Meet the Frozen Four: Familiar faces from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio State and Northeastern coming to Duluth

DULUTH — No, the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs will not be playing this week in the 2023 NCAA Women’s Frozen Four at Amsoil Arena in Duluth.

However, local fans will find four familiar teams taking the ice when play gets underway on Thursday.

The No. 1-seeded Ohio State Buckeyes will take on the No. 5 Northeastern Huskies at 2 p.m. Friday in the first of two national semifinals, followed by a border battle between the No. 2 Minnesota Golden Gophers and the No. 6 Wisconsin Badgers at 6 p.m.

The winners square off at 3 p.m. Sunday for the national championship.

Here’s an early look at the four teams coming to Duluth this week.

How did they get here? 

The Huskies won both the Hockey East regular and postseason titles to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Northeastern upset No. 4 Yale on the road 4-1 Saturday to reach the Frozen Four for a third-straight season.

Where do I know them from? 

The Huskies and Bulldogs squared off in each of the last two Frozen Fours in the national semifinals. UMD suffered a controversial overtime loss to the Huskies in 2021 in Erie, Pennsylvania, before beating them the following year in double overtime at Penn State in 2022.

Who is the player to watch?

Fifth-year senior forward Alina Müller is a top-three finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award this season, the second time she’s been in the top three in her career. The other was in 2020. She’s been in the top 10 five times (2019-23). Her 27 goals and 33 assists put her fourth in the nation in points and in goals. A native of Switzerland and three-time Olympian, Müller is teammates with former Bulldog Lara Stalder on the Swiss national team.

Quick-hit scouting report: Northeastern graduated 12 from last year’s Frozen Four team, bringing in eight freshmen and two transfers. The Huskies' two losses this season came Oct. 22 at Maine and Nov. 15 at Providence. Since the loss to the Friars, Northeastern has won 21 straight games. The Huskies played just three teams from outside Hockey East during the regular season — Long Island, Princeton and Cornell — with the LIU Sharks being the only NCAA tournament team on their schedule. Northeastern hasn’t played outside the Northeast since last year’s Frozen Four.

How did they get here? 

The Buckeyes won their first WCHA regular season title this season, but fell to Minnesota in the WCHA postseason championship. The Buckeyes still earned the No. 1 overall seed as an at-large team. They defeated No. 8 Quinnipiac 5-2 on Saturday to reach their third-straight Frozen Four.

Where do I know them from? 

One of three WCHA rivals in this year’s Frozen Four, the Bulldogs played the Buckeyes for the national championship last year at Penn State, losing 3-2.

Who is the player to watch?

Fifth-year senior defenseman Sophie Jaques is a top-three finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award for the second season in a row. She scored two goals against Quinnipiac on Saturday to become the WCHA’s all-time leader in goals by a defenseman with 61. She has 156 career points. Jaques lead the Buckeyes in goals with 24 and is second in points with 48 this season.

Quick-hit scouting report: The Buckeyes won their first NCAA title last season, becoming just the fifth school to ever win an NCAA National Collegiate women’s ice hockey championship. OSU had the second-best scoring offense in the country this year, averaging 4.24 goals per game. At 32.3%, OSU’s power play is the best in the country.

How did they get here? 

The Badgers finished third in the WCHA during the regular season and were ousted in the league semifinals, but still earned an at-large berth. Wisconsin beat No. 11 Long Island 9-1 and upset No. 3 Colgate 4-2 to advance to their eighth Frozen Four in nine seasons.

Where do I know them from? 

One of UMD’s three WCHA rivals in this week’s Frozen Four, the Badgers are probably OK with the hosts not making the Frozen Four this year. Wisconsin lost three out of four games this season against UMD, including two in Madison.

Who is the player to watch?

A rare 20-year-old freshman in women’s college hockey, freshman defenseman Caroline Harvey was the WCHA Rookie of the Year this season. She has 12 goals and 26 assists to lead all WCHA rookies in scoring. Harvey’s enrollment was delayed because she spent the 2021-22 season with the U.S. Olympic and national teams.

Quick-hit scouting report: Since making their first Frozen Four and winning their first national championship in 2006, Wisconsin has been part of 14 of the last 17 Frozen Fours, missing in 2010, 2013 and 2022. The Badgers have won two of the last three NCAA title games. UW’s scoring offense is fourth in the nation at 4.11 goals per game and its scoring defense gives up 1.68 goals per game on average.

How did they get here? 

After finishing second in the WCHA during the regular season — missing out on sharing the league title with Ohio State by two points — the Gophers beat OSU in the WCHA postseason championship for the league’s automatic NCAA tournament berth. Minnesota beat No. 7 Minnesota Duluth 3-0 in the regional final to advance.

Where do I know them from? 

The Gophers shattered the Bulldogs' dreams of playing at home in the Frozen Four on Saturday, a year after UMD upset the Gophers at Ridder Arena to reach the Frozen Four at Penn State.

Who is the player to watch?

Fifth-year senior defenseman Lizi Norton is not the first name that comes to most minds when you think of the 2022-23 Minnesota Golden Gophers, however, it’s a very familiar name to those in Duluth. Norton played four years at UMD and was planning to come back to be a Bulldog for a fifth season. She entered the transfer portal at the deadline, and wound up transferring in the offseason to Minnesota. Norton, who has two goals and 12 assists this year, has the most Frozen Four experience on her team, making her third-straight Frozen Four appearance.

Quick-hit scouting report: Minnesota’s last trip to the Frozen Four was in 2019 when it lost to Wisconsin in the national championship. Seven Gophers still remain from that team. All are fifth-year seniors now and, besides Norton, are the only Gophers with Frozen Four experience. Minnesota’s last NCAA titles were when it went back-to-back in 2015-16. The Gophers’ scoring offense leads the nation averaging 4.65 goals per game. Fifth-year senior forward Taylor Heise and sophomore forward Abbey Murphy lead the NCAA in goals with 29 each.