Gophers-Princeton NCAA women's hockey game preview

4 p.m. vs. Princeton • Ridder Arena

At stake: The winner advances to the Women's Frozen Four in Durham, N.H., to face the Wisconsin/Mercyhurst winner in next Friday's semifinals.

Gophers (32-4-1): Minnesota had a seven-game winning streak halted in last Sunday's 1-0 loss to Wisconsin in the WCHA title game. Senior goalie Amanda Leveille blanked North Dakota 2-0 one night earlier, when the Gophers got a goal and an assist from Amanda Kessel. Leveille ranks fourth in the nation with a 1.26 goals-against average. Hannah Brandt, Minnesota's all-time points leader, has gone seven consecutive games without a goal. The second line of Kelly Pannek, Dani Cameranesi and Kate Schipper was red hot before producing just one point (a Schipper assist) last weekend.

Princeton (22-8-2): All signs pointed to third-ranked Minnesota drawing sixth-ranked Northeastern for this game, but the NCAA selection committee forced Northeastern to play closer to home, at undefeated Boston College. Princeton hasn't played since getting upset by St. Lawrence in the ECAC quarterfinals. The Tigers are 0-8-1 all-time against Minnesota, but this Princeton team has the nation's sixth-best scoring defense (1.72 goals per game) and ninth-best scoring offense (3.12). The Tigers have a top-10 Kazmaier Award finalist in junior defenseman Kelsey Koelzer (17 goals, 15 assists) and a strong senior goaltender in Kimberly Newell.

JOE CHRISTENSEN