Abigail Boreen thriving on Gophers' top line in her last season

The way Abigail Boreen sees it, winning a couple of trophies that so far have been elusive would put a nice bow on her Gophers hockey career.

"We haven't even won the Final Faceoff since I've been here,'' the fifth-year senior forward said. "So, that's something that we want to do, and it starts with Game One.''

Game One for the second-seeded Gophers comes against No. 3 seed Wisconsin in Friday's 5 p.m. semifinal of the WCHA Final Faceoff at Ridder Arena. The winner will play either No. 1 seed Ohio State or No. 4 Minnesota Duluth, who open the tournament at 1 p.m.

The Gophers, runners-up to Ohio State in the regular-season race, are seeking their first WCHA tournament title since 2018 with the hopes it can springboard them to their first NCAA Frozen Four appearance since 2019 and their first national championship since 2016.

"We have that in the back of our minds, too,'' Boreen said of the NCAA crown, "but we can't get so focused on that just yet.''

Boreen plays left wing on Minnesota's top line, which also includes center Taylor Heise, the reigning Patty Kazmaier Award winner, and right winger Catie Skaja. Heise leads the nation with 29 goals and ranks second with 62 points, while Boreen has contributed 21 goals and 15 assists and Skaja 10 goals and 20 assists.

"It's been pretty special,'' said Boreen, who's in her second year as Heise's linemate. "Obviously, you've seen what [Heise's] done. She's the most dominating player in college hockey right now. So, to be on a line with her and Skaja, it's been great.''

Boreen's play has taken off since playing on the top line beginning in 2021-22. The former Hill-Murray standout had 25 goals and 34 assists last season, ranking second on the team, and her 59 points nearly doubled the 30 points she had in the three previous seasons combined.

"Bobo has been somebody that has just taken off over the last few years,'' Gophers coach Brad Frost said. "She's got a knack for scoring. She's been banged-up over the last couple years but still fights through it and brings a lot of energy and passion to our team.''

On a Gophers team that has nine players with 20 or more points, Boreen said she doesn't feel pressure to score.

"It's one of the deepest teams I've been a part of,'' she said. "It kind of releases that pressure from the top lines thinking that they have to score. … It just starts really from defending well, and then at the end of the day, anyone can put the puck in the net, so we don't care who it is.''

In her first year in pharmacy school, Boreen said she isn't sure how far she'll take her hockey career. She is certain that she wants to make the most out of the next few weeks.

"It's crazy to think that I only have 'X' amount of games left wearing the jersey,'' Boreen said. "I'm definitely going to take this weekend to wear the jersey with a lot of pride and play our hearts out.''