The Minnesota Golden Gophers women's ice hockey team represents the University of Minnesota and plays at the Twin Cities campus in Minneapolis. The team is one of the members of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) and competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Since 2002, the Gophers have played their home games in Ridder Arena, the first facility in the United States built specifically for college women's ice hockey. [1] [2]
The program started play in the 1997–98 season with Laura Halldorson as their first head coach. [3] She led the Gophers to the final American Women's College Hockey Alliance national championship in their third season of play, [4] as well as back-to-back NCAA Division I National Championships in 2003–04 [5] [6] and 2004–05. [5] [7]
Brad Frost took over as the Gophers' coach in the 2007–08 season. He led the team to back-to-back NCAA Division I National Championships twice. The first pair was the 2011–12 [5] [8] and 2012–13 seasons. [5] [9] During the 2012–13 season, the Gophers had a perfect 41–0–0 record. [10] [11] [12] The Gophers then won titles in the 2014–15 [5] [13] and 2015–16 seasons. [5] [14]
Color/symbol | Explanation |
---|---|
† | National champions |
‡ | Conference tournament champions |
↑ | Conference regular season champions |
Term or abbreviation | Definition |
---|---|
W | Number of wins |
L | Number of losses |
T | Number of ties |
OT, 2OT, etc. | Overtime, 2 Overtimes, etc. |
Finish | Final position in conference standings |
Tournament | Results in conference tournament |
As of March 27,2025 [update]
Season | Coach | Overall | Conference | Season result | Ref | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
W | L | T | W | L | T | Finish | Tournament | |||||
1997–98 | Laura Halldorson | 21 | 7 | 3 | AWCHA [a] | Lost semifinals vs. New Hampshire (1–4) Lost third-place game vs. Northeastern (0–4) | [15] | |||||
1998–99 | Laura Halldorson | 29 | 4 | 3 | AWCHA | Lost semifinals vs. New Hampshire (2–3) OT Won third-place game vs. Brown (3–2) | [16] | |||||
1999–2000 † | Laura Halldorson | 32 | 6 | 1 | WCHA ‡ [b] | 21 | 2 | 1 | 2nd | Won quarterfinals vs. Minnesota State (10–0) Won semifinals vs. Wisconsin (5–0) Lost Championship vs. Minnesota Duluth (0–2)‡ | Won Frozen Four vs. Minnesota Duluth (3–2) Won Championship vs. Brown (4–2)† | [17] |
2000–01 | Laura Halldorson | 23 | 9 | 2 | WCHA | 18 | 4 | 2 | 1st↑ | Lost semifinals vs. Ohio State (0–4) | Did not qualify | [18] |
2001–02 | Laura Halldorson | 28 | 4 | 6 | WCHA‡ | 19 | 2 | 3 | 1st↑ | Won semifinals vs. Ohio State (4–1) Won Championship vs. Wisconsin (3–2)‡ | Lost first round vs. Brown (1–2) | [19] |
2002–03 | Laura Halldorson | 27 | 8 | 1 | WCHA | 19 | 4 | 1 | 2nd | Won semifinals vs. Wisconsin (3–1) Lost Championship vs. Minnesota Duluth (3–5) | Lost first round vs. Harvard (1–6) | [20] |
2003–04 † | Laura Halldorson | 30 | 4 | 2 | WCHA‡ | 19 | 3 | 2 | 1st↑ | Won semifinals vs. Ohio State (5–1) Won Championship vs. Minnesota Duluth (4–2)‡ | Won Frozen Four vs. Dartmouth (5–1) Won Championship vs. Harvard (6–2)† | [21] |
2004–05 † | Laura Halldorson | 36 | 2 | 2 | WCHA‡ | 25 | 1 | 2 | 1st↑ | Won quarterfinals vs. Bemidji State (6–3) Won semifinals vs. Ohio State (7–1) Won Championship vs. Wisconsin (3–2 OT)‡ | Won first round vs. Providence (6–1) Won Frozen Four vs. Dartmouth (7–2) Won Championship vs. Harvard (4–3)† | [22] |
2005–06 | Laura Halldorson | 29 | 11 | 1 | WCHA | 19 | 8 | 1 | 2nd | Won quarterfinals vs. Minnesota State (5–1, 6–0) Won semifinals vs. Minnesota Duluth (2–1) Lost Championship vs. Wisconsin (1–4) | Won first round vs. Princeton (4–0) Won Frozen Four vs. New Hampshire (5–4) Lost Championship vs. Wisconsin (0–3) | [23] |
2006–07 | Laura Halldorson | 23 | 12 | 1 | WCHA | 17 | 10 | 1 | 3rd | Won quarterfinals vs. Bemidji State (5–1, 4–1) Won semifinals vs. Minnesota Duluth (3–2 OT) Lost Championship vs. Wisconsin (1–3) | Did not qualify | [24] |
2007–08 | Brad Frost | 27 | 7 | 4 | WCHA | 21 | 5 | 2 | 2nd | Won quarterfinals vs. North Dakota (3–1, 9–1) Lost semifinals vs. Wisconsin (3–4) | Lost first round vs. Wisconsin (2–3 OT) | [25] |
2008–09 | Brad Frost | 32 | 5 | 3 | WCHA | 23 | 2 | 3 | 1st↑ | Won quarterfinals vs. Bemidji State (4–1, 5–1) Won semifinals vs. Minnesota State (7–2) Lost Championship vs. Wisconsin (3–5) | Won first round vs. Boston College (4–3) Lost Frozen Four vs. Mercyhurst (4–5) | [26] |
2009–10 | Brad Frost | 26 | 9 | 5 | WCHA | 18 | 6 | 4 | 2nd | Won quarterfinals vs. Minnesota State (8–5, 4–3) Won semifinals vs. Ohio State (5–4 2OT) Lost Championship vs. Minnesota Duluth (2–3) | Won first round vs. Clarkson (3–2 OT) Lost Frozen Four vs. Minnesota Duluth (2–3) | [27] |
2010–11 | Brad Frost | 26 | 10 | 2 | WCHA | 18 | 8 | 2 | 2nd | Won quarterfinals vs. Ohio State (3–2, 4–2) Won semifinals vs. Minnesota Duluth (4–2) Lost Championship vs. Wisconsin (4–5 OT) | Lost first round vs. Boston College (1–4) | [28] |
2011–12 † | Brad Frost | 34 | 5 | 2 | WCHA‡ | 21 | 5 | 2 | 2nd | Won quarterfinals vs. St. Cloud State (6–1, 6–0) Won semifinals vs. North Dakota (6–0) Won Championship vs. Minnesota Duluth (2–0)‡ | Won first round vs. North Dakota (5–1) Won Frozen Four vs. Cornell (3–1) Won Championship vs. Wisconsin (4–2)† | [29] |
2012–13 † | Brad Frost | 41 | 0 | 0 | WCHA‡ | 28 | 0 | 0 | 1st↑ | Won quarterfinals vs. Bemidji State (5–0, 8–0) Won semifinals vs. Ohio State (5–0) Won Championship vs. North Dakota (2–0)‡ | Won first round vs. North Dakota (3–2 3OT) Won Frozen Four vs. Boston College (3–2 OT) Won Championship vs. Boston University (6–3)† | [30] |
2013–14 | Brad Frost | 38 | 2 | 1 | WCHA‡ | 26 | 1 | 1 | 1st↑ | Won quarterfinals vs. St. Cloud State (4–1, 7–1) Won semifinals vs. Minnesota Duluth (4–1) Won Championship vs. North Dakota (3–1)‡ | Won first round vs. Boston University (5–1) Won Frozen Four vs. Wisconsin (5–3) Lost Championship vs. Clarkson (4–5) | [31] |
2014–15 † | Brad Frost | 34 | 3 | 4 | WCHA | 22 | 2 | 4 | 1st↑ | Won quarterfinals vs. Minnesota State (10–0, 5–1) Lost semifinals vs. Bemidji State (0–1) | Won first round vs. RIT (6–2) Won Frozen Four vs. Wisconsin (3–1) Won Championship vs. Harvard (4–1)† | [32] |
2015–16 † | Brad Frost | 35 | 4 | 1 | WCHA | 24 | 3 | 1 | 2nd | Won quarterfinals vs. Ohio State (5–2, 5–0) Won semifinals vs. North Dakota (2–0) Lost Championship vs. Wisconsin (0–1) | Won first round vs. Princeton (6–2) Won Frozen Four vs. Wisconsin (3–2 OT) Won Championship vs. Boston College (3–1) | [33] |
2016–17 | Brad Frost | 26 | 8 | 5 | WCHA | 19 | 4 | 5 | 2nd | Won quarterfinals vs. Bemidji State (3–1, 1–2, 3–2) Lost semifinals vs. Minnesota Duluth (1–2 2OT) | Won first round vs. Minnesota Duluth (1–0) Lost Frozen Four vs. Clarkson (3–4) | [34] |
2017–18 | Brad Frost | 24 | 11 | 3 | WCHA‡ | 13 | 8 | 3 | 3rd | Won quarterfinals vs. St. Cloud State (5–1, 4–1) Won semifinals vs. Ohio State (2–0) Won Championship vs. Wisconsin (3–1)‡ | Lost first round vs. Wisconsin (0–4) | [35] |
2018–19 | Brad Frost | 32 | 6 | 1 | WCHA | 19 | 4 | 1 | 1st↑ | Won semifinals vs. Minnesota Duluth (4–1) Lost Championship vs. Wisconsin (1–3) | Won first round vs. Princeton (5–2) Won Frozen Four vs. Cornell (2–0) Lost Championship vs. Wisconsin (0–2) | [36] |
2019–20 | Brad Frost | 27 | 6 | 3 | WCHA | 17 | 5 | 2 | 2nd | Won quarterfinals vs. St. Cloud State (4–2, 7–3) Lost semifinals vs Ohio State (4–3 OT) | 2020 Tournament canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic | [37] |
2020–21 [c] | Brad Frost | 11 | 8 | 1 | WCHA | 11 | 7 | 1 | 4th | Lost semifinals vs. Wisconsin (3–5) | Did not qualify | [38] |
2021–22 | Brad Frost | 29 | 9 | 1 | WCHA | 21 | 6 | 1 | 1st↑ | Won quarterfinals vs. St. Thomas (4–0, 5–1) Won semifinals vs. Minnesota Duluth (5–1) Lost Championship vs. Ohio State (2–3 OT) | Lost quarterfinals vs. Minnesota Duluth (1–2) | [39] |
2022–23 | Brad Frost | 30 | 6 | 3 | WCHA‡ | 22 | 3 | 3 | 2nd | Won quarterfinals vs. St. Thomas (7–0, 6–2) Won semifinals vs. Wisconsin (4–2) Won Championship vs. Ohio State (3–1)‡ | Won semifinals vs. Minnesota Duluth (3–0) Lost Frozen Four vs. Wisconsin (3–2 OT) | [40] |
2023–24 | Brad Frost | 27 | 10 | 2 | WCHA | 19 | 7 | 2 | 3rd | Won quarterfinals vs. Minnesota State (4–5, 7–1, 3–0) Lost semifinals vs. Wisconsin (4–3 OT) | Lost quarterfinals vs. Clarkson (2–3 4OT) | [41] |
2024–25 | Brad Frost | 29 | 12 | 1 | WCHA | 19 | 8 | 1 | 3rd | Won quarterfinals vs. Minnesota State (6–1, 4–5 (2OT), 6–2) Won semifinals vs. Ohio State (6–2) Lost Championship vs. Wisconsin (3—4) | Won quarterfinals vs. Clarkson (3–2) Lost Frozen Four vs. Wisconsin (2–6) | [42] |
Totals | 809 | 184 | 65 | 518 | 117 | 52 | – | – | 25 postseason tournament appearances |
Ridder Arena is the first facility of its kind built exclusively for a women's collegiate hockey program
The 1999-2000 national championship team will be celebrated Sunday at Ridder Arena. Its path to the title wasn't smooth, but the team grew and finally slayed its rival to the north.