Fifth-year seniors Grace Zumwinkle and Taylor Heise each scored two goals to lead the No. 3 Gophers to a 7-0 victory over host Bemidji State on Friday afternoon at the Sanford Center.
The victory was the ninth in a row for Minnesota (19-3-2, 16-1-2-2 WCHA) and the seventh consecutive loss for the Beavers (4-20-1, 1-18).
"Lots of penalties both ways, but our power play and penalty kill were both good," Gophers coach Brad Frost said. "We had a couple timely goals in the first and were able to extend that lead."
Zumwinkle and Heise went into the game tied for the NCAA lead in goals at 18 and remain at the top of the scoring list with 20 apiece now. Zumwinkle had the first goal of the game at 4 minutes, 19 seconds of the opening period. A little over four minutes later, Heise scored on a power play.
Both scored in the second period, too. Zumwinkle at 9:15 and Heise 1:20 later shorthanded.
Heise, the Patty Kazmaier Award winner as the best player in women's hockey last season, also had two assists, giving her 24 for 44 points. She is second in the nation in points with 44 — three behind Danielle Serdachny of Colgate.
Other goals scorers for Minnesota were Peyton Hemp, Abbey Murphy and Abigail Boreen.
Goalies Skylar Vetter, with 12 saves in the first two periods, and Olivia King, with four in the third, combined on the shutout. Hannah Hogenson stopped 45 shots for the Beavers.
"I'm really happy for Olivia King being able to get her first action of the year," Frost said, "and combine with Skylar Vetter for the shutout."
The Gophers lead the nation in scoring, averaging just over five goals per game and have scored six or more goals nine times.
