Abbey Murphy had four goals and two assists and Ava Lindsay scored three goals to lead the No. 3 Gophers women’s hockey team to a 11-1 victory at Bemidji State on Saturday, Jan. 17.
Murphy had at least three goals in a game for the fifth time this season. Lindsay recorded her the first hat trick of her career as the Gophers (20-4, 14-4 WCHA) extended their winning streak to eight.
Murphy, a graduate student and U.S. Olympian, leads the nation with 58 points and 33 goals. The goal total ties her total from each of the past two seasons. She has 136 goals in her college career, moving her within four of breaking Nadine Muzerall’s program record of 139 from 1997 to 2001.
“A lot of really good players on that all-time Gophers list,” Gophers coach Brad Frost told reporters in Bemidji. “Move to No. 2 is pretty special for her [Murphy]. I can’t say enough about her and the season she is having. I’ve never seen anything like it in a long time. Super proud of her doing the right things and playing the right way. Of course, her teammates are big part of that.”
The Gophers, who won the series opener 5-3 Friday, defeated the Beavers (5-16-3, 2-15-1) for the 31st consecutive time, dating to December 2017.
“Great performance by our group, top to bottom,” Frost said. “Solid effort right from the drop of the puck. Playing the right way and getting rewarded for it.”
Murphy scored her first goal only 47 seconds into the game and assisted on Josefin Bouveng’s goal that made it 2-0 with 12:02 left in the first period. With the two points, Murphy tied and then passed Amanda Kessel into second place on the Gophers’ career list with 249 points.
For Bouveng, the goal extended her point streak to 22 consecutive games.
