After playing three-years with Harvard University and finishing up her NCAA college playing career with a season at Clarkson University, Petrie took a giant step toward that desire of playing in the PWHL.

That giant step occurred on June 10 when this talented 23- year-old forward from Hermosa Beach, Calif. was picked in the fifth round, 27th overall, by the Minnesota Frost.

“I was at home in California where we had a watch party,” Petrie said. “We had the draft live streamed on YouTube.”

In reflecting on that moment when Minnesota selected her, Petrie said: “There were tears, sighs of relief, excitement, smiles and lots of high fives.”

Dominique Petrie scored the tying goal to force overtime in the season opener against New York. (MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)

A big highlight in the early going of the season has been the home fans which drew lots of strong praise from Petrie.

“Minnesota has an amazing fan base,” Petrie said. “Minnesota is the state of hockey. I’m really excited to have been drafted by Minnesota. It’s (playing for the Frost) an awesome cool experience.”

The biggest electrifying on-ice highlight which Petrie described as being “on top of the list for one of my greatest hockey moments,” occurred in the Frost’s first regular-season game of the year.

Leaving her mark early
Playing on Dec. 1 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Petrie was absolutely pumped when at 15:47 of the third period she scored and celebrated her first PWHL goal, which at the time tied things up 3-3 of an eventual 4-3 overtime loss against the New York Sirens.

“I couldn’t have written a better story,” Petrie said about the goal. “It was a two-on-one (with Denisa Křížová), just like we’ve worked on in practice. I got in on my stick and let it rip.

PWHL players and fans watched as the Walter Cup Champions banner was unveiled before the season opener on Dec. 1 at Xcel Energy Center. (MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)

“The fans erupted and my teammates were celebrating, and it was a cool moment. It’s at the top of my list for great hockey moments.”

Naturally, Petrie was presented with that milestone puck which she still has.

“Right now, it’s sitting on a shelf. I will take it back home at some point,” Petrie said.

In talking about that regular-season opener, Petrie couldn’t help but to once again deliver more praise toward the Minnesota fans.

“The fans were decked out in our paraphernalia,” Petrie said. “When we scored, the fans got really loud. It’s definitely a special market and the fans pump us up.”

Prior to Minnesota’s season opener, fans got to experience PWHL history as the Minnesota had their Walter Cup championship banner raised to the Xcel Energy Center rafters.

“The banner ceremony was a cool experience,” Petrie said. “To look around and take it all in was a cool moment.”

In putting on the Minnesota Frost jersey for her PWHL debut, Petrie called it “a surreal moment.”

“I felt blessed and thankful,” Petrie added.

During that much anticipated debut against New York, Petrie had three shots on goal and was a plus-one.

Petrie played at Harvard, then Clarkson
Before embarking on her PWHL career, Petrie played three years of college hockey at Harvard University where she graduated with a degree in economics and a minor in psychology. In looking to continue her education and college hockey career, Petrie transferred to Clarkson for a Masters of business administration.

Her three-year playing career at Harvard saw her play 76 games where she produced 30 goals and 71 points. In her time with Clarkson last season, she scored 15 goals and 35 points in 40 games.

“It was an amazing opportunity,” Petrie said. “I enjoy challenging myself, and I was fortunate to be able to play hockey and get an education.”

Without question, Petrie’s greatest moment playing for Clarkson occurred in March 2024 when playing at home in front of a sold-out Cheel Arena. She made history by scoring in quadruple-overtime for a 3-2 win against the University of Minnesota Gophers. The win sent fourth-ranked Clarkson to their first Frozen Four since 2019, though they lost to Ohio State in the semifinal.

In making that jump from college hockey to the PWHL, Petrie said a big difference is how much more physical the pro league is. However, Petrie referred to herself as a physical player, so it’s something she isn’t bothered about.

From an early age, Petrie’s passion to play hockey was inspired by her brother, Guy, who played college hockey at the University of Utah.

On the international stage, Petrie has also had success in helping the U.S. Women’s National U-18 team take home gold at the 2017 and 2018 IIHF World Women’s U18 Championships. A year later, she captained the squad to a silver.

In her first three games as a Frost player, Petrie has three goals and is a +2.

“I’m happy Minnesota took a chance on me,” she said. “I just want to show what I can do.”

It might be extremely early, but chances are Petrie has definitely made a loud statement to the Frost organization that she can play in the PWHL.

The post Dominant Dominque appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

But the women’s representatives from Minnesota deserve to be recognized for their prominence, too. A look at the week before Christmas national rankings show that five of the top eight teams are from the WCHA, starting at the top:

1. Ohio State, 14-2
2. Minnesota, 13-2
3. Wisconsin 13-3
6. UMD, 10-5-1
8. St. Cloud State, 12-5

The 1-2-3 punch at the top had to survive the sort of upsets that never used to happen in the WCHA.

St. Cloud State, clearly the surprise of women’s college hockey this season, invaded Columbus and, after falling behind 1-0 in the first period, scored twice in the second period. Finnish import goaltender Sanni Ahola stifled the Buckeyes the rest of the way for a shocking 2-1 upset. Ohio Sate had lost only one game all season, and while everyone anticipated a tough game, nobody expected a Huskies win.

St. Cloud’s Addi Scribner said that after that upset, an Ohio State fan came up to her and said: “Your goalie is unreal. She’s a Cyborg!”

The Buckeyes came back in the second game and broke a 1-1 tie with four straight goals in the second period to gain a 6-2 victory and a split. While being upset by St. Cloud could have cost Ohio State the No. 1 ranking, it didn’t. That’s because No. 2 Wisconsin suffered a similar weekend, against Duluth.

UMD went to Wisconsin and lost 3-0, solidifying the Badgers position on Saturday. However, the Bulldogs battled the Badgers through two scoreless periods in their Sunday afternoon rematch, and were determined to make their effort stand up in the third. UMD won that second game 3-2 for the split. 

A victory by the Badgers would have elevated them back to the No. 1 ranking.

The upsets weren’t over when the weekend ended, though, because the Gophers had a one-game matchup Tuesday against St. Cloud State. Peyton Hemp gave the Gophers a 1-0 lead but Scribner tied the game in the second period. The game went to overtime and a shootout. Allie Franco’s shootout goal gave the Gophers, who came in on an eight-game winning streak, the extra WCHA point. 

But it seems there are no such things as upsets anymore in the WCHA. At least going into a frantic pre-holiday-break weekend that features Wisconsin at Minnesota, and UMD at St. Cloud State, with Bemidji State at St. Thomas for good measure among Minnesota’s teams.

Minnesota teams have always dominated with NCAA championships
For statistical evidence, it’s not as though the Minnesota teams and the West are just emerging on top. Go back to the year 2000-01, which was the first year the NCAA conducted a national tournament for women’s teams. In the first 13 years it was held, Minnesota Duluth and Minnesota virtually owned the championship.

UMD won the first three NCAA titles, with spectacular players such as Jenny Schmidgall, Maria Rooth and Caroline Ouellette leading the way. Under Shannon Miller’s coaching, UMD won five championships in all, with the 2001, 2002, 2003, 2008 and 2010 trophies still filling the school’s trophy case. Minnesota won championships in 2004, 2005, 2012 and 2013 — meaning that the Bulldogs and Gophers won nine of the first 13 NCAA women’s championships.

The other four titles were won by the emerging power at Wisconsin, meaning that those three WCHA teams won all of the first 13 women’s national championships. The Badgers won in 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2011, and their 2007 team went 36-1-4 to eclipse the 31-3-2 of UMD in 2003 and the 36-2-2 by the Gophers in 2005.

But in 2013, the Golden Gophers had a load of talent throughout their lineup and set the record for all time with a splendid 41-0-0 championship season.

It was the following year, in 2013-14, that Clarkson broke through and claimed the first NCAA title for women for the East, and Clarkson also won championships in 2017 and 2018. And that’s it. Only three times did a non-WCHA team win the title, and all three times it was Clarkson.

All NCAA tournaments took a year off during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. When they resumed, Mark Johnson led his Badgers back for their sixth championship, with Ohio State emerging to capture the 2022 title. Last spring, Wisconsin was a surprise winner of its seventh title, and the same WCHA teams seem clustered for another run this season.

St. Cloud State women marking their mark
But maybe there will be an additional team in the mix, after St. Cloud State pulled off the seemingly impossible task of upsetting Ohio State on the road and coming home to tie the Gophers. That takes care of the top two-ranked teams, and now they get to take on old rival UMD, which upset No. 3 Wisconsin.

The games at St. Cloud State’s Herb Brooks National Hockey Center are expected to be tight, low-scoring battles, because both teams have two outstanding goaltenders. UMD has record-setting Hailey MacLeod, who is setting records for goals-against and save percentage, alongside freshman Eve Gascon, from Montreal.

St. Cloud State has an interesting duo, with Ahola capturing the spotlight in net. She’s paired with Jojo Chobak, who spent a season at UMD before transferring to St. Cloud State because she had grown weary of backing up Swedish Olympic star Emma Soderberg, who decided to stay another year.

Both teams depend on depth, getting scoring from their three top lines, and four for St. Cloud State. Both play tough defensive hockey but with defensemen who can readily move up into the play to help the rush or fire lasers from the points.

“We hung our hats on being a tough defensive team last year,” said St. Cloud State coach Brian Idalski. “We haven’t changed that and still want to play tough defense, but we’ve added some new players and I think we’re capable of scoring more goals this year.

“Especially coming off two tough games at Ohio State, then tying the Gophers on Tuesday. We’re getting contributions from all four lines, and we’re approaching this weekend like we’re preparing for the playoffs.”

From Duluth’s end of the transition from last weekend’s upset to this weekend’s rivalry series, the sound was similar. Center Mannon McMahon praised third-line center Jenna Lawry, who was cool and poised as she scored the game-winner at Madison.

“It was super cool to see how Jenna and her line have stepped up, and now they’re being rewarded,” McMahon said. “A lot of us were disappointed at losing 3-0 in Saturday’s game, but we were confident enough to not let that happen again on Sunday.

“Our response from the first game to the second was what I was most proud of. Now we have to carry that through to St. Cloud. It’s going to be tough. They just don’t quit, and they love to battle.”

The post Women Take Command appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Title game loss to Clarkson can’t tarnish yet another Golden Gopher season of success.

The University of Minnesota’s women’s hockey team arrived in Hamden, Conn. with a golden opportunity to win its third straight national championship and sixth overall (including its 2000 AWCHA title).

But the Golden Knights of Clarkson are the ones heading home with the hardware—and the school’s first-ever Frozen Four title—after a 5-4 win over the Golden Gophers on Sunday afternoon at Quinnipiac’s High Point Solutions Arena at the TD Bank Sports Center.

Clarkson’s win for the ECAC snaps the WCHA’s 13-year hold on the women’s national hockey championship with Minnesota Duluth winning five and Minnesota and Wisconsin each claiming four to its credit.

The heartbreaking loss caps off yet another remarkable season for Minnesota, however, as the Gophers finish with a 38-2-1 record and entered the title game riding a 26-game unbeaten streak. In fact, Minnesota has now won 87 of its last 90 games (87-2-1) encompassing its two-year reign as national champions.

With its five-goal effort, Clarkson became the first team in over two years to score more than three goals against Minnesota since Ohio State managed to do so in a 7-4 loss to the Gophers on Feb. 11, 2012.

“We talk all the time about what success is,” Minnesota coach Brad Frost said. “It’s easy to say what success is when you’re winning, but success for us is the embodiment and fulfillment of our values of being tough, grateful, disciplined and devoted.

“Hopefully we win a lot of games along the way – and we did. Unfortunately, we didn’t win the biggest one here, but our kids were successful. They were so successful this year. Our culture and are team are just awesome. I’m so proud to be a part of it.”

Rachel Bona (center) celebrates Baylee Gillanders’ third period goal in Minnesota’s game against Clarkson University in the Women’s NCAA Ice Hockey Championship at the TD Bank Sports Center in Hamden, Conn. Clarkson defeated Minnesota 5-4 for the school’s first national title. (Credit: Sean Elliot | NCAA Photos)

After rallying back twice from being down a goal in Friday’s semifinal against Wisconsin, Minnesota  faced a pair of two-goal deficits against Clarkson, of which it would only recover from one.

“It’s a game of momentum shifts, and I think there was a lot of that tonight,” senior Bethany Brausen said.

The Golden Gophers and Golden Knights (31-5-5) entered the third period even at 3-3 but Clarkson’s Vanessa Plante and Shannon MacAulay scored 4:12 apart to give CU a 5-3 lead with 4:16 to play.

Minnesota responded 35 seconds later on Gillanders’ sixth of the season but that’s as close as the Gophers would get in dropping just their second game of the season.

For seniors Kelly Terry, Sarah Davis, Baylee Gillanders and Brausen, this was not how they envisioned concluding their Gopher careers. But Terry, for one, looked beyond the final game to a tremendous body of work.

“We can’t be distracted by losing the last one,” Terry said. “We’ve had a great season and a great four years here.”

The Gophers got on the board first on Davis’ 20th goal of the season midway through the first period after she was tossed from the faceoff dot in the Clarkson zone. Rachel Bona replaced her and won the draw to Davis in the slot who lifted a backhand shot past Golden Knights goaltender Erica Howe at 9:40.

Minnesota appeared poised to carry that 1-0 lead into the second period, but the Golden Knights had other plans as Christine Lambert drew Clarkson even at 18:37. The goal ignited an explosive 2:01 stretch over two periods which left the Gophers trailing 3-1.

Clarkson University’s Jamie Lee Rattray (26) blasts a goal past University of Minnesota goalie Amanda Leveille, left, as Dani Cameranesi (21, center) defends during the 2nd period of the Women’s NCAA Ice Hockey Championship held at the TD Bank Sports Center in Hamden, Conn. Clarkson defeated Minnesota 5-4 for the school’s first national title.
(Credit: Sean Elliot | NCAA Photos)

Shelby Nisbet gave Clarkson its first lead at 19:40 with Howe pulled for an extra attacker with a delayed penalty coming to Minnesota’s Rachel Ramsey for hooking. With Ramsey in the box to begin the second period, CU’s Patty Kazmaier Award winning forward Jamie Lee Rattray put the Golden Knights up by two just 38 seconds into the middle stanza.

As they had against the Badgers, Minnesota rebounded quickly and the game was tied 7:18 later on Maryanne Menefee’s 18th of the year and Bona’s 23rd.

Frost summed up the Gophers’ outstanding season perfectly in just one poignant sentence.

“Tonight the big scoreboard said that we lost, but we won all season long.”

The post Beaten But Not Defeated appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.