Minnesota Golden Gophers women's ice hockey | |
---|---|
Current season | |
University | University of Minnesota |
Conference | WCHA |
Head coach | Brad Frost 18th season, 499–109–41[1] |
Arena | Ridder Arena Minneapolis |
Colors | Maroon and gold[2] |
Fight song | Minnesota Rouser |
AWCHA Tournament championships | |
2000 | |
NCAA Tournament championships | |
2004, 2005, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016 | |
NCAA Tournament Runner-up | |
2006, 2014, 2019 | |
NCAA Tournament Frozen Four | |
2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2023 | |
NCAA Tournament appearances | |
2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024 | |
Conference Tournament championships | |
2002, 2004, 2005, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2018, 2023 | |
Conference regular season championships | |
2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2022 | |
Current uniform | |
The Minnesota Golden Gophers women's ice hockey team plays for the University of Minnesota at the Twin Cities campus in Minneapolis. The team is one of the members of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) and competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in Division I. The Golden Gophers have won six NCAA Championships as well as the final American Women's College Hockey Alliance Championship. In the WCHA, they have also been regular season champions 11 times[3] and tournament champions 8 times.[4] In addition to their overall success as a competitive team, the Gophers have also been ranked in the nation's top two teams for attendance since becoming a varsity sport, and the team holds the second largest single-game attendance record for women's collegiate hockey, drawing 6,854 fans for the first Minnesota women's hockey game on November 2, 1997.[5] The team also holds the distinction of having the longest winning streak in women's or men's college hockey at 62 games from February 17, 2012 to November 17, 2013, winning back-to-back NCAA titles during the stretch.[6]
In 2004–2005, Minnesota also won back-to-back NCAA Championships. Natalie Darwitz was a three-time All American, and three-time finalist for the Patty Kazmaier award. Darwitz left the program with the career scoring mark at Minnesota in three years and set two NCAA single-season record with 114 points (42 Goals, 72 Assists) and most assists in 40 games in her final season.[7] Minnesota Gophers women's hockey players have won the Patty Kazmaier Award three times (Krissy Wendell [2005], Amanda Kessel [2013], and Taylor Heise [2022]), as well as having all three finalists in 2013.[8]
Minnesota defeats St. Thomas, 7-1 to clinch the program's 11th regular-season conference title.