MINNEAPOLIS — The No. 4 seed Golden Gopher women’s hockey team will face WCHA Final Faceoff champion Ohio State in the NCAA quarterfinal round as the NCAA unveiled the eight-team bracket for the 2020 National Collegiate Women’s Ice Hockey Championship on Sunday evening.
Minnesota and Ohio State will face off at 4 p.m. CT Saturday at Ridder Arena in a rematch of the WCHA semifinal, which the Buckeyes won 4-3 in overtime.
Tickets are on sale now at $10 for reserved chairback, $8 for general admission, and $5 for students and standing room only (if necessary). Ticket information can be found at the Gopher Sports website.
“We’re really honored to be in the position to host and be one of eight teams left in the country,” head coach Brad Frost said. “We’re excited to have Ohio State coming back here, a team that we’re obviously very familiar with and they’re familiar with us, but we’ve had some great battles over the five games we’ve played this year and I’m sure Saturday will be another great one. We’re looking forward to it, with a chance to get to the Frozen Four on the line, and we’re excited about the opportunity.”
After falling to the Buckeyes in the semifinal round of the WCHA postseason tournament, Minnesota is making its 13th-straight and 18th overall appearance in the NCAA postseason. The 2020 WCHA regular-season runner-up Gophers have won seven national championships, and Minnesota has only missed the NCAA tournament twice in its 20-year history.
FROST PREVIEW
Gopher head coach Brad Frost sat down with MNN Sports Director Mike Grimm to preview the big weekend at Ridder Arena:
TOURNEY PREVIEW
Mercyhurst (CHA), Princeton (ECAC Hockey), Northeastern (Hockey East), and Ohio State (WCHA) earned the four automatic bids by winning their respective conference tournaments while Minnesota, Cornell, Wisconsin, and Clarkson earned at-large bids.
2020 NCAA Quarterfinal Match-Ups
No. 1 seed Cornell (28-2-3) hosts Mercyhurst (21-10-5)
No. 2 seed Wisconsin (28-5-3) hosts Clarkson (25-6-6)
No. 3 seed Northeastern (32-4-2) hosts Princeton (26-6-1)
No. 4 seed Minnesota (27-6-3) hosts Ohio State (24-8-6)
Quarterfinal competition will take place on the campuses of the participating institutions with the winners advancing to the 2020 Women’s Frozen Four on Friday, March 20 and Sunday, March 22 at Agganis Arena in Boston.
Minnesota is hosting an NCAA quarterfinal for the second-straight season. A year ago, the Gophers advanced to the NCAA Frozen Four with a 5-2 win over Princeton. Minnesota is 11-3 all-time in NCAA quarterfinal games since the tournament expanded to eight teams in 2005.
(info and photo courtesy of Gopher Sports)