Gophers women’s hockey team to face Colgate in NCAA quarterfinals

The Gophers women’s hockey team earned the No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament and will play host to Colgate on Saturday.

The Gophers will be one of four teams to play host to a regional final in the tournament bracket announced Sunday.

The others: Top-seeded Wisconsin, No. 2 Ohio State and No. 3 Cornell.

Colgate of the East Coast Athletic Conference is seeded fifth and will travel from upstate New York to play a Gophers team that came within a goal of winning its WCHA Final Faceoff conference tournament.

The Gophers lost to top-ranked Wisconsin 4-3 after the Badgers scored with 25 seconds left in regulation Saturday in Duluth.

If the Gophers (28-11-1) beat Colgate (30-8), they will advance to the Frozen Four, which they will play host to at Ridder Arena for a record seventh time.

The winner of that game would play Wisconsin, Clarkson or Boston University in the Frozen Four on March 21, with the winner of that game advancing to the NCAA championship game on March 23.

Gophers star Abbey Murphy, who leads the nation in goals with 31 goals, calls the opportunity to go home for the NCAA tournament “crazy.”

“We’ve put ourselves in a really good spot,” Murphy said on the televised NCAA selection show. “Any chance to play back at Ridder is a really cool experience. Hopefully [that next game] is not my last time.”

Cornell, Penn State, Sacred Heart, Boston University and Wisconsin earned the tournament’s five automatic bids in the 11-team bracket by winning their conference tournaments. The Gophers, Clarkson, Colgate, Minnesota Duluth, Ohio State and St. Lawrence received at-large invitations.

This will be the Gophers' record 22nd NCAA tournament appearance. They have made 14 Frozen Fours.

Gophers coach Brad Frost called Saturday’s loss to Wisconsin “super disappointing” and a “heartbreaker.”

“It stung, no question,” he said. “But we played really, really well. If nothing else, we gained confidence and belief.”

But it likely didn’t cost his team any in the NCAA seedings. He said a Game 2 loss to Minnesota State Mankato on March 1 in their WCHA playoff series probably sealed their fate in the PairWise and NPI rankings that had the Gophers fourth, just behind Colgate.

“The rankings take the drama out of it,” said Frost, who nonetheless called the field announcement exciting.

Especially with a path ahead to the Frozen Four at home.

”This is certainly something we talked about for a long time,” Frost said. “Knowing the Frozen Four is here, it’s been a goal of ours to get here. This is our best opportunity to host a regional and get there.”

Regional semifinals • Thursday

Clarkson (24-12-2) vs. Boston U. (24-11-2) in Madison, Wis., 7 p.m.

Minnesota Duluth (21-14-2) vs. Sacred Heart (21-14-3) in Ithaca, N.Y., 6 p.m.

Penn State (31-5-1) vs. St. Lawrence (21-11-5) in Columbus, Ohio, 6 p.m.

Regional finals • Saturday

No. 5 seed Colgate (30-8) at No. 4 Gophers (28-11-1), 2 p.m.

Clarkson/Boston U. at No. 1 Wisconsin (35-1-2), 2 p.m.

UMD/Sacred Heart at No. 3 Cornell (24-4-5), 3 p.m.

Penn State/St. Lawrence at No. 4 Ohio State (27-7-3), 5 p.m.

Frozen Four, Ridder Arena

National semifinals: March 21, times TBA

Championship: March 23, 3 p.m.