After being swept in a hard-fought road series against Minnesota in early October, the Badgers were looking for a little payback when they welcomed their WCHA rival into Madison.
Unfortunately for Wisconsin, they were reminded why the Gophers are still the top-ranked team in the country.
By earning a sweep against their conference rival, Minnesota (24-1-1 WCHA, 30-1-1 overall) managed to clinch the WCHA regular season title for the second consecutive year.
For the Badgers (19-5-2, 23-5-2), it was another frustrating series against their archrival, as they have now lost 10 straight against the Gophers.
The series kicked off Friday night before a sold-out crowd at LaBahn Arena, and the opener managed to live up to the hype that had been surrounding the epic confrontation between the top-two teams in the nation.
UW managed to strike first, taking advantage of a couple Minnesota penalties to get a power play goal courtesy of redshirt junior forward Brittany Ammerman with just over 11 minutes remaining in the first period.
The Badgers took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission, despite being outshot 10-3.
Minnesota caught a break early into the second period after a shot by junior forward Rachael Bona deflected off of UW junior defenseman Katarina Zgraja and found the back of the net.
Despite this stroke of misfortune, senior goaltender Alex Rigsby, who recorded 30 saves in the game, kept cool and made her fair share of highlight reel saves to keep her team in the game.
This set up a thrilling third period, where Minnesota sophomore defenseman Milica McMillen gave her team the lead with a goal three minutes into the final frame, only to have UW junior forward Blayre Turnbull score the equalizer on a sensational coast-to-coast goal just a couple minutes later.
The Gophers would take the lead for good midway through the third period on a goal by freshman forward Dani Cameranesi.
The Badgers managed to create some solid offensive opportunities in the game’s final minutes, but ultimately were unable to find the back of the net, losing 3-2 in a hard-fought battle.
“I thought our team came out and played really well,” Rigsby said. “Obviously it didn’t end the way we wanted. It’s never fun to come home and lose on your own rink, especially on Senior Night, but all that aside I thought we played really well.”
Saturday’s highly-anticipated contest took place at the Kohl Center in the 4th annual “Fill the Bowl” event, drawing an NCAA-record crowd of 13,573 fans.
After a scoreless first period, the Gophers managed to tally two goals in the second period, effectively taking the sellout crowd out of the game.
“It was a game where probably the team that scored first was going to have a pretty good chance at winning,” UW head coach Mark Johnson said.
The third period didn’t end any better for the Badgers, as Minnesota tacked on a pair of insurance goals to build a comfortable 4-0 lead, which ended up being the final score.
Despite only being outshot 27-24, UW never managed to capitalize on their scoring opportunities, failing to energize their NCAA-record crowd.
“Sometimes when you’re at an event like this, you get so hyped up, then after the first couple of shifts your legs start to feel heavy. That’s why it’s important if you’re able to score, you get a quick shot of adrenaline that can help the process,” Johnson said. “But sometimes the most important games that you play are the ones where you get so excited and so fired up to play that sometimes you come out a little bit flat.”
While being swept by their archrival was painful for the Badgers, the team still thinks they can learn from this experience and be better prepared if they face the Gophers again in the postseason.
“To be honest, I’m tired of losing to this team, but I think it’s going to bring a determination to us,” Rigsby said. “We’re definitely going to face them again, no doubt, so hopefully we’ll be able to capitalize on our opportunities, refocus, and make sure we do the little things right to succeed.”
