MINNEAPOLIS—Cardinal and white were joined on the ice by the silver gleam of a trophy at Ridder Arena Sunday afternoon.
After ousting No. 3 Minnesota-Duluth 3-1 in Saturday's WCHA Final Face-Off semifinal, the Wisconsin women's hockey team took down No. 1 Minnesota to snag its third WCHA playoff title in four years.
Despite being in an early 1-0 hole against the Bulldogs, the Badgers clawed back with a pair of second-period goals. After killing penalties for the better part of 10 minutes to begin the period, the Wisconsin power play finally got an opportunity of its own with just over four minutes left, and it took full advantage. Senior defender Alycia Matthews recorded her third goal of the year on a slap shot from the blue line to tie the game at 1-1.
With less than a minute and a half to go before the second intermission, junior forward Jasmine Giles put the Badgers up for good. After receiving a last-second pass from freshman forward Brooke Ammerman, Giles fired a shot from the deep left wing and ricocheted the puck off the far post for a 2-1 lead.
""Somebody started yelling before it even went in, so I just turned around and celebrated my head off,"" Giles said. ""It squeaked past the far post, and I just went crazy.""
Wisconsin junior forward and assistant captain Meghan Duggan added an insurance goal late in the third period to secure the 3-1 win.
On paper, Sunday's championship game had all the makings of an offensive slugfest. Wisconsin and Minnesota boast two of the nation's leading offenses, and the Gophers piled on the goals in their semifinal, beating Minnesota State 7-2.
However, the first 20 minutes did not go as advertised. The Badgers and Gophers combined for only 11 shots in Sunday's first period while racking up 12 total penalty minutes.
Wisconsin (31-2-5) jumped out to a quick two-goal lead midway through the second. Giles lit the lamp on the power play with just under 10 minutes gone, and Duggan followed with a goal of her own 57 seconds later to make the score 2-0.
""It's always a great battle when we play (Minnesota),"" UW captain Erika Lawler said. ""We definitely came out on top in this one.""
After Minnesota's Terra Rasmussen cut the lead to 2-1 late in the second period, senior forward and team captain Erika Lawler responded midway through the third, flipping the puck past Gopher goaltender Alyssa Grogan to put the Badgers back up by a pair.
Senior defender Rachel Bible and sophomore forward Hilary Knight each added a power-play goal late in the third after Minnesota's Sarah Erickson was ejected for checking from behind. The Gophers responded with a pair of goals in the closing minutes but ran out of time to complete the comeback.
""We came out and played six good periods (this weekend),"" UW head coach Mark Johnson said. ""I thought the beginning of the third period was probably as well as we've played all season.""
Ammerman, Giles, Matthews and senior goaltender Jessie Vetter were all named to the All-Tournament team for their efforts this weekend. Vetter was named Tournament MVP.
With Sunday's win, the Badgers secure the top seed in this year's NCAA tournament and will host Dartmouth in the quarterfinal round next Saturday at the Kohl Center.
