2015–16 Minnesota Golden Gophers women's ice hockey season explained

The 2015–16 Minnesota Golden Gophers women's ice hockey season represented the University of Minnesota during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I women's ice hockey season. They were coached by Brad Frost in his ninth season. The Golden Gophers advanced to the Frozen Four championship game for the fifth consecutive year and defeated Boston College 3–1 in the title game.

Offseason

Recruiting

Player	Position	Nationality	Notes
Anna Barlow	Defense		Competed at South St. Paul Secondary
Tianna Gunderson	Forward		From Roseau High School
Emma May	Goaltender		Hails from Eagan, Minnesota
	Forward		Competed with Canada at IIHF U18 Women's Worlds
Sophie Skarzynski	Defense		Hails from Lake Forest, Illinois
Sierra Smith	Forward		Competed with Stillwater Area High School
Taylor Williamson	Forward		Played with Edina High School

Exhibition

• Sarah Potomak made her debut for the Minnesota Golden Gophers in a September 25, 2015 exhibition match against the Minnesota Whitecaps logging two assists on goals scored by Hannah Brandt as the squad prevailed by a 5–4 tally.^[1]

Regular season

News and notes

• Sarah Potomak's regular season debut took place on October 1, 2015 in a 2–0 win against Penn State. Potomak scored an empty net goal, for the first goal of her NCAA career.^[2] In a two-game sweep of St. Cloud State on October 9–10, 2015, Potomak accumulated two goals and four assists. In the second game against St. Cloud, she logged the first multi-goal game of her NCAA career.^[3]
• An 11–1 win against the MSU-Mankato Mavericks in November 2015 saw Sarah Potomak tie the program record for most points in one game. She would register a seven-point output consisting two goals and five assists.^[4] Potomak was featured in Sports Illustrated’s Faces in the Crowd segment for the week of December 14, 2015.^[5]

Schedule

^[6]

|-!colspan=12 style=";| Regular Season|-!colspan=12 style=";| WCHA Tournament|-!colspan=12 style=";| NCAA Tournament

Roster

Source:^[7]

NCAA

• Sarah Potomak, 2015–16 WCHA Preseason Rookie of the Year
• Sarah Potomak, WCHA Rookie of the Week (Week of October 13, 2015)
• Sarah Potomak, WCHA Player of the Week (Recognized for games of October 14–15, 2016) ^[8]
• Sarah Potomak, WCHA Player of the Month (October 2016) ^[9]
• Sarah Potomak, 2016 Women's Hockey Commissioners Association National Rookie of the Year Award^[10]
• Sarah Potomak, 2016 WCHA Rookie of the Year honors^[11]
• Sarah Potomak, Most Outstanding Player Award, 2016 NCAA National Collegiate Women's Ice Hockey Tournament
• Hannah Brandt, Forward, Patty Kazmaier Award Top 10 Finalist^[12]
• Dani Cameranesi, Forward, Patty Kazmaier Award Top 10 Finalist^[12]
• Dani Cameranesi, Forward, WCHA Scoring Leader^[13]
• Lee Stecklein, Defense, WCHA First Team All-Star^[13]
• Hannah Brandt, Forward, WCHA First Team All-Star^[13]
• Dani Cameranesi, Forward, WCHA First Team All-Star^[13]
• Milica McMillen, Defense, WCHA Second Team All-Star^[13]
• Sarah Potomak, Forward, WCHA Third Team All-Star^[13]
• Sarah Potomak, Forward, WCHA All-Rookie Team^[13]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Hockey Game Box Score (Final) : Minnesota Whitecaps vs #1 Minnesota (Sep 25, 2015 at Minneapolis, Minn.) . PDF . Grfx.cstv.com . 2015-10-19 . 2016-03-04 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304200703/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/minn/sports/w-hockey/auto_pdf/2015-16/box_score/stats_20150926aaa.pdf . dead .
2. Web site: University of Minnesota Official Athletic Site – Women's Ice Hockey . Gophersports.com . 2015-10-19.
3. Web site: Potomak Named WCHA Rookie of the Week – University of Minnesota Official Athletic Site . Gophersports.com . 2015-10-19 . 2015-10-21 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151021073448/http://www.gophersports.com/sports/w-hockey/spec-rel/101315aaa.html . dead .
4. Web site: Potomak's seven points lead Gophers' women's hockey in rout over MSU Mankato . Star Tribune . 2015-11-27 . 2016-11-25.
5. Web site: Faces in the Crowd: December 14, 2015, Edited by Alexandra Fenwick . Sports Illustrated . 2015-12-14 . 2016-11-25.
6. Web site: 2015–16 Women's Ice Hockey Schedule . University of Minnesota . December 31, 2023.
7. Web site: 2015–16 Women's Hockey Roster . University of Minnesota Athletics . December 29, 2023.
8. Web site: UMN'S POTOMAK, AND UND'S SHAW AND NUUTINEN NAMED WCHA WOMEN'S PLAYERS OF THE WEEK . WCHA.com . 2016-10-18 . 2016-11-25.
9. Web site: UMN'S POTOMAK, UND'S SHAW AND UW'S NORBY NAMED WCHA WOMEN'S PLAYERS OF THE MONTH . WCHA.com . 2016-11-03 . 2016-11-25.
10. Web site: Minnesota's Potomak Is Chosen Women's National Rookie of the Year . WCHA.com . 2016-03-17 . 2016-11-25.
11. Web site: WCHA ANNOUNCES 2015–16 POSTSEASON AWARDS. WCHA.com . 2016-03-03 . 2016-11-25.
12. Web site: Top-10 Finalists Named for 2016 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award. 25 February 2016. USA Hockey Foundation . 18 April 2017.
13. Web site: Five Gophers Earn WCHA Accolades. 3 March 2016. CBS Interactive. 18 April 2017. 20 April 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170420045203/http://www.gophersports.com/sports/w-hockey/spec-rel/030316aaa.html. dead.