DULUTH, Minn. - The University of Wisconsin women's hockey team's bid for a third-straight national championship took the form of a six-foot putt to win a golf tournament on the 18th green.
That's how Badger head coach Mark Johnson described his team's 4-0 loss to the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs in the NCAA Frozen Four championship game Saturday before a passionate crowd at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center.
The ball lipped out of the hole, representing a day in which the breaks did not bend in Wisconsin's favor.
Duluth gained momentum in the final minute of the first period when freshman forward Haley Irwin banged home a loose puck for a controversial goal and a 1-0 lead. Johnson said he heard a whistle from an official before the puck entered the net. Wisconsin junior goaltender Jessie Vetter confirmed that she, too, heard a whistle. The goal stood after a long review, which led to an unusual and extended protest by Johnson to referee Scott Leavitt at the end of the first period.
Down on their luck, the Badgers were unable to respond to the adversity against Duluth as they had in the previous two tournament games against Harvard and Minnesota, when they struck back quickly after entering a period trailing by a goal. Each chance the Badgers created offensively was shut down by Bulldog sophomore goaltender Kim Martin, who won the tournament's Most Outstanding Player award, making 28 saves against Wisconsin and 69 stops overall in the Frozen Four.
As a result of Martin's prowess and a slew of strong rushes at the other end of the ice, the Bulldogs made it 2-0 on a power play in the second period when sophomore forward Emmanuelle Blais backhanded the puck past Vetter just past the midway point of the game.
Duluth junior forward Sara O'Toole scored a shorthanded goal later in the second period, and senior forward and team captain Karine Demuele capped her career by scoring an empty net goal in the third period after Johnson pulled Vetter in an attempt to generate offensive pressure with three minutes remaining.
I definitely thought it would be a close game,"" Vetter said, acknowledging Martin's impressive performance. ""We had our chances but we just didn't capitalize.""
Bulldog head coach Shannon Miller boasted prior to Saturday's game about an unspecified weakness she had spotted within Wisconsin that she planned to have her team exploit. It appeared after the championship game that Miller's players responded to the instructions.
""I'm hoping [the weakness] is still there next year,"" Miller said, adding that her team did a great job of cashing in on the Badgers' shortcoming.
A search for the Badgers' alleged defect displays one glaring result: their power play. Wisconsin was scoreless in 10 chances with the man-advantage.
""The most challenging part of a power play is to get the puck in the offensive zone under control,"" Johnson said. ""We just had a real difficult time bringing the puck into the offensive zone.""
The game served as a measure of redemption for Duluth, which lost to Wisconsin 4-1 in last season's NCAA finals. For Julie Chu, a Bulldog assistant coach who played for Harvard when it lost to Wisconsin 1-0 in four overtimes in last season's NCAA quarterfinal, Saturday's game was also special.
""To be able to win it as a coach is awesome,"" Chu said. ""[In the first year] you expect to battle a little bit and maybe hopefully in your lifetime you get a national win. I was able to do it in my first year with a great team.""
Senior forward Jinelle Zaugg's career ends similarly to Chu's, with a loss in the NCAA Tournament, but reflected upon the improvements the program has made in her four seasons as a Badger.
""We have to hang our heads high. We played a great season,"" Zaugg said, who exits Wisconsin as a two-time national champion and its all-time leading goal scorer with 89. ""I've had a great four years.""
