Minnesota Gophers Regain High Hopes for Championship
Following the departures of a historic coach and a star-studded senior class, the University of Minnesota Women’s Ice Hockey program looks to end its decade-long championship drought
Photo credit: Ceci De Young/University of Minnesota Athletics
- Coach Brad Frost led the Minnesota Gophers through one of the program's most successful stretches in its storied history, but after a fallow period since 2016, the two parted ways before the 2026 season.
- The Gophers must also find ways to replace important members of their previous core who went pro in the most recent PWHL draft.
- General Manager Jessica Scott detailed this transition and the reasons for optimism in the Gopher camp under the direction of new Head Coach Greg “Boom” May, who has led the team to a strong 7-1 start.
There is no college athletic program that better embodies Minnesota’s “State of Hockey” moniker than the women’s ice hockey team at the University of Minnesota.
Throughout the 2010s, Ridder Arena was the center of the sport. The Gophers were setting the gold standard in women’s college hockey. Their run included a 41-win perfect season in 2012-2013 and four NCAA Championships.
Over the last few years, however, the program’s dominance started to wane. While the Gophers remained regulars in the NCAA tournament, cracks were evident in their postseason play, chipping away at their dynasty.
By 2025, the harsh reality cast a shadow over the program that became increasingly difficult to overlook. Minnesota had not made a National Championship game appearance since 2019 and had not won an NCAA National Championship since winning back-to-back championships in 2015 and 2016.
Year after year, the Gophers saw their Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) rivals, Wisconsin and Ohio State, surpass them, falling from their clear top spot in the WCHA down to third place. For a program used to winning, falling short of the ultimate goal is unusual territory.
The frustration finally reached its boiling point at the end of the 2025-2026 season following another early exit from the NCAA tournament. Athletic Director Mark Coyle opted not to renew longtime head coach Brad Frost’s contract, ending his tenure with the Gophers.
Finding Frost’s replacement would be no easy feat. Frost served 19 seasons as the Gophers' head coach, winning four National Championships, over 500 games in total, and leading the team through that historic undefeated season.
“He will always be one of the best parts of Gopher women's hockey forever," says General Manager Jessica Scott, who served as assistant coach under Frost. "Does [the recent postseason struggles] fall on his shoulders individually? As a staff member, of course not. But at the end of the day, what we're paid to do at this level is to win, and so that change was very difficult."
In the end, it was Associate Head Coach Greg “Boom” May that Athletic Director Coyle would call on to return the Gophers to National Championship form. May didn't waste any time. During his introductory press conference, he began addressing the gap between Minnesota and other conference leaders, Ohio State and Wisconsin.
"Both those two programs have clear identities, to me,” May said. “I feel like that's been something that we're missing right now: A clear identity of who we are and what we're about as a team."
While acknowledging the solid foundations built over the years, May made it clear that simply being in the national conversation isn't enough at Ridder Arena.
"We're close, and we have been close, but close isn't what we want here at Minnesota,” May said. “There are some changes that have to be made to make sure that we get over the hump."
A major coaching change always brings a degree of turbulence. Following the announcement, three recruits decommitted. Coaching changes can also create a mass exodus to the transfer portal among active players who bought into the previous coach's vision.
Minnesota avoided major losses to the transfer portal and retained most players from last year’s team. “Anytime you have a coaching change—much less a coaching change with a literal legend in our sport—the risk of a player departure spike is high,” Scott emphasized. “For us to not have any players [transfer], I think that says a lot about Boom and where they think his leadership can help them.”
Still, some losses are simply unavoidable. The Gophers saw a wave of elite talent depart for the PWHL Draft, leaving huge holes in the lineup. Especially challenging to replace is the exit of cornerstone co-captains forward Abbey Murphy and defender Nelli Laitinen, and WCHA Defender of the Year finalist Sydney Morrow.
The program now leans heavily on returning leadership to fill the holes left by the stars who went pro. Featuring phenom defenseman Chloe Primerano, forward Bella Fanale, and veteran leader Madison Kaiser, the roster blends high-end talent with structural depth.
The program’s multi-line capability and resilience were tested immediately against number-one-ranked Ohio State. Scott pointed out how important to their success it is for new faces to integrate seamlessly into the game.
"This freshman group has really come in and proven to be ready right out of the gate, which always helps too,” Scott said. “So, again, just that depth is immeasurable."
That depth manifested in high-leverage moments on the ice, such as a fierce early-season battle against the nation's top-ranked team.
"We are down three-nothing against Ohio State,” Scott said.“We have Maddie McCullough get us on the board, followed by Avery Hovland, and those two at the time played on the “fourth line,” so we got two fourth-line goals… against the number one team in the country to get us back in it."
For Scott, moments like that showcase the resilience central to Gopher culture.
“That's just something that you can't manufacture,” said Scott. “When you have that kind of depth, and you have that kind of belief up and down your lineup, you're going to be really, really hard to beat."
The Gophers are currently 7-1-0, with their only loss coming during a two-game split with No. 1-ranked Ohio State. Expectations remain high, with everyone hoping that this new era of leadership can guide the Gophers out of their decade-long championship drought.