Head coach Brad Frost and the University of Minnesota women’s hockey program have announced the addition of rising-junior Sydney Morrow ahead of the 2024-25 season.
A 5-7 standout defender, Morrow will join the Golden Gopher squad from Colgate University, where as a sophomore she tallied 39 points (13g-26a) in 34 games, earning a spot on the 2023-24 All-USCHO Third Team. In the same season, she clinched a CCM/AHCA Second Team All-American distinction and places on the All-ECAC Second Team and ECAC All-Tournament Team. Morrow was also named ECAC Defender of the Month in December 2023 and was a three-time ECAC Defender of the Week (Nov. 11, 2023; Nov. 21, 2023; Jan. 3, 2024). For her success in the classroom, she earned ECAC Hockey All-Academic honors.
With her signing to Minnesota, Morrow returns to the WCHA. Prior to her season at Colgate, she played at Ohio State, notching 3 goals and 5 assists as a freshman.
In her pre-collegiate career, Morrow skated for coach Gordie Stafford at Shattuck St. Mary. Morrow’s 89 points in her senior season were the most recorded by a defender in school history, breaking the previous record (78) set by Morrow herself during her junior year. In both 2021 and 2022, Morrow was invited to USA Hockey’s National Festival. She won a silver medal representing the United States as a member of the 2022 IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship Team.
Morrow is the latest in her family’s line of hockey standouts. Both her father and uncle played college hockey at New Hampshire, with her uncle later playing in the NHL. Her brother, Scott, plays college hockey at UMass, and was drafted 40th overall to the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2021 NHL Draft.
“Adding a defender like Sydney, with her pedigree, is amazing for our group,” said Frost. “She is incredibly gifted offensively, as anyone can see from her numbers at Colgate and Shattuck St. Mary’s. Sydney comes with a lot of high-level collegiate experience and USA hockey stints under her belt. She is excited to become part of the Gopher program and we are thrilled to have a player and person like Sydney joining us.”
Morrow will join two transfers – Krista Parkkonen and Natálie Mlýnková – and seven incoming freshmen – Hannah Clark, Kendra Distad, Gracie Graham, Carly Humphrey, Kate Kosobud, Ayla Puppe and Chloe Primerano – to complete the 2024-25 Gopher class.
(info courtesy of Gophers)
