MINNEAPOLIS — Lacey Eden’s spin-o-rama, behind-the-back shot 7:59 into overtime on Friday night sent #2 Wisconsin to the WCHA title game where they will face top-ranked Ohio State on Saturday at 2 pm central.
The Badgers dispatched border rivals Minnesota 4-3 in dramatic fashion, giving up the lead on a late power play, tying it in the final nine seconds of regulation and then ultimately winning it on Eden’s improbable shot.
Wisconsin outshot Minnesota 42-23, but played from behind for much of the first half of the game and could not seem to pull away from the Gophers after tying the game midway through the second. Badger coach Mark Johnson liked how his team played in the second period, but they just could not seem to find a goal to put them ahead.
“In the second period, we played up to our capabilities,” Wisconsin head coach Mark Johnson said. “We did some good forechecking, created some opportunities, got a nice power-play goal, and almost capitalized on a couple other situations.”
Johnson often refers to games against Minnesota as chess matches – he and Gopher coach Brad Frost know each other very well and there aren’t many secrets between the two on how the other coaches and prepares a team.
As the third period wore on without a go-ahead goal, each team looked for an advantage. Minnesota got their chance with under four to play when Marianne Picard was sent to the penalty box for a hand pass on the faceoff. Peyton Hemp scored a spinning goal of her own as she rotated to gather the puck and used that torque to fling it on net, beating Wisconsin goalie Ava McNaughton to put the Gophers up 3-2.
As time wound down, Wisconsin pulled their goalie for an extra attacker, but struggled to find an equalizer. A late icing call sent the puck to the own defensive end, putting McNaughton in the net and the Badgers 200 feet from where they needed to be with around 30 seconds to play. They won the draw and took off for the offensive zone as McNaughton went to the bench again. Minnesota held the puck against the boards and Wisconsin had one last push for the net with under ten second to play when the puck floated to the back boards where Casey O’Brien corralled it and just tried to get the puck to the net front for her teammates. Her backhander tipped off a Gopher stick into the back of her own goalie where it deflected off Skylar Vetter and into the back of the net, tying the game with 8.8 seconds in regulation.
The goal was reminiscent of the one Daryl Watts used to win the 2021 National Championship, though with a lot less calculation and finesse. The goal was to put the puck to the net front – an assist. Instead, a little puck luck and Wisconsin forced overtime.
The late equalizer energized the Badgers and Kirsten Simms, who was named WCHA Player of the Year on Thursday and scored twice for Wisconsin in regulation, said she knew it meant her team would win.
“After that, I think momentum tilted completely on to our side,” Simms said. “We knew we were going to finish it out.”
Having withstood more than sixty minutes of pressure from the Badgers and taken a late lead, the loss was particularly frustrating for the Gophers.
“Obviously the result was not what we wanted, especially when you look back and we were eight seconds away from winning the hockey game,” Minnesota head coach Brad Frost said. “I’m really proud of our group. They battled. They competed. I thought they played really, really well. Skylar made some great saves. In the end, we couldn’t find a way to win it, even though we had some chances.”
Simms opened the game’s scoring just 38 seconds in, slotting home a pass from Laila Edwards on the rush. Minnesota quickly responded, but the goal was challenged by Johnson and overturned for having been kicked in. But that did not dissuade the Gophers and they equalized for real just four minutes later as Josefin Bouveng put back a rebound on a shot from Abbey Murphy. Ella Huber’s goal a few minutes after that put Minnesota up 2-1.
The Badgers took advantage of a power play midway through the second when Simms was once again in position to slot home a pretty pass. The goals give Simms 31 for the season and make her the Badgers’ first 30-goal scorers since the 2011-12 season. She also reached 100 career points with her first-period goal.
Having seen O’Brien’s game-tying tally, Eden knew that when she gathered a loose puck in front of the net during overtime, the objective was to put it back towards the goal.
“Sometimes the puck ends up on your stick in the slot. Get the puck to the net, you never know what’s going to happen,” she said.
With the win, Wisconsin advances to their first WCHA Championship game since 2021. For their efforts, they’ll get to face #1 Ohio State for the fifth time this season. The Badgers closed out the regular season with a series split against the Buckeyes two weeks ago.
The WCHA Championship game is scheduled for Saturday at 2 pm central. The game will stream live on BTN+.
The winner will receive an auto-bid to the NCAA Tournament, but it is expected that all four teams that reached the WCHA semifinals will receive bids. Teams will await the tournament Selection Show on Sunday at 12 pm eastern to learn their fates. The show streams free online and will be broadcast on ESPNews.
Friday’s late afternoon start time meant a shorter turnaround for the Badgers, but Johnson said his team will be ready, even after having survived a chaotic game.
“Ava made a couple real nice saves on a couple flurries that they had early on and then Lacey snapped it in, so we live to see another day and an opportunity to play for a trophy. We’ll recover, we’ll be excited, and it should be a good game tomorrow afternoon.”
