In times of defeat, it is easy to look at everything that was working against you.

Blame the opponent, or the coach or look back at previous performances and wonder. Fault the fans for being no-shows, or injuries or question the outside powers for putting you in a predicament in the first place.

The list can run on and on.

And for the Wisconsin women’s hockey team and all those who support the Badger ladies, this is a very easy road to take.

For the first time since the expansion of the NCAA tournament to an eight-team field and with head coach Mark Johnson behind the bench, the Badgers have not advanced to the Big Dance. The team has earned a spot every year since 2005, except 2010, when Johnson and several Badger players spent the year competing in the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

However, Sunday night at approximately 5:04 p.m., UW learned that streak had ended, and its 2012-2013 season was finished.

Wisconsin finished the regular season tied for second place in the nation’s toughest women’s hockey conference. And coming from the conference with a Minnesota team that has yet to be touched, a 23-10-2 record come selection time for UW was by no means unqualified.

So why are the Badgers no longer competing?

We could criticize their early season performance. The Badgers opened the season with an unimpressive 3-3-2 record that had many question the ability of this team. While they silenced questions by turning their play around to earn 19 more wins – and heading into the final game, UW was riding an eight-game winning streak – a few more wins earlier in the season could have made the difference.

Should we question injuries? Maybe if senior defenseman Stefanie McKeough and sophomore Brittany Ammerman weren’t sidelined for the season UW would have won more games.

Then there is the easiest to blame of them all, the tournament selection process.

Heading into the matchup between the Badgers and North Dakota last Friday, it was clear the teams were playing for much more than a spot in the WCHA tournament championship game. They were fighting it out for a place in the NCAA tournament, which the rankings correctly showed only had room for one.

Yes, I agree, it seems wrong that just two teams from the WCHA would make it into the tournament. The conference has taken all 12 national championship titles since the tournament was first played in 2001 after all. But in winning every conference game, the Golden Gophers hurt the group as a whole by inflicting more losses on the other WCHA teams this season, making them less competitive ranking wise on the national level.

This would be the easy, and in many ways, the justified outlook on this season’s conclusion.

But don’t forget to take one hard look at the team itself and realize Wisconsin’s performance last Friday against UND is to blame.

The Badgers knew exactly what was at stake in what turned out to be their final game against North Dakota and simply failed to execute.

Last Wednesday, Johnson and several Badgers spoke with confidence about what they needed to do to come away with a win, and their game plan seemed straightforward: continue doing what they have done to win the past eight games that brought them to the tournament semifinal game and don’t give UND unneeded opportunities by taking penalties.

But when the team stepped onto the ice Friday afternoon in Minneapolis, adorned in their usual white with cardinal red, the play on the ice from those jerseys showed no resemblance to what fans had witnessed in the recent past.

In the first two minutes of each period Wisconsin took a penalty, allowing North Dakota to set a pace each time out. And while there were no power play goals, UND established a rhythm in their own favor that was clean, simple and fast, leaving Wisconsin chasing UND for most of the game and not playing their own game.

Wisconsin – a team that may not score as many goals as it would like, but had a shot output of more than 30 shots on goal in 26 of its 34 games – uncharacteristically put up just eight shots on goal in the first 40 minutes of play. Where was the Brianna Decker-Madison Packer-Karley Sylvester line that had been finding ways to the net?

After UND took a 2-0 lead with goals in the first and early in the third, Wisconsin finally began playing like the Badger team that managed to turn a .500 start of the season around to win 14 of its last 17 games with pure domination and finesse. Firing 16 shots in the third period finally earned UW a goal. But still down a score with 3:54 left in the game, another penalty 1:02 later killed all hope and momentum. When the final horn sounded, UW had been outplayed by its rival.

My respect for this team runs deep, and I would have liked to see what the squad could do in the NCAA tournament. An upset against Minnesota was my personal wish. But at the end of the day, or season rather, it was Wisconsin’s final performance that should take the most thought when players, coaches, family and fans look back on how things unfolded.

Caroline is a junior majoring in Journalism and Political Science. Think UW’s early exit was justified? Send her an email at [email protected] or tweet her @caroline_sage.