As the NCAA women’s hockey season winds down, writers Gabriella Fundaro and William Whyte are taking an in-depth look at how each team has shaped up in 2018-19. It’s time to look at the two WCHA teams that were in the national conversation all year but didn’t quite manage to qualify for the tournament.

Minnesota-Duluth

Gabriella: The Bulldogs were something of a puzzle this season, no? They started off the year on quite the high, sweeping highly-touted Boston College at home, and from there, it was seemingly all down, then up, then down again. Example: they swept a ranked Ohio State team one weekend in January, then split with an offensively hurting Quinnipiac team the next. With 2.63 goals per game, they ranked 13th in the country, and their top-nine forwards were always exciting to watch. A young defensive corps and some uncharacteristically average goaltending from junior Maddie Rooney ultimately did them in, though. When they last made the NCAA Tournament, Rooney was a huge part of their success. Is it fair to say that regression from her made the difference this year?