Gophers women's hockey beats Tommies 5-2 for sweep

Abbey Murphy had two goals and an assist in the first two periods to pace the Gophers women's hockey team to a 5-2 victory over St. Thomas on Saturday at Ridder Arena.

The victory was the sixth consecutive for the No. 5-ranked Gophers (22-5-1, 16-5-1 WCHA).

Murphy, who began the weekend tied for the lead in Div. I in goals, scored twice in the second period — her 26th and 27 goals of the season. The first broke a 1-1 tie and the second extended the Gophers' lead to 4-2. Murphy received a game misconduct with one minute remaining in the second period after being given a five-minute major penalty for boarding.

The No. 5 Gophers, who entered the weekend second in the nation in power-play percentage (38%), got power-play goals from Josefin Bouveng and Emma Kreisz on Saturday as they converted three of six opportunities in the series.

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The Gophers, who had allowed just nine power-play goals in 89 attempts (fifth-best percentage in the nation) going into the weekend, did not allow the Tommies a power-play goal. The Tommies (8-20-1, 2-19-1) were 0-of-7 on the power-play on Saturday, including a 5-on-3 advantage over the final minute of the second period and first minute of the third period.

Kreisz had a goal and two assists and Bouveng had a goal and assist for the Gophers, who outshot the Tommies 34-16.

The Gophers play a home-and-home series with St. Cloud State next weekend.