Here’s a look at your 2024-25 Gopher roster
The Minnesota Golden Gophers women’s hockey team kicks off the 2024-25 season Friday night when they head to UCONN for a season opening series. The team this year will have many familiar names to Gopher women’s hockey fans, but the Gophers have added a few pieces both via recruiting and the transfer portal who should play large roles this season. Minnesota also was not hit with significant roster defections this off-season and should be primed to make a run at the top of the WCHA standings and the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA Frozen Four will return to Ridder Arena this spring, so the Gophers would love to be there when it’s all said and done. So here is a look at who is gone, who returns, and who is new on the 2024-25 Gopher Women’s Hockey roster.
Who’s Gone?
Minnesota is an a great position headed into this season as they really did not lose a ton off of their roster from last season. The biggest loss will be defender Madeline Wethington who graduated after five seasons in the maroon and gold and was selected by Ottawa in the PWHL draft. She was the 8th leading scorer for the Gophers a year ago with 23 points. She will be missed on the blue line, but Minnesota has made several additions there that should definitely blunt the loss of Wethington.
Fellow defender Taylor Stewart also graduated. The UMD transfer played all 39 games and scored eight points in her one season as a Gopher. The final Gopher who played every game to not be on the team this year is another 5th year senior in Solveig Neunzert. The Princeton grad transfer recorded six points in mostly a 4th line role for the Gophers.
The Gophers last graduate was goalie Lucy Morgan. The St. Lawrence transfer split time in net with Skyler Vetter and played some big games for the Gophers last year finishing with a 15-3 record, a 1.65 goals against average and a .931 save percentage.
The Gophers lost four players to the transfer portal, but only one was a regular player in the lineup a season ago. Defender Emily Zumwinkle left the Gophers after three seasons and will play her final year at Ohio State. In 38 games a season ago Zumwinkle scored three points in mainly a second and third defensive pairing role.
Other transfers include Josey Dunne who will play her final season at Lindenhurst, Isa Goetll who transferred to Bemidji State after not seeing much time her freshman season, and Tristana Tatur who is now at Mercyhurst after three seasons of limited action with Minnesota.
Who’s Back?
Minnesota returns their top seven scorers from a season ago and one of their two top goalies—so they are in a good place heading into the season. Here are the forwards.
The headline returner is obviously senior Abbey Murphy. One of the best players in the nation the Gopher power forward is known just as much for her aggressive play and grit on the ice as her scoring talent. She led the team and was tied for the top of the nation in goals with 33. Her 62 points led the Gophers and were tied for 3rd in the nation. Yet, she was only a Second Team All-WCHA and was not an All-American a year ago as opposing coaches hate her hardnosed play on the ice. She’s your classic A-hole on the ice…but she’s our A-Hole. Murphy will be one of four players to wear a Captain’s C for the Gophers this season and was named to the Preseason All-WCHA team this fall.
Another player to wear the C also wore it a year ago in senior forward Peyton Hemp. The Andover native scored 14 goals and totaled 30 points for the Gophers in playing in a second line role. Hemp is one of the Gophers best two way players and will be a key member this season. Fellow senior forward Ella Huber also will wear a C this season for the Gophers. The third leading scorer a season ago for the Gophers she scored 18 goals and recorded 42 points in playing as a first line forward and will again be expected to fill that role. Minnesota has one last senior forward in 5th year Audrey Wethington. He had her best season as a Gopher a year ago recording 15 points in playing mostly on the third line. She will again be great forward depth for Minnesota this season.
Minnesota returns four junior forwards this season with two of them playing large roles. Josefin Bouveng took a huge step forward in her second season in the Gopher lineup playing next to Murphy on the top line. She finished second on the Gopher roster in scoring with 50 points and 19 goals. The Swedish forward will look to make an even greater leap this season and form one of the best lines in the nation with Murphy and Huber.
Fellow junior Madison Kaiser is also a good offensive threat for the Gophers. She is coming off of a shoulder injury that occurred in the WCHA playoffs and was down for most of the summer. But she should be ready to go when the season kicks off. She scored 19 points a year ago for the Gophers.
Two other juniors who saw limited action for the Gophers a year ago were Allie Franco and Emma Connor. Franco played games both as a 4th line forward and at defense and recorded three points. Connor saw action in 17 games and recorded a pair of points. Both players will compete once again for 4th line minutes this season.
The Gophers return three sophomore forwards who all saw normal playing time a season ago. Hungarian native Emma Kreisz got better as the season went on and centered the third line for Minnesota. She finished the season with 25 points and six goals and should once again center the third line for Minnesota. Ava Lindsay scored 23 points in her freshman year for the Gophers again playing mostly on the third line. Lauren O’Hara scored five points in 37 games mostly in 4th line action.
Defenders:
Minnesota’s biggest losses occurred on the blue line, but the Gophers still bring back two mainstays and a third player who saw some action a year ago. 5th year senior Maggie Nicholson bounced back from an injury plagued 2022-23 season to pay all 39 games a season ago. She recorded 10 points in mostly a second D-pairing role. The star of the blueline returners is the fourth Gopher to wear a C this season. Junior Neli Laitinen has become one of the best players in the conference if not the country. She was named to the All-WCHA preseason team after her sophomore season where she led all defenders with 23 points and anchored both the Gophers powerplay and penalty kill units. She will be a key player to the Gopher success this season. The final returner on the blue line is sophomre Elly Klepinger. The Corcoran, Minnesota native played 27 games a season ago for the Gophers and did not record a point.
Goalies:
Minnesota returns one of the most experience goalies in the WCHA in senior Skylar Vetter. Vetter began playing consistently as a freshman and split time a season ago with 5th year senior Lucy Morgan. Vetter had her worst year statistically last season playing 24 games and going 12-7-2 with a 2.26 goals against average and a save percentage of .921. For her career she has played in a total of 80 games and has a career record of 45-15-5 a GAA of 1.95 and a save percentage of .924. She is goalie #1 to start the season as Minnesota breaks in their new freshman who is expected to inherit the role next year.
Minnesota also returns junior Sophia Johnson as their #3 goalie. Johnson came to the Gophers off of the U of M Club team in the 22-23 season and had yet to see any game action.
Who is New?
Minnesota will have ten newcomers on their roster this season with three transfers and seven freshmen. While members of both groups are expected to make impacts, there are two standouts in each group that are expected to immediately become top players on this roster.
The transfers are headlined by defender Sydney Morrow. The Junior from Darien, Connecticut starter her career at Ohio State before transferring to Colgate for her sophomore season. There she blew up scoring 13 goals and adding 26 assists in 34 games for the Raiders. She was named a Second Team All-American. She left Colgate after the raiders former head coach Greg Fargo left the college game to become the new coach of the New York PWHL team. She will immediately step in and be one of the Gophers top three defenders.
Minnesota’s other two transfers this season both came from the University of Vermont. 5th year senior Natalie Mlynkova scored 33 points in 35 games a season ago for the Catamounts and scored 17 goals. The season before she recorded 42 points and 21 goals. She brings a legitimate scoring threat to the Gophers offense and should slide nicely into a top 6 forward role on the Minnesota roster. Minnesota also brought in junior defender Krista Parkkonen from Vermont. She has played internationally along with Laitinen for Finland. Last season she scored 21 points in 35 games for Vermont and could be an interesting D partner for her fellow Finn if Brad Frost wants.
Freshmen:
The Gopher freshman class is led by the predicted WCHA Freshman of the Year in defender Chloe Primerano. Primerano has been a star for Canada in U-18 play. Her list of achievements is insane for a player of her age. She was selected as 2024 IIHF Women’s U18 Worlds MVP, Best Defenseman and All-Star Team member. She is the all-time leading scorer for a defender at IIHF U18 Worlds and the all-time leading scorer for a Canadian at IIHF U18 Worlds. She was selected by the Vancouver Giants in the 13th round of the 2022 Western Hockey League Draft—the first female skater ever drafted by a Western Hockey League club. The expectations are very high, and hopefully not too unreasonable, but she has the ability to be one of the best players in the nation as a freshman.
The Gophers also have two other highly rated members of that Canadian U-18 team. Forward Gracie Graham was Primerano’s teammate at the RINK Academy in Kelowna, British Columbia—also the school of former Gophers Olivia Knowles and the Potomak sisters. Graham was named the top defenseman in her league in 2024 recording 49 points in 29 games. Joining them are goalie Hannah Clark. Clark backstopped the Canadian U-18 team for two consecutive seasons and won Gold in 2024 and was named the goalie over the tournament over USA goalie and Gopher recruit Laila Hemp. She will be eased into the net with Vetter but should expect to see plenty of action to make sure she is ready to take over the #1 spot next season.
The Gophers other four freshman are all from Minnesota. 2024 Minnesota Ms. Hockey Ayla Puppe from Northfield comes in with scoring prowess. She scored an insane 11 points in 30 games last season including 60 goals. Admittedly she was playing against much weaker competition, but still, that type of scoring touch can’t be taught.
Joining her is fellow forward Kendra Distad of Burnsville. She played for Minnetonka last season and was a Ms. Hockey finalist helping the Skippers to five straight state tournament appearances.
Minnesota also added a pair of defenders from in-state including Carly Humphrey from Elk River and Kate Kosobud from Moorhead.
Minnesota returns a large group of returners from a season ago and added several impact pieces both from the transfer portal and in their freshman class. This team has the horses to compete for the top of the WCHA and fight for a NCAA title—now it comes down if they can stay healthy and play up to expectations.