Golden Gopher Women's Hockey National Championship Teams

Golden Gopher Women's Hockey National Championship Teams

2004-05 National Champions

Darwitz scores the gamewinner against Harvard

The Golden Gopher women’s hockey team had the same slogan as the year before. Get it Done worked the year before and the 2004-05 team wanted to bring home another national championship. With all but four returning from the championship team, the Gophers were voted the preseason favorite in both the WCHA and national polls. The Golden Gophers started the season with an 15-1-2 mark in the first half of the season, sweeping five WCHA opponents and earning three points from both Minnesota Duluth and Wisconsin. In the second half of the season, Minnesota won the next seven series, including six from the WCHA.

On Feb., 26, the Gophers suffered their first loss of the conference season and only second loss of the year, dropping a 4-2 contest to UMD. Minnesota finished the regular season with an impressive 25-1-2 record in conference play, earning the No. 1 seed in the WCHA tournament championship. Minnesota rolled past Bemidji State, 6-3, and Ohio State, 7-1, placing themselves into the WCHA Championship. The Maroon and Gold jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but the Wisconsin Badgers scored two goals within the last two minutes of regulation to send the game into overtime. However, in just :19 into the extra stanza, Krissy Wendell scored the game-winning, power-play goal and helped the Gophers to a second-straight tournament championship sweep.

As the No. 1 seed in the first-ever NCAA Regional, the Gophers hosted Providence on March 18. Minnesota trailed 1-0, but lit the lamp six consecutive times to win, 6-1. With the win, the Gophers advanced to the NCAA Frozen Four. In similar fashion as the 2003-04 season, Minnesota faced Dartmouth in the semifinal game. It took just :13 for Natalie Darwitz to score the first goal and 1:59 later to quickly put the Gophers up, 2-0. With her goal in :13, Darwitz set a NCAA record for the fastest goal scored to start a Frozen Four game. Minnesota rattled off five goals in the first period en route for a 7-2 final.

The Gophers would face Harvard for the second straight time in the NCAA Championship game. Minnesota scored three times, only to have the Crimson tie the game. It looked as if the two teams were headed into overtime, but Darwitz put the final touches on another national championship season. With 1:08 remaining, Darwitz scored off a Kelly Stephens rebound as the Gophers held off the Crimson for the second straight year.

Darwitz finished the Frozen Four with a NCAA record nine points. She was named the Most Outstanding Player, while Krissy Wendell and Lyndsay Wall earned all-tournament honors. Darwitz, Wall and Wendell all earned first-team All-America honors, while goaltender Jody Horak was named a second-team All- American. The night prior to the championship game, Wendell was named the 2005 recipient of the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, given to the top player in women’s college hockey.

Minnesota finished the near perfect season with a 36-2-2 record and were ranked as the top team in the nation for the entire campaign. The Gophers ranked first in numerous categories, including power-play (31.0%), scoring offense and scoring margin.

2003-04 National Champions

The Golden Gopher women's hockey team coined the phrase, Get It Done for the 2003-04 season. After falling short in the semifinals of the Frozen Four the past two seasons, the Gophers were determined at the beginning of the season to not only win the semifinal contest, but a national championship as well. Minnesota went undefeated in the first half of the season, holding a 13-0-1 record. By the end of the first half, Minnesota was not only highly recognized in the league, but the nation as well. Minnesota led the country in scoring offense, power-play efficiency and penalty kill.

Minnesota’s heart of the schedule started in the second half of the season. In two months, the Gophers faced five ranked opponents. The first test came against WCHA rival Minnesota Duluth. The Gophers fell for the first time in 15 games, 4-1, to the Bulldogs. However, Minnesota rebounded to earn a 4-3 overtime win against UMD. The victory would come at a price however, sidelining Natalie Darwitz for 10 games. With a sweep over St. Cloud State on March 5 -6, Minnesota clinched the WCHA regular season championship, posting a 19-3-2 mark in conference action and the top seed in the WCHA Final Five. Defeating Ohio State, 5-1 in the semifinals, the Gophers faced UMD for the tournament championship. The Gophers won, 4-2, over the Bulldogs to win the tournament championship.

With the No. 1 seed in the 2004 Frozen Four, the Golden Gophers drew Dartmouth in the semifinal game. The Big Green entered the first intermission with a 1-0 lead, but the Gophers came back to tie the game at 12:11 of the second period. Entering the third period in a 1-1 tie, Minnesota opened the third period with four unanswered goals for the 5-1 victory. Wendell led the charge with three of the Gophers’ five goals. It was the first time in three years that the Gophers advanced to the NCAA Championship game.

Minnesota's next opponent was Harvard. The Maroon and Gold fell behind early when the Crimson took an early 1-0 lead in the first period. Minnesota tied the game, 1-1, when Wendell scored, but Harvard added a goal at 12:21 of the second. Minnesota tied the game when Andrea Nichols scored on a perfect pass from La Toya Clarke to enter the final period in a 2-2 draw. For the second time in two games Minnesota rattled off four goals in the third period for the 6-2 win. Darwitz scored just nine seconds out of the second intermission as she set an NCAA record for the fastest goal coming out of an intermission. Kelly Stephens added the insurance goal 32 seconds later at :41 of the third stanza. It was the first NCAA championship for any women's sport at the University of Minnesota.

Wendell, a first-team All-American, led the Gophers with eight points in the Frozen Four, garnering the Most Outstanding Player award. Darwitz, Horak, Stephens and Allie Sanchez all landed All-Tournament Team honors. Wendell and Darwitz each had hat tricks in the Frozen Four, while Stephens scored five points. Horak ended the Frozen Four with 52 saves, a .945 percent save percentage and a 1.51 goals against average.

1999-2000 National Champions

The 1999-2000 Gopher women’s hockey season accomplished the ultimate in collegiate athletics, winning the first women’s national team title in Minnesota history. The Gophers simply improved as the season progressed. After a respective 11-4 start to the season, but losing twice to Minnesota-Duluth in December, Minnesota lost only one game after January 1. Those two losses to UMD cost the Gophers the team title in the newly formed WCHA-Women’s League.

The Gophers and Bulldogs met once again in the WCHA Tournament championship game, with Duluth coming out with a 2-0 victory. Both teams were selected to participate in the AWCHA National Tournament in Boston and were to face each other one more time, with a national championship game berth in the balance. The Gophers lived through a scary moment during their final practice before the national semifinal game as Nadine Muzerall crashed into the boards in practice and was taken from ice on a backboard. As it would turn out, Muzerall was not seriously injured and played a huge part in the Gophers’ 3-2 win over Duluth. With the Gophers down 2-0 early in the second period, Muzerall scored two consecutive goals to tie the score and set up Tracy Engstrom’s gamewinner in the third period.

The Gophers went on to defeat Brown, 4-2, to capture the national title. Gopher goalie Erica Killewald was voted the most valuable player of the tournament Surprisingly, the Gophers were shut out in the All-America balloting. Defender Winny Brodt was selected as the WCHA Defensive Player of the Year and joined Muzerall on the all-conference first team.

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