Last weekend during two exhibition games in Canada, the Minnesota women’s hockey team developed team chemistry on and off the ice. This weekend, the squad needs to put all the elements together.

The Gophers open the WCHA regular season against Ohio State on Friday and Saturday at Ridder Arena.

Even though the Gophers enjoyed traveling to Canada, the players know there is no place like home.

“To come home to our fans our first game, that’s great,” junior forward Kelly Stephens said.

Despite three wins in three exhibition games, the Gophers will take nothing for granted when conference play begins.

“We’re going to have to raise our play to another level once we get into WCHA play this weekend,” coach Laura Halldorson said. “They’re a hard-working team and we’re going to have to play well against them in order to win.”

Assistant coach Brad Frost also recognizes the importance of WCHA games.

“It’s for real now,” he said. “Every point, every game is huge.”

In the two exhibition games, the Gophers struggled offensively. Minnesota created plenty of chances but had trouble putting the puck in the net. This week, the Gophers practiced finishing.

Ohio State has its top goalie healthy, so taking advantage of scoring opportunities is a must for Minnesota this weekend.

Frost believes the line of senior co-captain La Toya Clarke, Stephens and sophomore Natalie Darwitz is one of the fastest in the conference. Minnesota will look to pressure the Buckeyes’ defense and create turnovers inside the blue line.

“Hopefully, that unity of the lines can start clicking a little bit and we can use our speed to our advantage,” Frost said.

The Gophers hope to come away with a four-point sweep this weekend against Ohio State, but four was a popular number for the Buckeyes last season.

Ohio State finished fourth in the WCHA standings and fourth in the conference tournament.

The Buckeyes made their fourth consecutive appearance at the WCHA Final Five last year, with a 6-6-0 all-time record in the tournament. Ohio State was also fourth in the WCHA in scoring offense, scoring defense, power play efficiency and penalty kills.

Finally, Ohio State was selected fourth in the 2003 WCHA preseason coaches’ poll.

The Buckeyes posted a record of 12-22-3 overall and 8-13-3 in conference play a year ago. The Gophers won all four games against the Buckeyes last season, including the last five overall.

The Gophers lead the series 15-3 against the Buckeyes.