MINNEAPOLIS — Seven different players scored for Minnesota as it completed a season sweep on the road at St. Cloud State with a 7-1 win Saturday night.
Meghan Lorence, Kelly Pannek, Hannah Brandt and Nina Rodgers all had a goal and an assist for he Gophers (23-1-3, 16-1-3-1 WCHA). Maryanne Menefee, Megan Wolfe and Cara Piazza added goals, and Dani Cameranesi had a pair of assists.
“This time of year, it’s kind of the dog days a little bit of winter, and we’re still a ways away from the playoffs and school started back up,” Gophers’ coach Brad Frost said. “That’s why I was really impressed with how our team played here today.”
Alyssa Erickson netted the loan tally for St. Cloud State (6-20-1, 3-16-1-1 WCHA).
Lorence took an outlet pass from Sydney Baldwin, broke down the right wing, and found net on the far side to give her team a first-period lead.
Minnesota opened the game up with three goals in just over seven minutes early in the second period to make the score 4-0.
Erickson got the Huskies on the board with a power-play tally at 15:38 of the second period, their first goal against Minnesota this season in five contests. Vanessa Spataro and Brittney Anderson had the assists on the play.
The Gophers reached the final margin with three goals in 2:43 of action over the final minutes. They outshot the hosts 54-15 for the game.
“Really, after the first five weeks of the season, we started to get that scoring, and that’s when we started to play better,” Frost said. “Especially when you’re on the road and you’re not getting the match ups that you necessarily want, to have other kids – the Piazzas, and Rodgers, and those guys – scoring is really big.”
Minnesota hosts Ohio State in a WCHA series at home next weekend.
“The top four or five teams in our league we’ve got to finish with, which will be great preparation for the playoffs, so [we will] be looking forward to that,” Frost said.
The Huskies are idle until a single game in Mankato versus Minnesota State on Feb. 2.
