The Gophers women’s hockey team is returning to the Frozen Four, and the game that got it there — a 3-2 win over the Colgate Raiders on Saturday afternoon at Ridder Arena — was a microcosm of the Gophers’ season.

As a whole, they painted a pretty picture, but not without having to cover up some errant strokes.

The Gophers dominated their way to a 3-0 lead after two periods but were tested over the final 20 minutes to earn a shot at top-ranked Wisconsin on Friday at Ridder.

“Really proud of this group,” Gophers coach Brad Frost said. “Really fought through a lot of adversity here throughout the year. To see them come together and stick together, in particular in the third period, when things got a little hairy and a little tougher. But we found a way.”

The Gophers returned a talented group from the team that lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament last year, led by top goal-scorer Abbey Murphy. But Frost knew he needed to fill some holes via the transfer portal. Both of those elements were on full display on Saturday.

Murphy scored a pair of power-play goals to give the Gophers an early 2-0 lead before Sydney Morrow — a transfer from Colgate — scored what proved to be the game-winning goal midway through the second period.

“Pretty great for Syd,” Frost said. “She’s always been an offensive ‘D,’ but to see her game progress the way that it has — into blocking shots and advancing the puck — it’s been fun to watch her growth here. When that puck’s on her stick, it’s on a string. So, really fun for her to get that one I’m sure.”

Murphy is pretty good at that puck-on-a-string thing, too, and is thrilled that her collegiate career has been extended for at least one more game.

“Getting the chance to play on home ice for a national championship is pretty special,” she said. “We’re on a vengeance tour. Our team’s playing really well right now. We’ve got to clean some things up heading into this weekend.”

The Gophers outshot the Raiders 35-13 in building their 3-0 lead through two periods, with their stinginess on defense matching their offensive prowess.

“We know they have some extremely talented offensive players and we did a nice job of getting back in the middle of the ice and trying to take away some of their cross-ice passes that we saw on video,” Frost said. “Staying above pucks; we didn’t give up too many odd-man rushes.

“It was pretty fun, especially in that second period — just flying around the rink and doing the right thing.”

The third period got off to a bad start for the Gophers when they took an early penalty. The Raiders cashed in at 2:26. A Gophers turnover midway through the period led to Colgate’s second goal, and suddenly a one-sided game was destined to go down to the wire.

“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” Murphy said. “They’re a great team, so props to them for doing that. But our team finished it; found a way to seal the deal. Obviously it was a little scary, I’m not going to lie.

“But we knew we were OK. We didn’t panic too much to jeopardize anything. A lot of people did their role toward the end of the game and finished it off.”

Frost said the third period proved to be another lesson for his team, which has had to “go to school” on a number of occasions this season in order to get back to playing the right way.

“Hopefully we’re in this same position again, with a three-goal lead going into the third period and how we’re goin to handle that,” he said. “It’s a huge relief.”

The Gophers last won an NCAA tournament championship in 2016, and last played in the final in 2019.

Frost closed his postgame press conference with some praise for Murphy, whose two goals give her 33 on the season.

“Have you seen a better player in the country these last two weeks than Murph? Absolutely not,” Frost saiid. “This kid’s playing. She’s been doing it all year, but she’s been unbelievable recently. I hope she starts getting some notoriety about it.”

No better place than in the Frozen Four.

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