Ridder Arena Becomes “Home Away From Home” for UMD Women’s Hockey Team Ahead of Playoff Match-Up Against Minnesota

Puck drop for Saturday's WCHA Final Faceoff at Ridder Arena is set for 1 p.m.

DULUTH, Minn. – More than half of the UMD women’s hockey team roster is from the Twin Cities area.

That’s why while their favorite place to play is of course Amsoil Arena, their home away from home is definitely Ridder Arena in Minneapolis, which is the site of this weekend’s WCHA Frozen Faceoff semi-finals between the Bulldogs and the Gophers. This week, the players spoke about what it means to come back to an arena they all grew up playing in.

“The atmosphere’s amazing. And it’s usually filled with a lot of our fans too, because so many of us coming from the cities. We have our parents there, grandparents and siblings. So I always love going there and be able to have my grandparents watch me,” said senior forward Taylor Anderson.

“I remember we were down at Ridder, we write notes to each other before every game. Kleiner [senior Anna Klein] was writing to me and she’s like, ‘let’s show who the real maroon and gold is’. And I was like that sat with me and I was like, wow. Yeah, I want to be the the top maroon and gold team in the state,” senior forward Naomi Rogge said.

UMD is coming off a thrilling quarterfinal series that saw them take Game 3 in overtime over Minnesota State Mankato. Head coach Maura Crowell expects the excitement from that win to carry over into this upcoming weekend.

“I think we’re feeling really good and we’re really excited about the future here. Playing Minnesota, hopefully playing for a championship on Sunday and going to the NCAA tournament and trying to do great things. So there’s a lot of exciting hockey for us and and we’re all very excited for it,” Crowell said.

Puck drop Saturday at Ridder Arena is set for 1 p.m.