Karen Rickard will always remember her last game for the Wisconsin women’s hockey team as she ended her career with an overtime game winning goal.
Unfortunately for the Badgers, the goal came in the third-place game of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association’s Final Five, after Wisconsin stumbled in a 3-1 loss in the semi-finals the day before.
The 3-1 loss to Minnesota-Duluth all-but ended Wisconsin’s hopes at the NCAA’s Frozen Four. Had Rickard not saved the Badgers in a 5-4 overtime thriller with Ohio State, all hope would have been extinguished.
“What a way to end your career” commented head coach Mark Johnson after Rickard scored two minutes into the overtime session.
Rickard’s goal came off of a face-off in the Buckeye zone, which fellow senior Meghan Hunter had won. Jackie Friesen picked up the puck in the corner and passed it to Rickard waiting in front of the net. Rickard easily beat OSU netminder Melissa Glaser to give UW the win.
The overtime goal capped a wild game in which the Badgers built up a three goal lead in the first period only to see it evaporate in the second.
Wisconsin used two goals by Lindsay Macy and another by Hunter to build up the three-goal advantage going into the first intermission.
The second period belonged to the Buckeyes as they erased the three goal deficit with goals by Heather Farrell, Jeni Creary, and Jana Harrigan. The two teams skated into the third intermission tied at three, but Ohio State had momentum on its side.
In the third period, Wisconsin struck first to take the lead as Sara Bauer put the Badgers up 4-3. The lead was short lived as Ohio State capitalized on a 5-on-3 power-play when Tessa Bonhomme blasted a shot past Wisconsin goaltender Meghan Horras. The goal tied the game and set-up an overtime showdown that was highlighted by Rickard’s game-winner.
“I must be getting old because I don’t think my heart can take those things” said Johnson.
“We showed a lot of heart in the second and third period, we just couldn’t get that winner we were looking for” said Ohio State coach Jackie Barto.
Wisconsin was in the third-place game by virtue of losing their semi-final match-up with Minnesota-Duluth. Going into the game the fifth-ranked Badgers felt that a win would bolster their chances of making the Frozen Four, unfortunately the sixth-ranked Bulldogs felt very much the same way.
Wisconsin got on the scoreboard first, scoring just 1:37 into the first period. Molly Engstrom shot a one-timer from the top of the face-off circle to record the power-play goal and give the Badgers a 1-0 lead.
The lead was short lived as the Bulldogs responded with a goal by Larissa Luther just a minute and a half later. It appeared as though Duluth took the lead shortly thereafter, but a Caroline Ouellette goal was disallowed because the puck was touched with a high stick.
The second period was owned by the Duluth Bulldogs. UMD outshot UW 17-2 on their way to posting a 3-1 lead. Only Badger goalie Meghan Horras kept the score that close.
Jenny Potter struck first for the Bulldogs as she flashed in from behind the net to tap a loose rebound into the net. Noemie Marin scored the third and final goal late in the period, but UMD dominated the play between the two goals.
Wisconsin never really threatened to get back in the game although they certainly played better in the third period. Unfortunately for the Badgers, the Bulldogs were always just a step ahead.
“This was by far our best game of the season” said Minnesota-Duluth head coach Shannon Miller.
The three-time defending national champions knew that there only chance to defend the title this year was to win the WCHA tournament and they played like that against Wisconsin.
“I thought the first period was a real good hockey game, I liked the play, I liked the speed, but from that point on we didn’t have our ‘A’ game,” said Johnson after the loss. “That was the best [Minnesota-Duluth] played against us all season.”
On the national stage, the loss to Duluth nearly knocked the Badgers out of contention for the Final Four spot but fourth-ranked St. Lawrence dropped a game to Colgate to give Wisconsin a bit of hope. However, St. Lawrence rebounded with a win this past weekend over Dartmouth to advance to the ECAC Finals; the win secured their ticket to the Frozen Four and left Wisconsin on the outside looking in for a second straight season.
