MINNEAPOLIS — With just three minutes into overtime, a deflected puck off of Ohio State’s Amanda Thiele landed right in front of Kirsten Simms. Without hesitating, the Badger forward nailed the puck into the back of the net.
And with that, the Wisconsin Badgers women’s hockey team’s 4-3 overtime win over the Ohio State Buckeyes Sunday evening gifted them their eighth national championship.
“It still hasn't really totally set in with me, and at the end of the day, I'm just super happy that we're bringing that trophy back to Madison,” Simms said. “No matter how the job got done, it got done, and we're taking that trophy home with us.”
Simms’ overtime goal wasn’t the only goal the junior recorded in the Badgers’ 4-3 win.
Heading into the final two minutes of the game, the Badgers were down 3-2, and it looked like the Buckeyes were en route to walking away with the championship title for the second year in a row.
But with 1:50 remaining in the game, the Buckeyes were caught with too many players on the ice and Wisconsin went on the power play.
A scuffle in front of the net saw the puck fly unprotected behind Ohio State’s goaltender in front of the goal. A Buckeye defender, covering the puck in the crease that went unseen to the crowd in Ridder, would prompt a coach’s challenge.
The successful challenge led to a penalty shot.
On the bench, head coach Mark Johnson asked the team, “Who wants it?”
After encouragement from her teammates, Simms raised her hand.
“I wanted to see who wanted to step up and own it and who felt comfortable in the setting, because you can't have one ounce of negativity in your mind as you pick the puck up,” Johnson said.
And step up she did.
Skating up the ice, Simms approached Ohio State’s crease, deking to the left pipe to force Thiele into butterfly to protect the goal. But Simms’ move opened up the right side of the goal, and the Badger snuck the puck past Thiele's skates.
“I didn't need to look, all I needed to hear was the crowd and I knew that it was going to go in,” goaltender Ava McNaughton said, who was on the bench when the play ensued.
The next 18 seconds of regular time played out, sending the game into overtime. And the rest was history.
“What I didn't tell you yesterday is that we'd have to go extra holes today. We made that birdie putt with 18 seconds to go,” Johnson said.
Molly Sheehan is the Sports Editor for The Daily Cardinal. She has covered Wisconsin Badgers sports teams, written articles including player profiles and game previews, and covered match-ups as a photojournalist. Follow her on X @mollyrsheehan and Instagram @msheehanphotos
