The Minnesota Golden Gophers women's ice hockey team plays for the University of Minnesota 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) in Division I. The Golden Gophers have won six NCAA Championships as well as the final American Women's College Hockey Alliance Championship. In the WCHA, they have also been regular season champions 11 times and tournament champions 8 times.

The team also holds the distinction of having the longest winning streak in women's or men's college hockey at 62 games from February 17, 2012, to November 17, 2013, winning back-to-back NCAA titles during the stretch. In 2004–2005, Minnesota won back-to-back NCAA Championships. Natalie Darwitz was a three-time All American, and three-time finalist for the Patty Kazmaier award. Darwitz left the program with the career scoring mark at Minnesota in three years and set two NCAA single-season record with 114 points (42 Goals, 72 Assists) and most assists in 40 games in her final season. Minnesota Gophers women's hockey players have won the Patty Kazmaier Award three times (Krissy Wendell , Amanda Kessel , and Taylor Heise ), as well as having all three finalists in 2013.

In addition to their overall success as a competitive team, the Gophers have also been ranked in the nation's top two teams for attendance since becoming a varsity sport, and the team holds the second largest single-game attendance record for women's collegiate hockey, drawing 6,854 fans for the first Minnesota women's hockey game on November 2, 1997.

On March 22, 2026, Greg May was hired as the third head coach in program history.

Coaches The Gophers have had two head coaches to date: Laura Halldorson and Brad Frost. Halldorson was the head coach for eleven years, from the 1997–1998 season to the 2006–2007 season. Her overall coaching record was 278–67–22 with the Gophers, a winning percentage of .787. During that time, the Gophers won four of their WCHA championships and three of their national championships. They averaged 28 wins per season and appeared in eight out of ten national tournaments, reaching seven finals. The Gophers' experienced their best season under Halldorson in 2004–2005 with a 36–2–2 record.

In the 2007–08 season, Brad Frost became the temporary head coach. He had previously been an assistant coach. In his first year as head coach, Frost led the Gophers to a 21-game winning streak, with the season's record ending with 27 wins, 7 losses, and 4 ties but also ended with a conference record of 21–5–2, which ranked second in the WCHA. The Gophers made another NCAA regional appearance and post-season Frost was awarded WCHA Coach of the Year. In the 2008–2009 season, his temporary coaching status was lifted and he was named permanent head coach of the Gophers. That same season he led the Gophers to a record of 32–5–3 and to another WCHA championship. Frost then coached the Gophers into back-to-back NCAA Frozen Four championships in 2012 and 2013, which were encompassed in their 62-game winning streak, including a 41–0–0 record in 2012–13. The Golden Gophers have had a cross-state rivalry with the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs. The Gophers handed the Bulldogs their first ever conference loss 4–3 in a sold-out game at Pioneer Hall on February 11, 2000.

Team history Minnesota put its first women's team on the ice in 1997–98. Nadine Muzerall, a Canadian who graduated from Kimball Union Academy in Meriden, New Hampshire, was among its initial recruits.

During the 2004–05 season, Krissy Wendell set an NCAA record (since tied) for most shorthanded goals in one season with 7. After graduating from Minnesota, she had the career record for most shorthanded goals in a career with 16. Both marks have since been tied by Meghan Agosta.

In 2009–10, Noora Räty was just the second freshman to be a finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award. Räty led the NCAA in several goaltending categories. She led the NCAA in goals-against average (1.24), save percentage (.951) and shutouts (7), while ranking third in winning percentage (.792). Her won loss record for the year was 17–3–4. In addition, Räty was the WCHA goaltending champion and earned numerous honours including All-WCHA First Team and All-WCHA Rookie Team. During the season, she was named the WCHA Defensive Player of the Week four times and WCHA Rookie of the Week on two occasions. She set a school record for most assists in one season by a goaltender (3). Räty played on national championship teams in 2011–12 and 2012–13. The 2012–13 team finished 41–0–0, and the team won the last 49 games of Räty's career. Räty finished with both the career and single-season record for shutouts.

Minnesota Duluth rivalry Minnesota Duluth, had been a traditional rival to the Gophers in men's hockey. In 1998, Minnesota Duluth announced that it was going to assemble a women's team for the 1999–2000 season. Duluth gave a three-year, $210,000 contract to Shannon Miller, who coached Canada to the 1998 Olympic final in Nagano. Miller recruited players from Canada, Finland and Sweden, including four Olympians. The rivalry was fuelled when Miller took two players from Minnesota: star forward Jenny Schmidgall, whose 93 points led the nation, and defenseman Brittny Ralph, who would serve as the Bulldogs' captain. In the 1999–2000 season, Duluth would lose just once to the Gophers in their first five meetings, which included a 2–0 Bulldogs victory in the final of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association tournament.

Arenas The Golden Gophers have called two ice rinks home. From their 1997–1998 season to their 2001–2002 season the Golden Gophers shared their home ice with the men's team at Mariucci Arena. The Golden Gophers moved into Ridder Arena in the 2002–2003 season, a facility dedicated solely to a women's hockey team, and named for team benefactors Robert Ridder and Kathleen Ridder.

Year to Year

This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by the Gophers. For the full season-by-season history, see List of Minnesota Golden Gophers women's ice hockey seasons.

Table key +Key of colors and symbolsColor/symbolExplanation National champions Conference tournament champions Conference regular season champions

+Key of terms and abbreviations Term or abbreviation Definition W Number of wins L Number of losses T Number of ties OT Number of losses in overtime (since the 1999–2000 season) Finish Final position in conference standings Tournament Results in conference tournament

Yearly results

+ Last five year's list of Minnesota Golden Gophers women's ice hockey seasons Season Coach Overall Conference Season Result Ref W L T W L T Finish Tournament 2021–22 Brad Frost 29 9 1 WCHA 21 6 1 1st Won Quarterfinals vs. St. Thomas Won Semifinals vs. Minnesota-Duluth Lost Championship vs. Ohio State Lost Quarterfinals vs. Minnesota-Duluth 2022–23 Brad Frost 30 6 3 WCHA 22 3 3 2nd Won Quarterfinals vs. St. Thomas Won Semifinals vs. Wisconsin Won Championship vs. Ohio State Won Semifinals vs. Minnesota-Duluth Lost Frozen Four vs. Wisconsin 2023–24 Brad Frost 27 10 2 WCHA 19 7 2 3rd Won Quarterfinals vs. Minnesota State Lost Semifinals vs. Wisconsin Lost Quarterfinals vs. Clarkson 2024–25 Brad Frost 29 12 1 WCHA 19 8 1 3rd Won Quarterfinals vs. Minnesota State Won Semifinals vs. Ohio State Lost Championship vs. Wisconsin Won Quarterfinals vs. Clarkson Lost Frozen Four vs. Wisconsin 2025–26Brad Frost26121WCHA18913rdWon Quarterfinals vs. St. Cloud State Lost Semifinals vs. Ohio State Lost Quarterfinals vs. Northeastern

Notes

Championships

National 2000 – American Women's College Hockey Alliance championship 2004 – NCAA championship 2005 – NCAA championship 2012 – NCAA championship 2013 – NCAA championship 2015 – NCAA championship 2016 – NCAA championship

Conference Western Collegiate Hockey Association Women's Regular Season Champions 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2022

Western Collegiate Hockey Association Women's Tournament Champions 2002, 2004, 2005, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2018, 2023

Current roster

Captains 1997–98 Julie Otto, Kris Scholz 1998–99 Amber Hegland, Kris Scholz 1999–00 Shannon Kennedy, Kris Scholz 2000–01 Tracy Engstrom, Kris Scholz 2001–02 Tracy Engstrom, Laura Slominski 2002–03 Ronda Curtin, Kelsey Bills, Winny Brodt 2003–04 Kelsey Bills, La Toya Clarke 2004–05 Kelly Stephens, Krissy Wendell 2005–06 Andrea Nichols, Chelsey Brodt, Bobbi Ross 2006–07 Andrea Nichols, Bobbi Ross 2007–08 Bobbi Ross, Whitney Graft 2008–09 Melanie Gagnon, Gigi Marvin 2009–10 Michelle Maunu, Brittany Francis, Emily West, Terra Rasmussen 2010–11 Emily West, Terra Rasmussen, Sarah Erickson, Jen Schoullis, Anne Schleper 2011–12 Sarah Erickson, Jen Schoullis 2012–13 Megan Bozek, Bethany Brausen 2013–14 Bethany Brausen, Sarah Davis, Baylee Gillanders, Kelly Terry 2014–15 Rachel Ramsey, Rachael Bona, Meghan Lorence, Lee Stecklein 2015–16 Hannah Brandt, Lee Stecklein 2016–17 Lee Stecklein, Dani Cameranesi, Kate Schipper 2017–18 Sydney Baldwin, Cara Piazza 2018–19 Kelly Pannek 2019–20 Patti Marshall 2020–21 Emily Brown, Grace Zumwinkle 2021–22 Emily Brown, Olivia Knowles 2022–23 Abigail Boreen, Taylor Heise, Gracie Ostertag, Grace Zumwinkle 2023–24 Peyton Hemp 2024–25 Peyton Hemp, Abbey Murphy, Ella Huber, Nelli Laitinen 2025–26 Nelli Laitinen, Abbey Murphy

Olympians

+ Gopher players who have participated in the women's ice hockey tournament at the Winter Olympic Games Year Country Player Result 2002 United States Natalie Darwitz Courtney Kennedy Lyndsay Wall Krissy Wendell 2006 United States Natalie Darwitz Courtney Kennedy Kelly Stephens Lyndsay Wall Krissy Wendell (Captain) Finland Noora Räty 4th 2010 United States Natalie Darwitz Gigi Marvin Finland Noora Räty 2014 United States Megan Bozek Amanda Kessel Gigi Marvin Anne Schleper Lee Stecklein Finland Mira Jalosuo 5th Noora Räty 2018 United States Hannah Brandt Dani Cameranesi Amanda Kessel Gigi Marvin Kelly Pannek Lee Stecklein Finland Mira Jalosuo Noora Räty 2022 United States Megan Bozek Hannah Brandt Dani Cameranesi Amanda Kessel Abbey Murphy Kelly Pannek Lee Stecklein Grace Zumwinkle Finland Nelli Laitinen Czech Republic Natálie Mlýnková 7th Sweden Josefin Bouveng 8th2026Czech Republic Natálie Mlýnková 5thTereza Plosová Finland Nelli Laitinen 6th Sweden Josefin Bouveng 4th United StatesTaylor HeiseAbbey MurphyKelly PannekLee SteckleinGrace Zumwinkle

Source:

Awards and honors

Golden Gophers in elite hockey leagues

+Key of colors and symbolsColor/symbolExplanation CWHL All-Star NWHL All-Star Clarkson Cup Champion # Isobel Cup Champion § Walter Cup Champion