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82 Americans To Compete in 2023 NCAA Women’s Frozen Four This Weekend

By USA Hockey, 03/14/23, 2:00PM EDT

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Semifinals set for Friday; Championship game on Sunday in Duluth, Minn.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The 2023 NCAA Women’s Frozen Four will feature 82 American players across the four participating teams competing this weekend for a national title.

The NCAA Women’s Frozen Four begins Friday (March 17) at AMSOIL Arena in Duluth, Minn., with Northeastern University facing off against Ohio State University at 3:30 p.m. ET, followed by the University of Wisconsin taking on the University of Minnesota at 7 p.m. ET. Both games will be aired live on ESPN+ with Clay Matvick, A.J. Mleczko and Hilary Knight calling the action.

The 2023 national champion will be crowned Sunday, with puck drop slated for 4 p.m. ET on ESPNU.

USA HOCKEY EXPERIENCE

A total of 39 players have represented the United States in international competition, with Wisconsin defender Caroline Harvey (Salem, N.H.) and forward Jesse Compher (Northbrook, Ill.) competing alongside Minnesota forwards Abbey Murphy (Evergreen Park, Ill.) and Grace Zumwinkle (Excelsior, Minn.) at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games, bringing home a silver medal.


2022 U.S. Women's Olympic Team

Additionally, Harvey, Compher and Zumwinkle skated with Lacey Eden (Annapolis, Md./University of Wisconsin) and Taylor Heise (Lake City, Minn./University of Minnesota) at the 2022 International Ice Hockey Federation Women’s World Championship where the U.S. earned the silver medal. Out of all U.S. players competing this weekend, a total of 35 players have represented the U.S. at either the IIHF Under-18 Women’s World Championship or Women’s World Championship, combining to win eight medals (four gold, four silver).

Among the tournament participants, six helped U.S. to the silver medal at the 2022 IIHF Under-18 Women’s World Championship in Madison, Wis., including Laila Edwards (Cleveland Heights, Ohio/University of Wisconsin), Claire Enright (Lakeville, Minn./University of Wisconsin), Madison Kaiser (Andover, Minn./University of Minnesota), Sydney Morrow (Darien, Conn./Ohio State University), Emma Peschel (Edina, Minn./Ohio State University) and Kirsten Simms (Plymouth, Mich./University of Wisconsin).

A total of 23 participants have appeared in at least one Under-18 Series as part of the U.S. Under-18 Women’s Select Team, 14 have competed in a Collegiate Series (formerly Under-22 Series) with the U.S. Collegiate Select Team and nine skated against Canada in the 2022-23 Rivalry Series for the U.S. Women’s National Team.

STATE BREAKDOWN

Collectively, 16 states will be represented by players in the Frozen Four, including California (2), Colorado (2), Connecticut (3), Illinois (6), Maryland (1), Massachusetts (9), Michigan (5), Minnesota (36), Missouri (2), New Hampshire (3), New York (5), North Dakota (1), Ohio (4), Pennsylvania (1), Vermont (1) and Wisconsin (1).

FROZEN FOUR STAFF NOTES

All four coaching staffs in the Frozen Four have American ties, notably University of Wisconsin head coach Mark Johnson, who’s served on seven U.S. coaching staffs in international play, including as head coach of the 2010 Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Team that won a silver medal and the 2009-10 U.S. Women’s National Team during its pre-Olympic run. He was in the same role when Team USA won gold at both the 2009 IIHF Women’s World Championship and Under-18 Women’s World Championship. Johnson also served as head coach of the 2008 Women’s Under-18 Select Team, 2007 Women’s Under-22 Select Team, 2007 Women’s National Team that took home silver at the 2007 IIHF World Women’s Championship and 2006 Women’s Team that finished second at the 2006 Four Nations Cup. Additionally, he served as an assistant coach of the U.S. Men’s National Team at both the 2002 and 2000 Men’s World Championships and was also an assistant coach at the 2001 U.S. Olympic Men's Ice Hockey Orientation Camp. As a player, he wore the red, white and blue on 13 occasions, including at the 1980 Olympic Winter Games and in eight IIHF Men’s World Championships.

Dave Flint, head coach at Northeastern, served as goaltending coach for the U.S. Women’s National Team that earned a gold medal at the 2008 IIHF Women’s World Championship and a silver medal at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Flint also served as an assistant coach to the U.S. Select Team that placed second in the Four Nations Cup in 2009. University of Minnesota head coach Brad Frost has also sat behind the U.S. bench in international competition, including as an assistant coach at the 2008 Four Nations Cup, where the U.S. clinched the title, and at the 2006 Under-22 Series vs. Canada. In addition, Frost has worked various development camps for USA Hockey.

Natalie Darwitz, assistant coach at the University of Minnesota, also has an extensive resume representing the U.S. on the international stage. She is a three-time Olympian (silver-2002, bronze-2006, 2010) and eight-time member of the U.S. Women's National Team at the IIHF Women's World Championship (gold-2005, 2008-09; silver-1999-01, 2004, 2007). Darwitz also played for Team USA at the Four/Three Nations Cup (1st-2003, 2008; 2nd-1998, 2004, 2006-07), Women's Under-22 Series with Canada (1999-00, 2003-04) and is a ten-time USA Hockey Women's National Festival participant (1998-2001, 2003-05, 2007-09).

Other notable staff members of the competing teams in the 2023 Women’s Frozen Four with connections to USA Hockey include Lindsay Berman, assistant coach at Northeastern University, and Jessica Scott, assistant coach at the University of Minnesota. Berman served as an assistant coach for the 2023 U.S. Under-18 Women's National Team and Scott worked on the U.S.’ hockey operations staff at the 2022 IIHF Under-18 Women's World Championship, has earned USA Hockey's Level Five Coach Certification and has coached at USA Hockey's National Camps.

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