University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Unveil 2015-16 Schedule
7/15/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Hockey
2015-16 Schedule | 2015-16 Schedule 
MINNEAPOLIS - The defending NCAA champion Minnesota women's hockey team has released its 2015-16 schedule, featuring two exhibition games against the Minnesota Whitecaps, the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game, an always-challenging WCHA slate and the return of the WCHA FINAL FACEOFF to Ridder Arena.
"We are excited about our 2015-2016 schedule," head coach Brad Frost said. "As always, we will have our incredibly tough conference schedule but also some games against great non-conference opponents. As was the case last year, we are very honored to be playing in the United States Hockey Hall of Fame Game."
The Golden Gophers officially start the regular season on the road at Penn State with a Thursday-Friday series on Oct. 1-2. The series with Penn State marks a rematch of the Gophers' 2014 season-opener, during which Minnesota defeated the Nittany Lions, 8-0. However, an exhibition game against the Minnesota Whitecaps at Ridder Arena on Friday, Sept. 25 is the unofficial season-opener.
In addition to Penn State, the Gophers' non-conference schedule also includes a series against Yale at Ridder Arena Nov. 20-21.
The Maroon and Gold begins WCHA play at home against St. Cloud State (Oct. 9-10), and the first half of the regular season also includes home WCHA series with Minnesota Duluth (Oct. 23-24) and Bemidji State (Nov. 13-14). Minnesota meets St. Cloud State in a non-conference meeting for the 2015 U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame game on Friday, Dec. 11 in Roseville, Minn., to conclude the first half of the year.
The season resumes in 2016 with another exhibition game against the Minnesota Whitecaps (Jan. 6), followed by a Saturday-Sunday series against Ohio State at home Jan. 9-10. The WCHA slate continues, including home series with North Dakota (Feb. 6-7) and Wisconsin (Feb. 19-20) along with a road trip at Minnesota Duluth (Feb. 12-13) to end the regular season.
The first round of the WCHA playoffs are set for Feb. 26-28 with the top four teams in the regular-season standings hosting the best-of-three series. The WCHA FINAL FACEOFF then returns to Ridder Arena Saturday-Sunday, March 5-6.
As the postseason continues, the NCAA quarterfinal games will be held March 13 before the nation's top four teams meet in Durham, N.H., for the 2016 NCAA Women's Frozen Four hosted by the University of New Hampshire March 18-20.
Minnesota finished the 2014-15 season by securing the program's sixth national championship and a 34-3-4 overall record. The Gophers recorded a 22-2-4-2 WCHA record en route to their ninth WCHA regular season title as well.
The 2015-16 Gophers will be led by captains Hannah Brandt and Lee Stecklein and their five seniors in Brandt, Brook Garzone, Amanda Leveille, Milica McMillen and Maryanne Menefee as head coach Brad Frost returns for his ninth season behind the Gopher bench. Minnesota also adds nine new players to the lineup, including transfers Caitlin Reilly and Nicole Schammel.
Schedule subject to change.
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