When Taylor Heise, Grace Zumwinkle and Abby Boreen finished their Gophers careers, they took lots of things with them. The pride of winning WCHA regular-season and tournament championships. Memories of multiple NCAA tournament appearances.
And goals. The three combined for 76 last season, a whopping 43% of the Gophers' output. With all of them moving on to pro hockey, coach Brad Frost knew he had to alter his team in a way that went well beyond the names on the uniforms.
"I still remember our first meeting this year," Frost said. "We said, 'We have to be comfortable in 1-0, 2-1 games, knowing we lost so much scoring. And I think our coaching staff has done a remarkable job of changing how we play."
That shift helped the No. 5 Gophers find their way back to the NCAA tournament, beginning with Saturday's quarterfinal at fourth-ranked Clarkson. Without a wealth of firepower to rely on, they have concentrated on sound defensive structure, discipline and attention to detail. That's carried the Gophers to a 27-9-2 record, with only one of those losses to a team other than top-ranked Ohio State or No. 2 Wisconsin.
A victory Saturday would send them to their 16th appearance in the Frozen Four next weekend in Durham, N.H. To get there, the Gophers will have to beat the nation's No. 1 defensive team in a game that's likely to be low-scoring and tight — just the kind they have come to embrace in a season of change.
"I think in past years, we weren't really built well to play in those tight-scoring, low-scoring games," Frost said. "We had a ton of offense. And when your offense isn't scoring all of a sudden, you squeeze the sticks a little tighter, and it gets a little harder.
"For this team to be as successful as we have been this year, I think it's quite an achievement. I'm ecstatic with where our group is at."
Last year, the Gophers led NCAA Division I with 4.54 goals per game. They are still among the highest-scoring teams in the country, ranking sixth this season even though their average output has dropped to 3.50.
The Gophers are 14-4-2 when scoring three or fewer goals, a scenario they're likely to face against Clarkson. The Golden Knights allow 1.18 goals per game, best in Division I, and are anchored by national goaltender of the year finalist Michelle Pasiechnyk. The senior has eight shutouts and a save percentage of .943.
In WCHA play, the Gophers faced similarly defensive-minded teams in St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth. They went 6-0-2 against those rivals, scoring three or fewer goals in six of those games.
In those situations, defender Madeline Wethington said, the Gophers must get pucks in deep, forecheck aggressively and stay patient.
"With those types of teams, you have to play a different way than you normally would," Wethington said. "You have to have a mindset of, 'OK, they're really good defensively, but we've just got to continue to get after it.' We might not score in the first five minutes of the game, but if we continue to do the right things and put ourselves in good position, eventually we'll have success."
Frost has been particularly pleased with the Gophers' play in the past three games. After a stunning 5-4 loss to Minnesota State Mankato in the opener of their first-round WCHA playoff series, they outscored the Mavericks 10-1 in the next two games. The Gophers pushed Wisconsin to overtime in the WCHA tournament semifinals before losing 4-3.
That ached in the moment, Wethington said, but the Gophers also took confidence from that game. It reinforced the theme that defense, discipline and details make a difference — an idea that carried them through the season, and will become even more critical in the NCAA tournament.
"We're doing those little things it takes to win at this time of year," Frost said. "Getting to the net, blocking shots, chipping pucks out, forcing the other team to go 200 feet to score. All those things, when they culminate together, lead to success."
