For Minnesota’s women’s hockey team, this weekend’s Western Collegiate Hockey Association semifinal meeting against Duluth is about more than advancing to the tournament final.
The fourth-ranked Gophers will take on the No. 5 Bulldogs at 1 p.m. Saturday at Ridder Arena. Should it win, Minnesota would take on the winner of Wisconsin and St. Cloud on Sunday.
But Saturday’s game could decide whether Minnesota will stay home or travel east for the first round of the NCAA Tournament next weekend.
“I don’t know if it’s that black and white,” coach Laura Halldorson said, “but it would certainly help our chances if we could get a win this weekend.”
In USCHO.com’s most recent NCAA Tournament Bracketology projections, the Gophers would take on Princeton at home while Duluth would travel to second-ranked St. Lawrence.
But that could all change if the Gophers slip up.
“I don’t know how it works at all,” freshman Gigi Marvin said. “I’ve asked so many questions, I don’t understand it.”
With the two in-state rivals already having split the four-game regular-season set down the middle – each winning one game at home and one on the road – Halldorson said anything could happen.
“I don’t think we can really go by what happened in the past,” she said. “What that says is … either team can win the game. It’s just a great rivalry. I always say you can throw the records out the window and the stats. I think it will be a barn-burner.”
Halldorson said scoring first could be crucial. Minnesota is 21-2-0 when putting the first goal on the board.
“The team that gets the momentum early in the game had a big advantage,” she said. “The way we start and if we can score first, that will really help us.
“But if we don’t score first we still have to be able to battle back, and I think our team has shown we can do that.”
Marvin said she expects the Gophers to play two games this weekend.
“Yes, we do,” she said. “We are having a lot of fun right now. We’re playing great hockey and it’s just going to keep going. This weekend’s going to be a lot of fun.”
When asked the same question, Halldorson said she was “hoping” that would be the case.
“Our team’s really grown as a team and as hockey players,” she said. “Right now we’re playing the best we’ve played all year.”
WCHA awards
Three Minnesota players received individual honors Wednesday when the WCHA announced its regular-season awards.
Sophomore forward Erica McKenzie was named Conference Scoring Champion, with 40 points. McKenzie was first in the league with 18 goals and tied Wisconsin’s Sara Bauer as the league’s leader in assists, with 22.
Freshman goaltender Kim Hanlon, who didn’t get her first start until mid-December, was named Conference Goaltending Champion. Hanlon led the league with a 1.19 goals-against average.
Marvin was named WCHA Rookie of the Year, following teammate Bobbi Ross, who won the award last year. Marvin ranked first among rookies in points, with 31.
