Minnesota Golden Gophers women's ice hockey

Minnesota Golden Gophers women's ice hockey
Current season
Minnesota Golden Gophers athletic logo
UniversityUniversity of Minnesota
ConferenceWCHA
Head coachBrad Frost
18th season, 499–109–41[1]
ArenaRidder Arena
Minneapolis
ColorsMaroon and gold[2]
   
Fight songMinnesota 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]

  1. ^ "Brad Frost, Women's Hockey Head Coach". GopherSports.com. University of Minnesota Athletics. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
  2. ^ "Colors and Type | University Relations". Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  3. ^ "Gophers Win WCHA Regular-Season Title". GopherSports.com. University of Minnesota Athletics. Retrieved February 22, 2022. Minnesota defeats St. Thomas, 7-1 to clinch the program's 11th regular-season conference title.
  4. ^ "WCHA Playoff Champions" (PDF). WCHA.com. WCHA. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
  5. ^ "Box Score, Augsburg at Minnesota". GopherSports.com. University of Minnesota Athletics. November 2, 1997. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
  6. ^ Naila-Jean Meyers (March 25, 2013). "Minnesota Women's Hockey Wins 49 in a Row to Win Title". Thequad.blogs.nytimes.com. Retrieved June 25, 2017.
  7. ^ "Natalie Darwitz | Easton Hockey". eastonhockey.com. Archived from the original on April 14, 2009. Retrieved January 17, 2022.
  8. ^ Christensen, Joe (March 7, 2013). "All three finalists for hockey's Patty Kazmaier Award are Gophers". StarTribune.com. Retrieved June 25, 2017.