EITAN SCHOENBERG: Hey everyone, it’s Eitan Schoenberg. I’m here with Emmett Laurent with the Minnesota Daily and you’re listening to the Gold Standard podcast where we talk everything Gopher sports and Minnesota sports.
EMMETT LAURENT: Yeah, I’m glad to be back. You know, a little short stint. We’re back on quicker than usual, but it’s a lovely day in Minnesota, so I’m just happy to be here. How you doing?
SCHOENBERG: I’m doing pretty good. Lovely weather actually. Very good weather here. Very good weather for like fall sports season.
LAURENT: It’s like football weather. Like this is like what I think of when I think of football weather. The leaves are changing colors, they’re falling on the ground. People who don’t like Minnesota, I understand, but this is the time to be in Minnesota right now.
SCHOENBERG: Right. Yeah. And another big thing in Minnesota is hockey. So I can kick us off with some.
LAURENT: The state of hockey.
SCHOENBERG: Yeah, the state of hockey.
LAURENT: Is that controversial?
SCHOENBERG: No, not at all.
LAURENT: Colorado? Colorado. I feel like they say that. I feel like they say that a lot.
SCHOENBERG: I’ve never heard Colorado, but there is absolutely no dispute that it’s Minnesota.
LAURENT: I mean the Avalanche.
SCHOENBERG: Yeah.
LAURENT: Anyways.
SCHOENBERG: But women’s hockey was swept by Wisconsin, unfortunately. They had a 5-0 shutout on Friday. Saturday was 4-3. Gophers had a 3 goal lead, actually, in the second period. Allowed a four streak from Wisconsin. But, I mean, Wisconsin is not to be messed with. They’re number one. They’ve recent national champions, not last year, that was Ohio State, but the year before that, that was Wisconsin.
So, Wisconsin’s a powerhouse. I mean, obviously you can be upset that, especially in that Saturday game, that they, you know, lost a three goal lead and eventually lost at home. Getting swept at home is just not a good thing in general. But you know, at least it wasn’t against, like, a formidable opponent. Like, they’re a good team. They are a very good team.
LAURENT: Yeah, it’ll be OK. It’s the start of the season, too. What stood out to you the most from those games, or I guess maybe what didn’t stand out to you?
SCHOENBERG: I think in the first game for sure, they just did not look like they were getting a lot of shots on goal. I think the scoreboard really, or like the stat sheet kind of told the story there. They were hanging it, well I guess the silver lining from that first game is it was actually 1-0 heading into the third period. So they can hang with good teams. They are a good team. They’re top five in the country.
Like, they legitimately are a good team. And then on Saturday, Sydney Morrow had two goals. She’s a transfer. She’s, I mean, they knew she was going to be good, but the fact that she had, like, as a defender, she’s, again, scoring points.
LAURENT: Yeah, right.
SCHOENBERG: Is a really good sign. So, I mean, again, they had a really, really tough start of their season in terms of WCHA play, which is I mean, they’re, they’re winless still.
They’re, like, 0-3-1 right now because they lost twice to Wisconsin and then they lost to Ohio State. Shootout and lost to Ohio State, but the shootout doesn’t really matter. It doesn’t really count. But I mean, that’s the defending national team.
LAURENT: Right. Like it’ll be OK.
SCHOENBERG: And then after that.
LAURENT: That’s a tough start, that’s a tough start. I also saw the goaltender Skylar Vetter, she got pulled in the first game.
SCHOENBERG: Yeah.
LAURENT: And then the refreshment came in, what was that about?
SCHOENBERG: Hannah Clark. So, they actually have a lot of, Brad Frost, I talked with Brad Frost at the beginning of the season, and there was a lot of expectation for, you know, Hannah Clark to get reps.
LAURENT: OK.
SCHOENBERG: Last year they had this duo of Lucy Morgan, she was in her last year, and Skylar Vetter, who was a junior last year, so they were able to switch between goalies, but you know, Vetter letting in, I think it was they might have pulled her after four or five.
LAURENT: OK. OK.
SCHOENBERG: And, you know, it’s just not good for a goaltender’s confidence, especially Vetter who’s just, you know, in her senior year and it’s just not a good start to be down against a rival by that big. It just, it helps confidence revolve and like, it saves Vetter’s confidence then, you know, gives Clark the chance to get some reps in.
LAURENT: Do you think it could hurt her confidence getting pulled like that though? In a sense of like, the game was, at that point, the game’s already over. Like, why not just let her finish it out?
SCHOENBERG: Yeah,…
Read More: Gophers tackle tough opponents as fall sports reach full swing – The Minnesota