Gophers star right winger Abbey Murphy made her way to a postgame interview Friday night at Ridder Arena walking gingerly on a sore right foot. Anyone who watched her efforts in a 3-1 win over the Minnesota State Mavericks knows that her foot wasn’t the only thing hurting.

When she wasn’t scoring a goal — giving her a team-high 10 on the season — the 5-foot-5 dynamo was her usual aggressive self, throwing herself completely into a difficult win over a Mavericks team that came into the game 0-6 in the WCHA but gave the Gophers (6-2-0, 4-2-0) all they could handle for most of the game.

Murphy’s aggressiveness led to three trips to the penalty box (cross-checking, boarding and unsportsmanlike conduct), drew two penalties from the Mavericks (2-7-0, 0-7-0) and led to her being a target after the Gophers scored twice late in the third period to break a 1-1 tie.

She was cross-checked by Sydney Langseth during a scrum in the Mavericks crease after the Gophers took a 2-1 lead. With two minutes to play, she took an open-ice hit from Jamie Nelson that did not draw a penalty but did lead to her tender foot.

For Murphy, it was just another day at the rink.

“I just want to stick to my game,” she said. “Obviously, it’s not fun sitting in the box, but that’s the way it goes. I go into every game trying to put myself and everyone else in the best possible position and give it every thing I have.”

Gophers coach Brad Frost has grown accustomed to seeing his best player play on the edge, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I really believe she is one of — if not the best — player in the country,” Frost said. “She plays with an attitude, she plays with a chip, and that’s one of the things that makes her really, really special.

“There aren’t too many females who play like that. She’s going to battle her butt off, she’s going to be in the mix of everything. She’s going to tick people off, whether it’s her scoring or her chirping. She gets a lot of attention.”

Frost did not like the hit Murphy took from Nelson.

“She got run late in the game, didn’t even have the puck, completely blindsided and no call,” Frost said. “That raises the blood pressure a little bit.”

Murphy’s unsportsmanlike penalty came after she drew a tripping penalty from Whitney Tuttle while the Gophers were short-handed. According to Murphy, all she did was ask Tuttle, “How did it feel?”

“I can say that, right?” Murphy said. “There was no bad things (said). (The referee) wanted to call it because she doesn’t like me.”

Frost didn’t disagree with Murphy’s claim that some referees hold her style of play against her.

“Some refs know her game, know her, and they certainly pay a little extra attention to her. It comes with the territory,” he said.

The Gophers came in off a pair of losses at Ohio State in which they gave up a total of 10 goals. The last time they lost two in a row was in their final two games of the 2021-22 season when they lost to Ohio State in the WCHA Final Faceoff and to Minnesota Duluth in the NCAA Tournament.

The Mavericks made a run at making it three in a row for the Gophers.

“They were on pucks, they were up on their toes, they were winning races,” Frost said. “Especially through two periods. They forced us into some turnovers that we don’t normally make and some decisions we don’t normally make.”

The Mavericks scored 1 minute, 10 seconds into the game when Tuttle, a Rosemount grad, beat Gophers goaltender Lucy Morgan off a scramble in front of the net.

A power-play goal by Murphy pulled the Gophers even at 6:06 of the second period.

Nelli Laitenen scored the eventual game winner, with Ava Lindsay provided the insurance as the Gophers avoided the upset.

From Murphy’s perspective, that’s the only thing she avoided.

“Used to it,” she said. “It’s fun. You just laugh and shake it off.”

And after the game, ice it.

Briefly

The two teams play again Saturday night in Mankato.

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