Taylor Heise, Grace Zumwinkle of Gophers named first-team All-WCHA

Four other Gophers were honored by the conference ahead of the WCHA tournament this weekend.

February 23, 2023 at 10:41PM
Minnesota Golden Gophers forward Grace Zumwinkle (12) was mobbed by Minnesota Golden Gophers forward Taylor Heise (9) after she scored the Gophers third goal of the game in the third period. ] ANTHONY SOUFFLE • anthony.souffle@startribune.com
The Gophers’ Grace Zumwinkle, left, and Taylor Heise earned First-Team All-WCHA honors. (Anthony Souffle, Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Gophers forwards Taylor Heise and Grace Zumwinkle, who rank second and fourth, respectively, in the nation in scoring, were named to the All-WCHA first team on Thursday, while four other teammates were honored.

Heise, the reigning Patty Kazmaier Award winner as the nation's top player, has 25 goals and 32 assists this season, while Zumwinkle, a 2022 U.S. Olympian, has 22 goals and 30 assists. Joining them on the first team are Ohio State forward Jenn Gardiner and defenseman Sophie Jaques, and Minnesota Duluth defenseman Ashton Bell and goalie Emma Soderberg.

Second-team honors went to forwards Gabbie Hughes of UMD, Emma Maltais of Ohio State and Casey O'Brien of Wisconsin, Badgers defensemen Caroline Harvey and Nicole LaMantia, and goalie Saskia Maurer of St. Thomas.

Gophers forwards Abbey Murphy and Abigail Boreen and goalie Skylar Vetter made the third team, along with forwards Paetyn Lewis of Ohio State and Britta Curl of Wisconsin, and defensemen Maggie Flaherty of UMD and Madison Bizal of Ohio State.

Gophers defenseman Nelli Laitinen made the All-Rookie team, along with forwards Kirsten Simms and Laila Edwards of Wisconsin, and Taylor Otremba of Minnesota State Mankato; defenseman Caroline Harvey of Wisconsin; and goalie Hailey MacLeod of UMD.

about the writer

about the writer

Randy Johnson

College football reporter

Randy Johnson covers University of Minnesota football and college football for the Star Tribune, along with Gophers hockey and the Wild.

See More

More from Gophers

card image

The Gophers women’s basketball team enters Wednesday’s game against Eastern Illinois with facets of its game coming together well. It’s an experienced team and it shows.

card image