Monday afternoon at the Brown Holiday Tournament, the Minnesota Golden
Gophers beat the Friars of Providence College 3-0.  It was a slow match
that lacked intensity.  However it was a good win for Minnesota who
controlled play at both ends of the ice.
 
The game opened with the Gophers stringing together some nice passes and
looking dangerous.  Ambria Thomas (Nadine Muzerall, Kris Scholz) gave
Minnesota the early lead when she drilled her shot high glove side.  The PC
defense was at sixes and sevens.  The Friars were looking pretty disorganized.
Meanwhile the Gopher's tight play, led by premier fore and back-checker Matty
Brekken, kept them on top.  Muzerall (Thomas, Brittny Ralph) put Minnesota up
by two when she took a long-ball pass behind the Providence defense, went in
all alone and deked the puck into the back of the net.  Nice goal!
 
There was no scoring in the second period.  Both teams could learn to keep
their sticks on the ice, as play got somewhat rough.  Co-captain Catherine
Hanson tried to get the Friars moving from her defensive role with several
telling surges.  However there was always a Gopher there, like the back-
checking Julie Otto to snuff out the PC attempts.
 
In the final interval, Providence tried to sustain some pressure, but they
seemed to lack direction in the art of scoring goals.  Minnesota was prepared
and maintained a solid wall.  Brekken (Marisa Pettiford, Betsey Kukowski)
finished the scoring for the Gophs when she knocked one in at the near post.
 
The trivializing of sport with loud pop music at every stoppage of play was
unfortunately in vogue at Brown.  It was not a pleasant experience.
 
Providence is a team in need of guidance.  The players often looked like they
didn't know what they should do next.  There was very little passing of note.
The PC woman of the match was Hanson.  She moved very well and tried to lead
her team forward.  Hanson is a strong blue liner and laid off a few decent
dishes for the Friars.  First-year defender Valerie Bono also looked good.
She plays a heads-up game that let her make many intelligent plays.  Up front,
first-year Jessica Tabb is a center with a ton of potential.  She has a great
skill set, but needs some direction if she is to realize her promise.
Overall, the Friars need to get it together soon if they want to succeed in
the ECAC.
 
Minnesota is a varsity program for the first time this season.  The team is
made up of mainly first-years and sophomores, but already they are playing
Gopher (Herb Brooks) hockey in many ways.  The players are all on the same
page, and are controlling the game well.  They also have their passing game
clicking.  What is missing right now is the mobility and speed that makes
Gopher hockey stunning to watch.  The woman of the match was Brekken.  The
first-year forward moves so well and does so many little things just when you
need them.  Brekken is the main digger for Minnesota, but also can put the
puck in the net.  Fellow digger, and senior captain Julie Otto (a transfer
from Northeastern), also was very good.  Her back-checking was superb.  The
big line of Muzerall, Thomas and Scholz looked good as a unit.  However, they
all need to work on their movement.  Muzerall made some lovely shifts.  The
defensive pairing of Angela Borek and Ralph was very strong.  They worked
together well and always seemed to be ahead of the other side.  Tai Thorsheim
was the other blue liner who made some good breakups.  In goal, Erica
Killewald kicked out the few tough shots she faced.  Overall, when Minnesota
gets more mobility, watch out.
 
 
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 good shooting
 hungerf
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