The No. 2 Wisconsin Badgers (31-4-2) will face off against the No. 3 Colgate Raiders (33-5-1) in the women’s ice hockey national semifinals on Friday at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis with a trip to the championship game on the line.
This is Wisconsin’s 11th appearance in the Frozen Four, while Colgate is making its debut. The two teams have never played each other before.
Wisconsin lost last season in the championship game and in the semifinals the previous season. Both losses were to Clarkson, who is playing against Ohio State on Friday as well.
Colgate beat No. 9 Northeastern in the quarterfinals by a score of 3-1 to reach the semifinal game for the first time in their program history. It was the Raiders’ 33rd win of the season.
Colgate won the Eastern College Athletic Conference Hockey regular season title for the first time in program history.
The Raiders are the only team in the country with seven players with more than 30 points. Forward Jessie Eldridge leads the team with 43, followed by Breanne Wilson-Bennett with 36 and Shae Labbe with 35.
Eldridge was named the ECAC Hockey Player of the Month in February, as well as the Hockey Commissioners Association Player of the Month. Eldridge has 16 points in 78 games, with nine goals and seven assists.
Colgate also has a standout defenseman in junior Olivia Zafuto, who ranks fourth in the nation in points by a defender. Zafuto has 11 goals and 19 assists, and scored the game-winner against Northeastern.
Much of the talk about Colgate and Wisconsin has been about their similarities. The programs are two of four teams that won over 30 games this year, and both teams have at least nine players with 20 or more points.
“That’s what’s going to make the game entertaining — two teams that play very similar,” Wisconsin coach Mark Johnson told the Wisconsin State Journal. “Then it’s going to be who’s going to manage, especially in the early part of the game, the nerves and the energy necessary to be successful.
The Raiders, like the Badgers, have a very balanced offense, with scoring distributed among its top three lines.
UW’s Abby Roque, named the WCHA Offensive Player of the Year, had 40 points this season. In the quarterfinal game against Minnesota, she scored two goals in 16 seconds to make tournament history for the fastest consecutive goals scored by a player or team.
Wisconsin has another star in Kristen Campbell, the sophomore goaltender from North Dakota. Campbell is coming off a 12-save shutout against Minnesota for her NCAA-leading 12th shutout of the year.
Wisconsin is relying on previous Frozen Four experience to give them the edge in this game.
“I think last year’s game was really humbling for us,” junior forward Sophia Shaver said Thursday afternoon. “I think we need to learn to come into every game ready to play 100% and play all 60 minutes because that is what it takes.”
The winner of this game will take on either Clarkson or Ohio State on Sunday with a championship on the line.
Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. Friday night.
