For the third straight season, WCHA rivals Wisconsin and Ohio State will battle for the NCAA women’s hockey national championship.
Fired, then rehired, Wisconsin federal workers feel in limbo
Wisconsin Badgers
Wisconsin vs Ohio State photos from NCAA women’s hockey championship
Wisconsin knocks off Minnesota again, sets up women’s hockey championship rematch with Ohio State
Dave Kallmann Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Show Caption
MINNEAPOLIS – For the third straight season, WCHA rivals Wisconsin and Ohio State will battle for the NCAA women’s hockey national championship.
Wisconsin, chasing for a record-extending eighth title, overcame an early deficit and got big plays from three stars to pull away for a 6-2 victory over Minnesota in a sometimes chippy second Frozen Four semifinal Friday night at Ridder Arena.
Junior right wing Laila Edwards scored a hat trick, junior defender Caroline Harvey came back from a nasty hit to put the Badgers ahead and fifth-year center Casey O’Brien had a critical goal and set one more school record.
One of the three will pick up a trophy Saturday; they’re the finalists for the Patty Kazmaier Award presented by USA Hockey to the top women’s college player.
“It’s an opportunity for these kids,” Badgers coach Mark Johnson said. “They’ve earned everything that has been thrown their way. They’ve been consistent. They’ve played well all year, and we’ve always had this bullseye, especially this year, right in front of us, and everybody comes after us.
“It’s difficult. So I give them a lot of credit for staying in tune with it, figuring out ways to win games. Getting to the last game of the season, it’s hard to do from up here.”
Wisconsin got off to a slow start against Minnesota
After failing to capitalize on a five-minute major penalty to frequent foil Abbey Murphy for an elbow to Harvey early in the first period, UW fell behind when Minnesota right wing Peyton Hemp scored a rebound goal at 14:14 of the first period.
But Edwards tied the score three minutes later with a blast from the left circle while sophomore defender Ava Murphy was serving a two-minute minor for hooking. The goal was her team-leading third short-hander.
“We stayed level headed,” Edwards said. “(Harvey) makes a great stop, gets up to me. I gave it to Casey, you know, she’s obviously a threat. So she pushed her D back, gave to me, just took a shot.
“It was huge, because we are still in it. We don’t go down early too often, so when we did it was a little unsettling, but we took care of business.”
The second period was big for the Badgers
UW scored three times in a wide-open second period.
Harvey’s goal at 2:52 gave the Badgers their first lead, but just as importantly drove home the point that she was OK after the hit. She had gotten up slowly and skated gingerly to the bench before heading directly down the tunnel toward the dressing room.
“When I saw the reaction after she got hit she was trying to find herself,” Johnson said. “And then finally she gets to our bench, I figured she was going to be done for the night. … But then I look a few minutes later, and she’s out there, and it’s like, OK, this is good.
“And then I thought, between the first and second, we might get some news that she might not be able to go, but everything was positive after that. And, you know, and then she scores a big goal there, and so that gets her excited.”
The Badgers’ Kirsten Simms and Gophers’ Josefin Bouveng swapped goals in the middle of the period, and then O’Brien connected with two seconds left in the period to give UW a 4-2 lead.
O’Brien scored on a rush down the right side while Gophers center Ella Huber was down on the ice at the other end.
With the goal and two previous assists, O’Brien reached 88 points for the season, breaking Meghan Duggan’s program record. O’Brien already was the program’s all-time leading scorer, having passed Hilary Knight three weeks ago.
“I was just focused on contributing as much as I could to the team’s success,” O’Brien said. “And yeah, it’s cool, but that’s not what the focus is on. It’s the team and the next game.”
Laila Edwards finishes the job for Wisconsin
Edwards scored the final two Badgers goals in the third period.
The first came at 4:22 on a pass from sophomore left wing Kelly Gorbatenko in front of Minnesota freshman goaltender Hannah Clark. Then she completed the hat trick at 18:41 with Clark out, stealing a pass at center ice and skating toward the net for an easy score.
“I’m living my dream right now, and playing the sport I love with the people I love,” Edwards said. “And if you look at all three of my goals, they started with someone else’s hard work and just smart hockey.
“So it’s a lot of fun, and we’re really excited for the next game.”
What’s next in the women’s Frozen Four?
Wisconsin (37-1-2) plays Ohio State (29-7-3) in the championship game scheduled for 3 p.m. Sunday.
The reigning champion Buckeyes beat Cornell, 4-2, in the early game.
UW and Ohio State have split the past two championship games, each by 1-0 scores.
Coming into the Frozen Four, Ohio State was the only team to have beat Wisconsin this season. The Buckeyes won, 3-2, in Columbus, Ohio, on Nov. 16. The teams also played to a 3-3 tie at Wrigley Field, after which Ohio State won a shootout for the extra point in the WCHA standings.
Johnson, who often uses golf analogies, went to the course again to describe the Badgers’ position.
“We just birdied 17,” he said. “We birdie 18, we’re there.”
