ST. CLOUD-Kippin Keller and Nicole Schammel scored goals and Megan Wolfe had a two-point night with a pair of assists as the No. 4 Golden Gopher women's hockey team skated to a 2-1 win over St. Cloud State on the road at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center Friday night.
Keller scored her first collegiate goal with a short-handed tally to give Minnesota an early lead before the Huskies tied the game in the second period with a goal by Payge Pena. Schammel broke the 1-1 tie by netting the game-winner midway through the third period.
Minnesota (18-5-3, 14-4-3-2 WCHA) took an early lead with a tally by Keller at the 4:06 mark of the first period with Sydney Baldwin in the box for checking. Wolfe sent a long pass to Kelly Pannek, who moved into the SCSU zone. Pannek stick-handled her way to a shot just outside of the goal crease, got her own rebound, and fed Keller in the slot where she beat SCSU netminder Madeleine Dahl on her glove side.
The teams remained locked in a 1-1 tie until the 7:29 mark of the third period when Schammel scored her fourth goal of the year off assists from Wolfe and Lee Stecklein.
St. Cloud State (7-17-3, 5-14-2-2 WCHA) pulled Dahl for the extra attacker with 1:16 remaining but could not solve Peters again despite chances for Pena and Hannah Potrykus in the final minute.
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"I thought it was definitely a harder game because we are battling through a lot of adversity, missing four of our top six forwards," Keller said. "But I think we played hard and we got a dirty win and that's what we need to do."
Minnesota outshot the Huskies 24-13, including an 11-5 advantage in the third period. A slow start saw both teams put just five shots on goal each in the first period. Peters made 12 saves while Dahl had 22 for St. Cloud State.
The nation's top power play went scoreless for the fourth-straight game as the Gophers were 0-for-2 with the man advantage while holding St. Cloud State scoreless on three opportunities on the power play.
The Gophers and Huskies wrap up this weekend's series with game two at 3 p.m. CT Saturday afternoon.
-- GopherSports.com
