The Gophers women’s hockey team is unanimous in the belief that it is playing its best hockey of the season as it prepares for a meeting with top-ranked Wisconsin in the semifinals of the Frozen Four on Friday night at Ridder Arena.
Just as they’re in agreement that they will have to raise their game to an even higher level to have any hope of advancing to face the winner of the Ohio State-Cornell game in Sunday’s national championship game.
The Badgers are historically good, 36-1-2 with their only loss (3-2) coming at No. 2 Ohio State on Nov. 16. If they have a weakness, no one has spotted it.
This year’s three Patty Kazmaier Award finalists are all Badgers: Forwards Laila Edwards and Casey O’Brien and defender Caroline Harvey. Goaltender Ava McNaughton is the backbone of an extremely stingy defense.
On top of all that, the Badgers have beaten the Gophers nine straight times, including all five meetings this season. The Gophers’ last win over the Badgers came on Dec. 8, 2023.
“We’re just going to have to execute at a really high level,” Gophers coach Brad Frost said. “They’re super dangerous off of turnovers. They have some of the best offensive players in the history of the game.
“We believe we can win, first and foremost, but it’s going to take a great effort. No shortcuts and no shifts off. … They’re one of the best that’s been. To go through our league with one loss is really impressive.”
As much as the two programs relish facing off, there’s no denying that the “Border Battle” hasn’t been much of a fight of late.
“We’re just dying for a win here,” Gophers defender Sydney Morrow said. “I think we’re focused on ourselves. We know what we have in the tank. More so than thinking about them, we’re thinking about what we have to do to play our best hockey.”
There is reason to believe a sellout crowd at Ridder will be treated to a competitive game. The last meeting between the teams wasn’t decided until the final minutes, with the Badgers edging the Gophers, 4-3, in the WCAA Frozen Faceoff championship game in Duluth.
“The WCHA Final Faceoff was the best we’ve played all year,” Gophers center Ella Huber said. “I think after that weekend we were like, ‘We can really do this thing.’ It brought a lot of belief into our locker room.”
For their part, the Badgers, while confident, are not letting their recent dominance cloud the job at hand.
“Every time we play them I think we’re going to get their best game, their best effort,” Edwards said. “It’s a big rivalry. We’re the No. 1 team. So, I think we’re ready for anything at this point.
“It’s the sixth time (meeting this season), so I’d hope we’d be ready. But it’s a new slate. We don’t worry about the last five games. This is the first time we’re playing them in this tournament.”
McNaughton spoke about how difficult it is for any team to beat a team six times in a season.
“At this point, everyone here is 1-0,” she said. “In the back of your head you know how they played last time, and maybe where we need to improve to make sure we play our best.”
Wisconsin coach Mark Johnson agreed that the Gophers are playing their best hockey of the season, but he believes the same could be said for all four teams still alive. “As a coaching staff, you take pride in that because the meanings of the game become more important,” he said. “As a staff, if you can say you’re playing your best hockey, you’re probably in a good space.”
While the Badgers’ winning streak against the Gophers is telling, Johnson said he has done his best to make sure his team doesn’t dwell on it.
“What happened in the previous five shouldn’t be on our minds; it should be on our capabilities individually to play our best game,” he said. “I always say, ‘Don’t look in the rear view mirror too long, because you’ll crash.’ ”
The Badgers have own three of the past five national championships, with Ohio State winning the other two. The Gophers last won the title in 2016.
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