Gophers men's and women's hockey teams cruise to three-goal wins Friday night

Sam Rinzel scored two power-play goals for the men, and Abbey Murphy had a hat trick for the women.

Former St. Cloud State coach Bob Motzko faces off with the Huskies for the first time as head coach of Minnesota Sunday, Dec. 29, 2019, at 3M Arena at Mariucci. / Zach Dwyer, zdwyer@stcloudtimes.com, St. Cloud Times via Imagn Content Services, LLC

The Gophers men's and women's hockey teams both cruised to three-goal wins Friday night.

The third-ranked Gophers men scored three power-play goals, including two from Sam RInzel, in a 6-3 win over Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., and the third-ranked Gophers women got a hat trick from Abbey Murphy in a 5-2 victory over No. 9 St. Cloud State at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis. A pretty good night from the Gophers hockey clubs.

For the men, Rinzel scored both of his power-play goals in the second period, the first coming just 38 seconds into the frame that put the U up 2-1. Jimmy Snuggerud assisted on that goal, his 100th point in a Minnesota jersey, becoming the 89th player in program history to accomplish the feat. The Gophers never trailed after Rinzel's first goal. Aaron Huglen scored the other with the man advantage less than two minutes into the third period and Connor Kurth scored an empty-netter with 1 minute, 35 seconds remaining to close it out. Brody Lamb and Oliver Moore also scored goals.

"I liked a lot of things (Friday)," Gophers coach Bob Motzko said in a statement. "A lot of good second efforts, good netfront presence and our power play was good. Our whole focus now is we have to be better (Saturday)."

The women led almost from start to finish as Ella Huber scored just 23 seconds into the first period. Ava Lindsay put the U up for good with her goal with just over three minutes remaining in the first period, and Murphy scored her first goal just over three minutes into the second. While Ally Qualley's power-play goal got the Huskies within a goal late in the second period, Murphy scored a power-play goal 24 seconds into the third and closed it out with a late empty-netter.

It's Murphy's second career hat trick, and she extended her points streak to seven games.

"(Murphy) continues to do the right things," Gophers coach Brad Frost said in a statement. "She's starting to get rewarded on the score sheet a little more, but what people don't see are the behind-the-scenes things, the things that she does in the community, and the things she does with little kids. That's the kind of person Abbey is, but it's fun to see her lighting the lamp and getting those points, and just continuing to lead us in a great way."

Both teams will wrap up their two-game series on Saturday. The men meet the Irish for a 5 p.m. puck drop in South Bend, Ind., while the women take on the Huskies in a 3 p.m. puck drop in St. Cloud, Minn.