Clarkson Women's Hockey will make their 12th appearance in the NCAA Championships when they host the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers on Saturday at Cheel Arena. The Gophers are making their 21st showing at the NCAA Tourney, the most of any team in the 11 team field. 

The Knights will feature the ECAC Defender of the Year, Nicole Gosling, the ECAC Goalie of the Year, Michelle Pasiechnyk, and the ECAC Coach of the Year, Matt Desrosiers. Gosling and Pasiechnyk were First Team All ECAC, Haley Winn was named Second Team All ECAC, Dominique Petrie was Third Team All ECAC, and Keira Hurry was named to the ECAC All Rookie Team. 

The NCAA Field has been narrowed down to an ECAC vs WCHA showdown as Minn-Duluth, Cornell, and St. Lawrence advanced on Thursday.

Clarkson is 6-3 all time in the NCAA Quarterfinal Round and 4-0 in those games played at Cheel.  Clarkson and Minnesota score at a pretty similar clip. The Gophers have 2 more total points this season than the Knights. They are tied in the assists category, and Minnesota has 2 more goals scored than the Knights. Both teams had a game high of 9 goals this season. The Knights hit that mark twice in wins over Dartmouth and Harvard. The Gophers dropped 9 goals on Bemidji St twice this year.

There are two good family connections between Minnesota and Clarkson. Head Coach of the Gophers, Brad Frost, is the brother of Clarkson Men's Hockey Athletic Trainer, Rob Frost. Also, Gophers Forward, Josey Dunne has a name that will ring familiar with Knights fans, she is the sister of former Men's Hockey Star, Josh Dunne. Josh had 29 goals in 3 seasons with the Knights and now is under contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets

Today's game can be streamed on ESPN+ and heard on B99.3 FM