Gophers, Badgers paired in tourney

Their NCAA first-round game will be a winner-take-all rematch for two teams that have met five times already.

By ROMAN AUGUSTOVIZ, Star Tribune

Last update: March 10, 2008 - 12:12 AM

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The Gophers women's hockey team, as expected, received one of the at-large berths Sunday in the eight-team field for the NCAA tournament.

Minnesota was seeded fourth and will be the host of one of Saturday's quarterfinal games. That, too, was anticipated by Gophers coach Brad Frost after what happened in two conference championship games.

What stunned him, though, was his team's opponent: Wisconsin, a WCHA team the Gophers have played three times in the past two weeks.

Their most recent meeting was Saturday, when the Badgers won 4-3 in the WCHA Final Face-off semifinals. Wisconsin finished the WCHA regular season in third place, a point behind Minnesota, but is 3-1-1 against the Gophers.

"We were expecting we would host," Frost said. "We were not expecting to be facing a conference opponent, just because [selection committee members] have not done that in the past."

Wisconsin (27-8-3) will play the Gophers (27-6-4) at 7 p.m. Saturday at Ridder Arena. The four quarterfinal winners will advance to the Frozen Four in Duluth on March 20 and 22. The Badgers are two-time defending NCAA champions.

Frost was informed of the Gophers' NCAA selection and the pairings via a conference call late Sunday afternoon. He took it with his team around him in the club room at Ridder.

Two Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference teams, Harvard and Dartmouth, also were paired.

"Maybe it's travel, a cost-cutting thing," Frost said. "Harvard and Dartmouth are a simple drive. It's a drive for Wisconsin and a drive for St. Lawrence to New Hampshire."

Whatever the reason, Frost is not complaining.

"We're ecstatic to be home," he said, "and excited to get another crack at Wisconsin, particularly so early after we had just lost to them."

The Gophers went into this weekend No. 4 in the PairWise rankings, which mimic the computer ratings the NCAA uses. Frost presumed they would stay there and get home ice after the two teams that could have climbed over them -- No. 5 St. Lawrence and No. 6 Wisconsin -- lost in conference finals on Sunday.

Playing the Badgers eases scouting duties.

"We're as familiar with Wisconsin as any team in the country," Frost said, "and they are as familiar with us as any team."

The three conference champions that received automatic bids are the top seeds in the tournament: Harvard of the ECAC is the No. 1 seed followed by Minnesota Duluth of the WCHA and New Hampshire of Hockey East. Harvard is in the upper bracket with the Gophers, the only at-large team that was seeded.

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