2013

Terrorists bombed the Boston Marathon in 2013, but the Minnesota Gopher women’s hockey team did anything but bomb. They repeated as NCAA champions, their fifth overall, and finished the season undefeated in 41 games. Two of their NCAA tournament wins went to OT, however, including a first round win over North Dakota that went to three overtimes. In the semi, they defeated Boston College by the same 3-2 score but in just a single OT. In the final, they beat Boston U 6-3. Amanda Kessel won the Patty Kazmaier Award as the top women’s college player. Hannah Brandt was a record +77.

#46 Athlete

Amanda Kessel

The Gopher women have had many great hockey players but the triumvirate at the top of the pyramid are Natalie Darwitz, Krissy Wendell and Amanda Kessel. Kessel came from a hockey family based in Madison, WI, but she went to high school at Shattuck-St. Mary’s in Faribault, MN, where she scored 324 points in 136 games. Her team, which did not play high school hockey, won two U-19 national championships. She then decided to stay in Minnesota and to play for the Minnesota Gophers.

In three full seasons with the team (and part of a fourth), she was part of three NCAA championships as the Gophers won 134 games while losing just 19 and tying five. She was the sparkplug on the unbeaten 2013 team that won the NCAA at 41-0, beating North Dakota 3-2 in three overtimes and Boston College 3-2 in just one overtime to get to the final, where they easily beat Boston U. 6-3. The team extended its winning streak to 62 games in 2014, but Kessel had to sit out due to an injury and, in fact, she was unable to come back until February 2016. She scored in the NCAA final, a 3-1 win over undefeated Boston College.

In those three-plus seasons, she scored 108 goals (third all-time for the Gophers) with 140 assists (also third) and 248 points (second only to Hannah Brandt). She won the Kazmaier Award as the top collegiate player in her senior year.

She played for U.S. junior and senior teams, scoring 19 points and winning a gold in the U-18 worlds in 2009. She won re gold medals at the 2013, 2015 and 2019 worlds and the 2018 Olympics. Her dad, Phil Kessel, Sr., was drafted into the NFL and stayed on injured reserve in his only NFL season. Her brother, Phil Kessel, Jr., played in the NHL for 15 years, scoring 357 goals. Her brother Blake has played minor league and foreign hockey for 15 years.

• The Minnesota Lynx swept seven playoff games without a loss to win their second WNBA title in three years. Maya Moore starred for the Lynx.

#20 Season

Minnesota Lynx Sweep Seven Playoff Games to Win Second WNBA Title

The Minnesota Lynx won WNBA titles in 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017. It is difficult to say which of them was the best. Their won-lost records varied from 28-6 to 26-8. Their personnel was very much the same from year to year, with Seimone Augustus, Rebekah Brunson, Maya Moore and Lindsay Whalen playing for all four teams. But the 2013 team did something that none of the others did—sweeping seven playoff games by an average score of 78-63 without a loss. In the finals, they demolished the Atlanta Dream 84-59 and 88-63 at home, and 86-77 on the road. 

Maya Moore led the Lynx in scoring during the regular season with 18 ppg. She scored more than 20 ppg in the playoffs and won the finals MVP award. The Big Four of Augustus, Brunson, Moore and Whalen all played in the WNBA all-star game. Moore and Whalen were first team all-pro, while Augustus and Brunson made the second team. 

• Third-year coach Jerry Kill coaxed an 8-5 season out of the Gopher football team including wins over Nebraska and Penn State. But, the Gophers lost their last three after starting 8-2.

• The Apple Valley boys and Hopkins girls rode roughshod over their respective fields in the high school basketball tournaments. Junior guard Tyus Jones led Apple Valley, while senior forward Nia Coffey led the Royals. 

Year	Athlete of the Year	Team of the Year	Coach of the Year	Event of the Year
2013	1. Amanda Kessel, Minnesota Gopher women’s hockey 2. Tyus Jones, Apple Valley basketball, G  3. Maya Moore, Minnesota Lynx, F	1. Minnesota Gopher women’s hockey (28-0, WCHA and NCAA champion) 2. Minnesota Lynx (33-8 including playoffs, WNBA champion) 3 (tie). Apple Valley basketball (31-1) Hopkins girls basketball (31-1) (both state champions)	1. Jerry Kill, Minnesota Gopher football 2. Reeve 3. Frost	1. The Minnesota Gophers beat North Dakota 3-2 in 3OT in the 1st round of the NCAA women’s hockey tournament, en route to their repeat title. 2. The Minnesota Lynx swept 7 playoff games without a loss for their second WNBA title. 3. Minnesota Gopher football won at Nebraska 34-23.