Gophers women go for another national title enjoying the ride

DURHAM, N.H. – The Gophers are the only Division I women's hockey team that knows how it feels to finish a perfect season. And now here's Boston College, at 40-0.

The stakes for their NCAA championship showdown Sunday at Whittemore Center are as high as the women's game ever has seen.

The Gophers capped a 41-0 season with a national title in 2013, but the six players still around from that team — Amanda Kessel, Hannah Brandt, Lee Stecklein, Milica McMillen, Brook Garzone and Amanda Leveille — don't envy Boston College's current quest.

"I think it puts more pressure on you, honestly," Kessel said Saturday. "Just from the stance of the media — we got a lot more coverage that year. You try not to worry about it, but I think it adds some more pressure."

During that magical March three years ago, the undefeated Gophers survived three overtimes against North Dakota in the NCAA quarterfinals. They survived another overtime scare against Boston College in the semis before a 6-3 regulation win over Boston University in the title game.

"I felt like our team played its best game in the finals, and I think that's because the pressure was off a little bit," Gophers coach Brad Frost said, noting that the Women's Frozen Four at Minnesota's 3,400-seat Ridder Arena had sold out weeks in advance.

Boston College had trailed for only 49 minutes all season before falling behind for 53 minutes against Clarkson in Friday's semis. The Eagles tied it late in regulation and won early in overtime on Haley Skarupa's 35th goal.

The Gophers (34-4-1) played a seesaw thriller with Wisconsin in the other semifinal. Minnesota got a tying third-period goal from Kessel, and Sarah Potomak, the national rookie of the year, won it 15 minutes into overtime.

The announced attendance was just 2,167 at the University of New Hampshire's 6,500-seat home rink. The games weren't televised, though they're being shown live on NCAA.com. Sunday's championship game won't be televised until March 27 on CBS.

Olympic women's hockey broadcaster AJ Mleczko said she wishes more people could watch, since many might not know what they're missing.

"I'm amazed at the talent; [Friday] night's semifinals showcased what the sport has become," said Mleczko, the 1999 Patty Kazmaier Award winner. "It showed the incredible parity in the sport."

Then again, the Gophers have won five national titles since the NCAA began crowning a champion in 2001, including three of the past four. Minnesota-Duluth also has five championships, and Wisconsin has four. The only non-WCHA team to win an NCAA title was Clarkson, which upset Minnesota in 2014.

Last season, BC started 27-0-1 before losing to Harvard in the Beanpot tournament. The Eagles also lost the Hockey East tournament title game and stumbled against Harvard in the NCAA semis.

But they returned several top players, including Skarupa and Alex Carpenter, who won the Kazmaier Award last year and has 88 points this season.

"One of the focuses was to bring home some trophies," Crowley said. "We were able to do that with winning the Beanpot, then the Hockey East regular-season title, and then the Hockey East [tournament] championship."

The next trophy is bigger, of course. Durham is nestled in the New Hampshire woods and waterways, about a 75-minute drive from Boston, depending on traffic. So far, this pursuit of perfection hasn't drawn quite the same interest as Minnesota's three years ago.

"To be honest, we're not really concerned with what our record is at this point because it doesn't matter anymore," Carpenter said. "We're taking it one game at a time, and the next one is for an NCAA championship."

Frost, in his ninth year as the Gophers head coach, led his team through a light practice, typical for his teams on NCAA Championship Eve.

"I've always said if somebody else can go undefeated I would tip my hat to them," Frost said. "We're not thinking, 'We need to stop their undefeated season.' We're thinking about winning a national championship."