Getty The Wisconsin Badgers and the Minnesota Gophers class in the NCAA Women's Frozen Four.
The Wisconsin Badgers take on the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the NCAA Women’s Frozen Four at AMSOIL Arena in Duluth, Minnesota on Friday, March 17.
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The game (7 p.m. ET start time) won’t be on TV, but you can watch Minnesota vs Wisconsin live on ESPN+ right here:
ESPN+ includes both women’s Frozen Four games and Sunday’s national championship, plus dozens of other live sports, every 30-for-30 documentary and additional original content (both video and written) for $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year (or $13.99 per month for a bundle of all three of ESPN+, Disney+ and Hulu).
Once signed up for ESPN+, you can watch Minnesota vs Wisconsin live on the ESPN app or ESPN.com.
Compatible devices for the ESPN app include Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation 4 or 5, Xbox One or Series X/S, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), Samsung Smart TV, Oculus Go, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet.
Minnesota vs Wisconsin Women’s Frozen Four Preview
The Badgers are appearing in their eighth Frozen Four over the past nine years after beating No. 3 Colgate in the regionals, 4-2. Nicole LaMantia, Casey O’Brien, Vivian Jungels and Laila Edwards each scored for the Badgers.
“I’m really proud of the group,” Wisconsin head coach Mark Johnson said about his squad. “We had some adversity in the middle part of the season. It’s no different than a lot of the teams I’ve been a part of, either as a player or a coach. It’s a long season and you’re going to have good nights, you’re going to have opportunities to have success and you’re also going to have some adversity. The big thing is how do you navigate through that and how to come out of it in a positive light.”
The Badgers have several standouts, including freshman defender and WCHA Rookie of the Year Caroline Harvey, who led all rookies with 12 goals and 26 assists on the season.
The Badgers are 2-1-2 against the Golden Gophers this season, and Wisconsin has won its last two games against Minnesota in the NCAA tournament. The Badgers lost to the Gophers recently on March 4, falling 2-4 in the WCHA Final FaceOff, and that loss may be motivating Wisconsin.
“It makes a big game even bigger,” UW senior captain Britta Curl told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about the matchup against Minnesota. “I think that’s exciting, especially when you’ve played someone so many times. There’s a really small margin for error, so it pushes both teams to be better and I think the fans are going to see a really close and competitive game.”
The Gophers got to the Frozen Four after a 3-0 victory over Minnesota Duluth in the regional semifinals. Madeline Wethington scored in the second period, skating up from her defensive slot to get a goal, while Abbey Murphy and Catie Skaja also had goals for the Gophers. Goalie Skylar Vetter had another standout game, finishing with 30 saves and her seventh shutout of the year.
“Thrilled for our team and the opportunity to get back to Duluth and get back to the Frozen Four. It’s been a while for our group,” Gophers coach Brad Frost said. “So happy for them. This is an amazing opportunity. It wasn’t easy here tonight. We knew it would be a great game against Duluth, and they gave us all we could handle … Really excited about next week.”
The winning team will move on to face the winner of the Ohio State/Northeastern matchup.