The University of Wisconsin women’s hockey team (35-1-2, 25-1-2 WCHA) won their second straight WCHA Championship, this time in a 4-3 thriller against the Minnesota Golden Gophers (28-11-1, 19-8-1) Saturday, March 8.
Senior Sarah Wozniewicz scored the winning goal with under 30 seconds to give the Badgers their 11th WCHA title and ninth straight victory over the Gophers. With the victory, the Badgers secured the No. 1 seed in the upcoming NCAA Championships and are set to face the winner of Clarkson and Boston University.
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How it happened
The first 10 minutes of the first period were largely dominated by Minnesota, who outshot the Badgers 7-2 before junior Kirsten Simms picked up the puck in the center circle and skated down the right-hand side. Simms faked a shot before calmly sliding the puck towards the back post where fifth year Casey O’Brien waited to tap the puck into an open net.
With the assist, Simms tied fellow Badger, junior Laila Edwards, with 65 points this season, the second-most in the NCAA behind O’Brien’s 83.
But, to the dismay of the Badgers, the lead would only last for 20 seconds. A rare defensive miscommunication allowed Gophers graduate student Audrey Wethington to recover the puck and pass to junior Allie Franco. Franco fired a shot from deep that skipped past four Badger defenders and sophomore goaltender Ava McNaughton into the back of the net to tie the game at one-all.
The first period still was not over — with just over three minutes remaining, the Gophers quickly broke on a 3-on-2 fast-break. Junior Josefin Bouveng skated down the right-hand side and faked a pass across the face of the net before placing a shot just beyond the right arm of McNaughton, giving the Gophers the 2-1 lead.
As the horn sounded to make the end of the first period, the Badgers found themselves down 12-8 in shots and 2-1 on the scoreboard, and needed to recover quickly if they wanted to get back into the game.
Recover is exactly what the Badgers did, getting on the scoreboard with their second shot of the period, only 42 seconds in. O’Brien found herself with her back to the net on the right flank and crossed the puck right in front of the net. Junior Vivian Jungels found herself in a pocket of space, put her head down and fired the puck into the top-right corner for her fourth goal of the season.
Now tied at two apiece, both teams continued to create opportunities and test the goalies, combining for 32 total shots before the Badgers regained the lead eight minutes into the second period.
Freshman Emma Venusio, who scored her first collegiate goal in the semifinal win over Minnesota Duluth the night before, lifted the puck high into the air over two Gophers attackers and into the path of fellow freshman Maggie Scannell.
The two Minnesota defenders in front of Scannell couldn’t get the puck out from under them and Scannell poked the puck past them and skated around them, flicking a shot past Minnesota’s freshman goaltender Hannah Clark.
Now with the lead, the Badgers looked to close out the game and secure the championship victory, but Minnesota would not go away so easily. With a minute and a half left in the second period, the referees sent redshirt senior Lacey Eden to the penalty box for a two-minute body checking penalty.
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The Gophers took advantage of the extra skater, possessing the puck and building the pressure on the Badger defense. Only 40 seconds into the power play, Minnesota senior Ella Huber passed the puck to fifth-year Natalie Mlynkova behind the net. Mlynkova fought off the Badger defender and scooped the puck around the net to tie the game at three-all.
Neither team conceded entering the third period, but solid defensive play stifled any opportunity for a goal, despite another power play opportunity for the Gophers. No one broke the deadlock until the final 30 seconds, when Minnesota was called for icing, leading to a face off in their defensive third.
O’Brien lined up for the face off, which she won and passed the puck back to Eden. Eden tested a shot, which bounced off the back wall onto the stick of O’Brien. O’Brien collected the puck, spun around and passed the puck behind her back to a waiting Wozniewicz.
Wozniewicz, who already had eight goals on the season, simply could not miss the golden opportunity, slapping the one-timer into the net, giving Clark no chance to make a save and giving the Badgers the go-ahead goal with 24.5 seconds remaining.
As the horn sounded to confirm the Badgers as WCHA Final FaceOff champions, every Badger on the ice and bench swarmed to celebrate with McNaughton, who made 31 saves on the night, the third-most she’s made this season.
What’s next?
Playoff excitement does not end for the Badgers this season, as they earned the No. 1 seed in the 11-team NCAA Championship, which runs from March 13-23 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
As the No. 1 seed, the Badgers received a bye to the Regional Final and will face off against the winner between Clarkson and Boston University March 15 at 2 p.m.
The Badgers have faced the Boston University Terriers five times, winning all five between 2011-2015 and outscoring them 23-3. The Badgers also have a strong record against Clarkson, winning five of the seven matchups all-time, most recently winning 3-1 in 2022.