MADISON — The #1 Wisconsin Badgers won their 10th WCHA regular season Championship Saturday afternoon, dominating #3 Minnesota with an 8-2 win.
The win ties the Badgers’ record for largest margin of victory against the Gophers. They also beat their rivals by six goals, winning 8-2 on December 4, 2016.
After three games where they seemed to struggle to find the rhythm that has been a hallmark of their season thus far, Wisconsin made it look easy on Saturday.
“I feel like we were just firing at all cylinders. We were all playing a 200 foot game, all on the same page. I think when we’re all clicking like that, we’re a dangerous team. And it showed today… I think if we play like that, we can beat any team,” said Laila Edwards.
The Badgers came out fast and furious on their Senior Day, scoring twice in the opening five minutes, first with a great effort from KK Harvey that ended with a cross-crease pass to Laila Edwards, who was waiting just beyond the far post. Edwards took a second to control the puck and pick her spot before popping it in the net to give the Badgers a 1-0 lead.
Just 23 seconds later, Vivian Jungels spotted Lacey Eden with room in the neutral zone and hit her with a stretch, cross-ice pass to put Lacey Eden in on a breakaway. Hannah Clark’s poke check stopped the immediate threat, but she pushed it right into Eden’s skate where it deflected back at her and into the net to give Wisconsin a 2-0 lead less than five minutes into the game.
“Right away in the first period we felt like we were playing so much lighter than maybe the past few weekends, and everything was clicking. There’s really no better way to end senior day than with a regular season title.I think we’re all just happy that we kind of found our game again and played really well today,” said Wisconsin captain Casey O’Brien.
Minnesota cut into the lead five minutes later when a stretch pass from Sydney Morrow broke Ella Huber into the zone alone. Huber’s shot to the far top corner made it a 2-1 game.
Midway through the frame, Badger defender Ava Murphy left the ice after she seemed to get injured switching directions while skating.
In the waning minutes of the first, Emma Venusio let go with a slapshot from the top of the zone. Clark made the initial save, but the puck dropped to Marianne Picard, who’s first shot was stopped, but second lit the lamp to make it 3-1.
Minnesota looked to come out strong in the second, but despite disrupting play, they couldn’t clear the puck out of the zone. Laney Potter’s cross-ice pass to Hannah Halverson didn’t result in a shot, but the puck bounced through the crease and Maggie Scannell tapped it home to make it a 4-1 game. Less than two minutes later, Edwards found herself with the puck in the slot and she calmly wristed the shot into the net to extend the lead to 5-1.
Badger captain and fifth-year senior Casey O’Brien got on the board as she followed Kirsten Simms up the boards on the near side. Simms dropped the puck to O’Brien, who let go of a shot from the faceoff dot that pinged both posts in the far top corner and went into the net to make it a 6-1 game.
Wisconsin’s defense suffered another setback when Laney Potter, who had two assists earlier in the period, collided shoulder to shoulder with Abbey Murphy. Potter left the ice and immediately went to the locker room, leaving the Badgers down two of six starting defenders. Extra skater McKayla Zilisch took time on defense while Edwards, who recently started playing on defense with Team USA, also took defensive shifts.
The Gophers switched goalies at the second intermission and junior Sophia Johnson, who had just 3:19 of game play before today, was welcomed to the game by a goal from O’Brien just 26 seconds into the period as Wisconsin used their speed to break out and have numbers in on net to make it 7-1.
Sydney Morrow’s individual effort made it 7-2 Minnesota, but the Badgers weren’t done as Vivian Jungels closed out the scoring on a tight-angle, top-shelf shot to close out the 8-2 win.
The Badgers honored Lacey Eden, Katie Kotlowski, Quinn Kuntz, Casey O’Brien, Marianne Picard and Sarah Wozniewicz for senior day. Eden, O’Brien and Picard each scored on Saturday and O’Brien said the team was extra fired up every time a senior lit the lamp.
“We have a pretty close senior class. To be able to experience it with them just kind of filled my heart to have a day where we could feel the love from everybody was super special. We went on that ice and played our hearts out because they were so full,” said O’Brien
Coach Mark Johnson has said in the past that conference or NCAA tournament trophies get a lot of hype, but he thinks it’s the most prestigious to win the conference regular season title because of the body of work it represents. He reiterated that belief on Saturday.
“It’s 28 tough games, and you have to be consistent, and have to do it for a long period of time to even have a chance to win it. The group should be proud of themselves. They committed themselves early on, and they’ve been consistent for most of the season. And the end result is you win the trophy,” said Badger coach Mark Johnson.
The two teams return to the ice on Sunday for a 12 pm central time puck drop.
