open net. Less than a minute later, Solveig Neunzert picked up her first goal as a Gopher by scoring from the high slot.
The border rivals traded leads — and a few punches — In the first period.
Murphy put the Gophers on the board 7:30 into the game. She picked up the puck in the neutral zone and blew past Wisconsin defender Laney Potter before cutting to the net. The redshirt junior then beat Gervais with a shot to the far top corner.
The Badgers responded 47 seconds later on Maddi Wheeler’s shot from the right side of the net which found its way just inside the near-side post.
With Murphy in the box with a major for a baseball-style slash on Wisconsin captain Britta Curl along the benches, the Badgers capitalized. Sophomore Kirsten Simms one-timed a Caroline Harvey pass from the right circle and beat Morgan glove-side, bar-down to give the Badgers a 2-1 lead at 10:27.
Murphy responded by squaring it with her second of the night, a one-timer from the left circle at 16:32.
The teams combined for 19 penalty minutes, 13 in the opening period alone.
“We don't want to be in the box like that,” Murphy said. “That's also a personal thing, I kind of just taking a deep breath, realize that I'm useless in the box. So I just kind of settled down and played a team game.”
Kirsten Simms finished with a goal and an assist for the Badgers, who dropped to 13-4-0. Casey O’Brien also scored for Wisconsin.
Several U.S. women’s national team members — including Wisconsin alumna Brianna Decker and Minnesota alumnae Lee Stecklein and Kelly Pannek — were in attendance.
“Especially with this rivalry, neither team wants to give an inch," Frost said. "This was a great showcase of (women’s hockey) tonight. It's two really good teams, but to see where the game of women's hockey has come from years ago to now is pretty special.”
The teams meet again Saturday at 2 p.m. CT to conclude the first halves of their season.