2007–08 Minnesota Golden Gophers women's ice hockey season

2007–08 Minnesota Golden Gophers women's ice hockey season
Conference	WCHA
Home ice	Ridder Arena
Record
Overall	27-7-4
Coaches and captains
Head coach	Brad Frost
Minnesota Golden Gophers women's ice hockey seasons « 2006–07 2008–09 »

Offseason

• Former Gopher women's hockey greats Erica Killewald and Nadine Muzerall (Class of 2001) were inducted into the University of Minnesota's "M" Club Hall of Fame on Thursday Sept. 27, 2007. Killewald and Muzerall were two of 13 Gopher greats to be inducted at the annual Hall of Fame Banquet. The duo are the first women's hockey players to be inducted into the hall of fame and the youngest in the group of 13.^[1]

Regular season

The Gopher power play (which included Gigi Marvin and Rachael Drazan), ranked first in the WCHA and third in the nation with a 24.5 conversion percentage. Gigi Marvin led the league in power-play points with 24.

• Kelli Blankenship was in her sophomore season. She produced four goals and seven assists for 11 points. In the opening weekend of the season (October 16), she had an assist in the 4-2 win over Boston University. On October 19, she scored a goal and an assist in the 7-4 win over Ohio State. She held a season-high three-game scoring streak with points against Bemidji State and Ohio State (on February 1, 2 and 8).^[2]
• Rachael Drazan was paired with Anya Miller the entire 2007-08 season. She ranked fifth in scoring and second among defensemen when she scored 10 goals and 17 assists for 27 points. She scored five game-winning goals, seven power-play goals and a short-handed goal in her junior campaign.

On the power play, Drazan tied for third in the conference in power-play points with 13. Her first points as a Gopher came in a game against Northeastern on October 5. She had a goal and an assist. On November 3, she scored a goal and an assist in the Gophers' 3-2 victory over Wisconsin. From Nov. 18-Jan. 5, Drazan held a season-high eight-game scoring streak. During said streak, she notched nine points. She set a career-best three points in the 7-3 defeat of Ohio State on February 8. ^[3]

• Melanie Gagnon was in her junior season. She appeared 35 games and scored three goals and 11 assists for 14 points, while earning her third letter. She started the season with an assist against Northeastern and against Boston University on October 5 and 6. In a 7-4 win over Ohio State on October 19, she tied a career-high three assists. She scored her first goal of the year on November 30 in a 5-0 win over Bemidji State. In a game played on February 1, which was a 5-1 defeat over North Dakota, she netted a power play goal. (2/1).^[4]
• Goaltender Jenny Lura was in her freshman season and played in 16 games, while accumulating a 10-4-2 record with two shutouts. In the process, she earned her first letter and was named to the WCHA All-Rookie Team. Statistically, she held a 1.92 goals against average and a .910 save percentage. Lura earned her first career start in the come-from-behind win over Boston University on October 6. On October 26 and 27, she got back-to-back wins over then No. 1 Minnesota Duluth and only allowed two goals during the series. Lura earned her first career shutout on December 1 with a 1-0 decision against Bemidji State. The following week, she added her second-straight shutout in a 1-0 win against Minnesota State. On January 13, she helped the Gophers to a 2-1 win over tenth ranked Boston College.^[5]
• Gigi Marvin was in her junior season with the Golden Gophers. She played in all 38 games for the Gophers and led the team with 54 points. She was second in WCHA league scoring with 38 points. Her 31 assists ranked first on the team, second in the WCHA and ninth in the nation (0.82 assists per game). She tied for third in the WCHA in goals scored with 23. During the season, she was a three-time WCHA Offensive Player of the Week. In addition, she started the season with a five-game scoring streak.

Marvin tallied two assists in wins over Northeastern (10/5) and against then-No. 1 ranked Minnesota Duluth (10/27). She also had four-point performances against Bemidji State (11/30) and Minnesota State (12/7). On February 8, Marvin scored two goals and two assists in three shots in the 7-3 win over Ohio State. The following day, she had a three-point performance against the Buckeyes for a season-high seven points in the series sweep. In the 5-0 win over Bemidji State on November 30, Marvin established her 100th-career point. At season's end, she had 57 goals and 81 assists for 138 points in 114 games played. From Jan. 18-Feb. 16, she held a 10-game scoring streak from and produced 19 point.^[6]

• Dagney Willey was in her junior season and appeared in all 38 games and earned her third letter. Of her nine assists on the season, four came on the power play. She set up a power-play goal and an even strength goal in the 5-0 won over Bemidji State on November 30. She tallied two power-play assists in the 6-3 win against Wayne State on January 5.^[7]

Roster

Source:^[8]

No.	S/P/C	Player	Class	Pos	Height	DoB	Hometown	Previous team
1		Jenny Lura	Freshman	G	5' 8" (1.73 m)	1989-09-07	North Vancouver, British Columbia	Sentinel Secondary School
2		Whitney Graft	Senior	F	5' 4" (1.63 m)		Wayzata, Minnesota	Wayzata High School
3		Melanie Gagnon	Junior	D	5' 5" (1.65 m)	1986-06-11	St. Adolphe, Manitoba	St. Norbert Collegiate High School
5		Laura May	Freshman	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	1989-08-05	Dellwood, Minnesota	Mahtomedi High School
6		Rachael Drazan	Junior	D	5' 6" (1.68 m)	1986-01-11	Orono, Minnesota	Benilde-St. Margaret's
7		Kelli Blankenship	Sophomore	F	5' 6" (1.68 m)	1987-06-23	Lusby, Maryland	North American Hockey Academy
8		Bobbi Ross	Senior	F	5' 7" (1.7 m)		Verwood, Saskatchewan	Collège Mathieu
9		Jaimie Horton	Freshman	F	5' 7" (1.7 m)	1988-04-24	Maple Grove, Minnesota	Maple Grove High School
10		Brittany Francis	Sophomore	F	5' 7" (1.7 m)	1987-12-02	Thunder Bay, Ontario	Toronto Jr. Aeros
15		Anya Miller	Senior	D	5' 8" (1.73 m)		Elk River, Minnesota	Elk River High School
16		Jenelle Philipczyk	Senior	F	5' 5" (1.65 m)		Woodbury, Minnesota	Eagan High School
17		Emily West	Freshman	F	5' 5" (1.65 m)	1989-03-22	Colorado Springs, Colorado	Pine Creek High School
19		Gigi Marvin	Junior	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	1987-03-07	Warroad, Minnesota	Warroad High School
20		Alexandra Zebro	Sophomore	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	1988-06-16	Oak Grove, Minnesota	Faithful Family Academy
22		Erica McKenzie	Senior	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)		Hastings, Minnesota	Hastings High School
23		Dagney Willey	Junior	D	5' 5" (1.65 m)		Maple Grove, Minnesota	Osseo Senior High School
24		Jen Schoullis	Freshman	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	1989-03-07	Erie, Pennsylvania	Shattuck-Saint Mary's
25		Terra Rasmussen	Freshman	F	5' 7" (1.7 m)	1988-09-04	Coon Rapids, Minnesota	Coon Rapids High School
26		Michelle Maunu	Sophomore	D	5' 6" (1.68 m)	1987-07-15	Esko, Minnesota	Esko High School
30		Savannah Osborn	Freshman	G	5' 7" (1.7 m)		Bemidji, Minnesota	Bemidji High School
39		Kim Hanlon	Junior	G	5' 6" (1.68 m)		Blaine, Minnesota	Blaine High School

Postseason

• WCHA First Round playoffs
  • Gigi Marvin contributed five points in the sweep over North Dakota
• WCHA Final Face-off
  • Gigi Marvin scored two goals against Wisconsin
  • Dagney Willey held an assist in the Gophers’ WCHA FINAL FACEOFF game against Wisconsin on March 8

International competition

• Rachael Drazan and Gigi Marvin went on to compete with the United States at the 2008 IIHF World Championships. Both earned a gold medal when the team defeated Canada.
• Melanie Gagnon was a member of the Canadian Under-22 Team for the fifth-straight year.^[9]

Awards and honors

• Kelli Blankenship, WCHA All-Academic
• Kelli Blankenship, Academic All-Big Ten
• Rachael Drazan, First Team All-WCHA
• Rachael Drazan, WCHA All-Academic honoree
• Rachael Drazan, Academic All-Big Ten honoree
• Rachael Drazan, ranked second in the WCHA in points by a defensemen with 22 points
• Melanie Gagnon, Third-team All-WCHA honoree
• Melanie Gagnon, Academic All-WCHA
• Melanie Gagnon, Academic Big Ten selection
• Jenny Lura, WCHA All-Rooke Team
• Jenny Lura, WCHA Rookie of the Week (Week of October 28)
• Gigi Marvin led WCHA in power-play points with 24.
• Gigi Marvin, Second-Team All-American
• Gigi Marvin, Patty Kazmaier Top 10 finalist
• Gigi Marvin, First Team All-WCHA for the second straight year
• Gigi Marvin, WCHA Scholar Athlete and WCHA All-Academic selection
• Gigi Marvin, WCHA Final Face-Off All-Tournament Team
• Gigi Marvin, Named the team's most valuable player for the second straight season with teammate Bobbi Ross
• Gigi Marvin, Earned team's Highest GPA award
• Dagney Willey, WCHA All-Academic honoree
• Dagney Willey, Academic All-Big Ten honoree

References