Gophers women's hockey overwhelms St. Cloud State

Powered by a potent power play, the Gophers routed St. Cloud State 12-0 on Friday in WCHA women's hockey at Ridder Arena.

Senior forward Rachael Bona scored twice in less than two minutes, the second time on a power play, to give No. 2-rated Minnesota (15-1-2, 10-1-2 WCHA) a 5-0 lead early in the middle period. Her first goal was the 50th of her career.

Meghan Lorence, Maryanne Menefee and Nina Rodgers also had two goals apiece. Rodgers' goals her first two of the season.

"Anytime you have the balance up and down the lineup like we had tonight, it's going to lead to success," Gophers coach Brad Frost said.

Minnesota scored all four times they had a player advantage after going into the series scoring an NCAA-best 33.3 percent on the power play. "It was really clicking tonight," Frost said.

St. Cloud State had only one power play in the game and didn't score.

Paige Haley and Rachel Ramsey in the first period, Cara Piazza in the second, and Hannah Brandt in the third had single goals for the Gophers. Haley's goal was her first of the season, Brandt's her team-high 15th.

Gophers goalie Sidney Peters stopped 18 shots for the shutout. Julie Friend had 26 stops and Katie Fitzgerald, her replacement in the third, 10 saves for the Huskies (5-12-1, 2-8-1), who lost to the Gophers for the 22nd meeting in a row.

The 12 goals tied a program record for most goals in a single game, set Jan. 10, 2009 in a 12-1 victory over Ohio State.