Hannah Brandt made history for the Gophers coming off of their bye week.
No. 3 Minnesota swept No. 5 Bemidji State over the weekend with a 4-0 victory on Friday and an 8-3 victory on Saturday, with Brandt breaking the program’s record for career points in the second game.
“It’s a special night here for a multitude of reasons,” head coach Brad Frost said Saturday. “To pick up the sweep of Bemidji was no easy task, and to be able to generate the things that we did was big.”
Brandt had five goals on Saturday to set the record, despite coming off of a five-game goal drought.
She scored first for the Gophers 9:44 into the game to pick up her 100th career goal in college. Only three other Minnesota players have reached that total.
The Gophers were up 1-0 after the first period and increased their lead in the second, helped by freshman forward Taylor Williamson’s first collegiate goal.
The team scored four times in the second period to take a 5-0 lead, and Brandt was just a point away from tying the all-time scoring record held by Natalie Darwitz.
Brandt tied the record with her fourth goal of the game 4:10 into the third period and then broke it just over five minutes later when she scored her fifth goal, which tied the
program record for the most in a game.
“Every bounce seemed to go in for me tonight,” Brandt said. “It was just one of those games, I guess.”
Bemidji State scored three times in the third period but couldn’t mount a comeback, and the Gophers got the sweep.
Both teams started strong in Friday’s game, but Minnesota sophomore forward Cara Piazza was able to strike first 6:36 into the game to put the Gophers up 1-0.
The Gophers added on to their lead with three goals in the second period.
The first came from sophomore forward Kelly Pannek at 11:50 into the second with assists from junior forward Kate Schipper and Piazza.
Minnesota capitalized twice on the power play toward the end of the second period with goals from junior forward Dani Cameranesi at 16:41 and another with just under a minute to go from Schipper.
The Beavers had a chance to get on the scoreboard during the second period on a breakaway from senior defenseman Ivana Bilic, but Gophers senior goaltender Amanda Leveille made the stop to keep Bemidji State scoreless.
The save was one of 18 Leveille made in the game for her 25th career shutout.
The Gophers second line with Piazza, Pannek and Schipper had a combined six points on the night, and all three scored a goal.
“The week off really brought us back to wanting to play in a game,” Schipper said. “We had a lot more passion and had the goal of working together and in our own roles as a line, and we knew we could be successful.”
