Gophers aiming to take advange of home ice in NCAA Tournament

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The University of Minnesota women’s hockey team finds itself in a familiar spot as it opens up NCAA Tournament play on Saturday.

The Gophers (28-11-1) are the No. 4 seed, and host No. 5 Colgate at Ridder Arena. The winner heads to the Frozen Four, and most likely gets Wisconsin on March 21 for a trip to the national title game. Last year, the Gophers were in the same 4/5 game against Clarkson, and lost in four overtimes to have their season end.

And if that’s not enough motivation, Ridder Arena is the host site for the Frozen Four. The Gophers want to win a national championship on their home ice.

"As soon as you get into these one-and-done situations, everything ramps up. Our goal was to be hosting a quarterfinal match-up to get to the Frozen Four at Ridder Arena," Gophers’ coach Brad Frost said. "You can’t hide from that fact that it’s here, and we want to be in it."

Chasing a title

Why you should care:

The Gophers’ playoff history speaks for itself. They’ve won six national titles, but haven’t been champions since 2016. They’ve been to the Frozen Four 15 times, but just three times since 2017.

It’s time for that to change.

"It’s do or die, I think our team knows and understands that. For us it’s just put everything out there when you can," forward Abbey Murphy said.

Abbey Murphy is ‘Must-see TV’

Dig deeper:

Abbey Murphy leads the Gophers with 63 points, including 31 goals in 40 games this season. She recently surpassed 100 points for her career, and is a top-10 finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award, which goes annually to the top player in women’s college hockey.

Frost calls her, "must see TV."

"There’s no player like her. I think she’s the best player in the country," Frost said.

Murphy reflected this week on getting her 100th career point.

"It’s pretty cool, I can’t do it without the help of my teammates," Murphy said.