The No. 4 University of Minnesota women's hockey team opened its 2023-24 campaign with a 3-0 win against the RIT Tigers on Friday night at Gene Polisseni Center in Rochester, N.Y. 

Minnesota kicked off the season with a stellar performance from redshirt junior Abbey Murphy, who scored two goals and added one assist on the night. Junior Ella Huber assisted both of Murphy's goals, as they flashed tremendous chemistry throughout the game. Sophomore Nelli Laitinen recorded an assist on Murphy's first goal, and sophomore Josefin Bouveng assisted the second goal of the evening.

The Maroon and Gold entered the first intermission with a 1-0 lead, but found the back of the net twice in the second period to take a decisive lead entering the final period. Fifth-year senior Madeline Wethington scored the final goal of the evening off a feed from Murphy with 7:14 remaining in the second period.

Junior Skylar Vetter recorded career shutout No. 9, making 17 saves in the game. 

Quotable
"Great start to our season here with a 3-0 victory," head coach Brad Frost said. "We defended really, really well, scored a couple power play goals, and Skylar Vetter in net was tremendous once again. It was a really good night that will also give us something to build on and help us get better as the year goes on."

Notable
- Minnesota moves to 24-3 in season-opening games
- Abbey Murphy recorded her ninth-career multi-goal game
- Skylar Vetter secured her ninth-career shutout

Up Next
The Gophers will head back to Gene Polisseni Center on Saturday at 5:00 p.m. CT to take on RIT in the second game of this weekend's series.