The Wisconsin women’s hockey team played their last game at LaBahn Arena this season, defeating the Clarkson University Golden Knights 4-1 with a trip to Minneapolis and a return to the NCAA Frozen Four on the line.
A rough first period
The game started slowly, with neither team able to log a shot until junior forward Kirsten Simms earned one three minutes into the game.
Both teams committed to the forecheck early in the game, determined not to let the other get an advantage.
Sophomore defender Ava Murphy tripped Clarkson forward Jenna Goodwin on a breakaway. The referees decided not to award Clarkson a penalty shot but did send Murphy to the box for two minutes.Five minutes in, Clarkson’s Nicole Gosling scored on the team’s first shot of the game to open the scoring. This made it the third straight game that the Badgers would be forced to mount a comeback attempt.
With about seven minutes, 30 seconds left in the first, Patty Kazmaier Award semifinalist Haley Winn hooked senior forward Sarah Wozniewicz as she skated across the crease.
Wisconsin had a litany of dangerous chances in the first half of the power play, but they couldn’t break through. The first period ended with Wisconsin leading in shots 14-4 but down a goal.
Clarkson’s defense throughout the first period and the opening minutes of the second period did a great job keeping Wisconsin off of their rhythm.
Simms had a few good chances in the first half of the second period but whiffed on multiple shots.
During the second period, junior forward Laila Edwards moved from the second line to her usual first line, which seemed to awaken the beast that scored 30 goals during the regular season.
With about nine minutes left in the second period, redshirt senior forward Casey O’Brien slipped the puck from behind the net to Murphy, who was camped in the middle of the circle and one-touched the puck behind Clarkson goaltender Holly Gruber to tie the scoring at 1-1.
The goal felt like a defibrillator, bringing a depressed LaBahn Arena back to life.
With 4:30 left in the second, a Clarkson defender body-checked junior defender Caroline Harvey, sending the Badgers back on the power play.
On the penalty kill, Clarkson’s Gosling lost a skate blade after being hit with a shot from Edwards and was trapped out on the ice with only one functional skate for nearly 30 seconds.
Sophomore forward Kelly Gorbatenko drove the puck deep from the blue line and scored on a sharp-angle shot as the penalty expired, giving Wisconsin a lead late in the second period.
After that goal, LaBahn Arena sounded like it might explode.
The second period drew to a close after the Badgers scored two goals and led in shots 29-8.
The Badgers close it out
Clarkson started the third period on a mission, refusing to allow their season to end then.
About five minutes into the third, Clarkson broke out on a 2-on-1, but Murphy put a knee down, blocked the shot and preserved the slim lead.
Halfway through the period, sophomore forward Claire Enright received a two-minute penalty for hooking.
Clarkson’s best chances of the period were in the last thirty seconds of the power play, but McNaughton stood strong and stopped all of them.
With 5:30 left, a Clarkson player tripped junior defender Vivian Jungels behind the Wisconsin net, sending Wisconsin back to the power play.
At 4:36, Simms sent the puck across the ice to Edwards who one-timed the puck into the net and scored to give the Badgers a two-goal lead.
Clarkson began emptying their net with 3:22 left in the game, but Wisconsin, despite hemming the Golden Knights within their own zone, failed to capitalize.
With just over two minutes left, Jungels committed a hooking minor, giving Clarkson a power play. Since they kept Gruber out of her net, Clarkson got a 6-on-4 advantage.
With 30 seconds left, senior forward Lacey Eden headed for the empty net with nobody ahead of her but was tripped right before reaching the goal. The penalty would normally earn her a penalty shot, but with the empty net, Wisconsin was awarded a goal without even logging a shot. Despite being an incredibly rare call, this is the second time it has happened in a Wisconsin hockey game this year. Since Jungels was still in the box, the goal was Eden’s second short-handed empty-netter of the year.
Wisconsin outshot Clarkson 38-20, and McNaughton stopped 19 shots in the 4-1 victory.
Wisconsin will face Minnesota in the Frozen Four on Friday with a trip to the National Championship game on the line.
