DURHAM, N.H. — On the big Olympic-sized sheet of ice at UNH’s Whittemore Center, two fast, offensive-minded hockey teams will take a run at each other Sunday for the women’s national championship when undefeated and top-ranked Boston College meets powerhouse and Frozen Four royalty Minnesota.
The Eagles (40-0-0) are playing in their first final, while five-time and defending champion Minnesota (34-4-1), No. 3 in the nation, is playing for its third title in four years.
But there are a lot of similarities between the squads. The only other team to have an unbeaten stretch like BC’s is Minnesota. BC’s 40 wins are second most in a season in NCAA history — second to the 41-0-0 Minnesota team of 2012-13, which won the national championship.
Nonetheless, both coaches said just getting to the game is tough.
“After we won, it didn’t really matter who we were going to play,’’ said BC coach Katie Crowley, whose team had to come back from a two-goal deficit in its semifinal against Clarkson to gain a 3-2 victory in overtime.
Minnesota, too, was forced to overtime before getting past WCHA rival Wisconsin, 3-2. It was the first time in NCAA history that both semifinal games went to overtime.
“Both those teams [Minnesota and Wisconsin] are great,’’ said Crowley. “They’ve both had great years, they have phenomenal players on their teams. I thought it was going to be a great game no matter who we played.
“I think it makes for a great story when it’s Minnesota, the situation that we’re in. I think our kids are just pumped to be in this game and really showcase what they can do.’’
“You want to make sure you get to that last game, and that’s the hard part,’’ said Minnesota coach Brad Frost. “I thought Boston College showed some great resiliency being down, 2-0, and to come back and win that one, so I would imagine we’ll get their best game, and we’re hoping to give them our best as well.’’
Crowley said her team’s rally in the semifinal was a demonstration of its character.
“It’s great the way they handled that adversity, and being able to come back just attributes to the kind of team we have right now,’’ Crowley said. “They’re a team that sticks with it, they don’t get down on each other, they don’t get down on themselves, they just keep fighting. I think that can only help moving forward.’’
BC and Minnesota have high-powered offenses. BC leads the nation with an average 5.30 goals per game, while Minnesota is No. 2 at 4.72. They’re well-matched at the other end, too, as BC is third in team defense, allowing an average of 1.20 goals per game, and Minnesota is fourth (1.28).
“We’re very similar teams,’’ said Crowley.
Eagle Alex Carpenter leads the nation in scoring (88 points in 40 games) and linemate Haley Skarupa, who connected for the winner against Clarkson, is third with 79 points. At Nos. 4 and 5 are Minnesota’s Dani Cameranesi (68 points) and Hannah Brandt (63). The wild card for the Golden Gophers is 2013 Patty Kazmaier Award winner Amanda Kessel, who returned to the ice in February after missing two years with post-concussion symptoms. She’s dangerous.
One more relevant offensive stat is the power play: Minnesota has the top unit, scoring 43.4 percent of the time, more than 10 percentage points better than any other team. BC, whose penalty kill is 91.4 percent successful, must stay out of the penalty box.
But the biggest pile of statistics can’t determine how the game will go between teams that have not played each other. The only opponent they have in common is Duluth, which BC beat twice early in the season and Minnesota handled four times. Not many clues there.
“We’re excited to be there, we’re excited to play a real good Boston College team, a team that’s built a lot like us,’’ said Frost. “They’ve got some difference-makers up front and along the blue line, as we do, so it should be a great matchup.
“We don’t have last change [top-seeded BC is the home team], so we’re just going to play and let them worry about the matchups and see if we can’t win our shifts. It’s a lot of space, which should make it very entertaining.’’
