NCAA DI Tournament 2025: Regional Finals Wrap Up

We have two regionals to go over in this wrap up. Minnesota hoped to punch their ticket to a 16th Frozen Four appearance while Minnesota Duluth and Cornell’s goalie duel would make the path to the next round that much more difficult.

Minneapolis Regional:

Minnesota (WCHA) 3 vs. Colgate (ECAC) 2

The Gophers hosted Colgate at Ridder arena where the Frozen Four and National Championship game will take place. Minnesota struck early in this game. Five minutes in Abbey Murphy found the back of the net on the power play for a 1-0 lead. That was her seventh power play of the season and 32nd goal of the season.

In the second period on another power play, Ella Huber found Murphy who ripped the shot around the near post and scored. That was Murphy’s second goal of the night and her fourth multi-goal game in postseason play.

Later in the period, The Gophers extended their lead with a lucky bounce that went off the post and off Colgate goaltender Hannah Murphy’s back and into the net. Sydney Morrow scored against her former school for a 3-0 lead midway through the game.

The Gophers began the third on the power play but couldn’t convert again. Then less than three  minutes into the period the Raiders went on the power play and special teams really had a night as Elyssa Biederman got Colgate on the board. 3-1 lead now.

The teams traded chances in the following minutes but with nine minutes left, the Raiders made it a close game with a tally from Avery Pickering who managed to get a long rebound and score. Her third goal of the season. The lead now sits at one for the Gophers.

Colgate pulled the goalie with a minute and a half left in the game and had good chances from Kristýna Kaltounková, Bierderman, and Emma Pais but no one was able to even the score. The Gophers advance with a 3-2 win.

Player of Note:

Abbey Murphy has been playing so well since the WCHA postseason began and now into the NCAA playoffs. She recorded two power play goals in this game and it looks like she’s hit a hot streak at the perfect time for the Gophers. After recording her fourth multi-goal game of the playoffs, she’s definitely someone opponents will have to shut down moving forward.

Up Next:

Minnesota advances to their 16th Frozen Four appearance. They will face top-seeded Wisconsin for the sixth edition of the border battle at Ridder Arena. It is the second time in three weeks the two will meet in postseason play.

Ithaca Regional:

Minnesota Duluth (WHCA) 0 vs. Cornell (ECAC) 1

In New York, Cornell was coming off a one week break since they won the ECAC Championship while UMD played in the first round on Thursday to make it to Saturday’s game. These two teams met in the 2010 NCAA Championship where the game ended with a Duluth title win with 33 seconds left in triple overtime. It felt like this game might see overtime too with two Goaltender of the Year winners in net for each team.

The game started off with a power play chance for the Bulldogs within the first five minutes of the game but they faced a Big Red team that is ranked seventh in penalty kill. Duluth wasn’t able to make anything out of that chance. The game remained scoreless.

With three minutes to go, Cornell went on the power play but they were also unable to get anything past goaltender Ève Gascon. Big Red had two chances at the end of the period but Duluth’s defense blocked them both. Still 0-0.

In the second period, Cornell carried the momentum in the first few minutes including a backhanded attempt by Avi Adam who was stopped by Gascon after trying to sneak the puck short side.

Olivia Wallin, who has been playing well for the Bulldogs in the postseason, had a chance with five minutes left but goaltender Annelies Bergmann made the stop. With three minutes left Wallin had another good chance but nothing came of it. The period ended scoreless. Duluth had 18 shots on goal while Cornell had 16 through two periods.

This game turned into whoever scores first will most likely win the game. And Big Red seemed to have known that. Less than four minutes into the third, Alyssa Regalado threw the puck to the front of the net and it went off a Bulldogs’ skate and in for a 1-0 lead.

With that lead, Cornell played incredible defense the rest of the way. They blocked shots while Bergmann made sure to make stops of her own. Duluth went on a power play with more than two minutes left in the game. Clara Van Wieren had a shot that went through traffic in front of the net and was blocked. UMD then put on the extra attacker while on the power play. Olivia Mobley had two good shots in the final minute but Bergmann stopped both. Then, with 16 seconds left, Bergmann made a huge save, While everyone rushed the net to stop Duluth from having another chance, the freshman held her ground for her NCAA-leading 10th shutout of the season and the 1-0 win for Big Red’s first trip to the Frozen Four since 2019.

Player of Note:

I have to give it to Annelies Bergmann, who was sensational in this game. She made 28 saves and was honestly the last line of defense for a Cornell blue line that was lights out themselves. She helped Big Red defeat the Bulldogs for the first time ever and now has 10 shutouts on the season, two more than any of the other goaltenders in the Frozen Four. Some fans had a sign behind the net with a drawing of a goat that read “🐐 = Bergmann” and I have to agree. 

Up Next:

Cornell will face Ohio State on Friday in Minneapolis. The teams have faced each other seven times since 2000 with the latest meeting a non conference game in October where the Buckeyes won 7-3.

Programming Notes for the Frozen Four:

Location: Ridder Arena, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Puck Drop: Friday, March 21st

Game times: Game one between Cornell and Ohio State at 5 PM EST and game two of the night between Wisconsin and Minnesota at 8:30 PM EST

Stream to Watch: The games will be available in the U.S. on ESPN+, linked here