The No. 2 ranked University of Wisconsin women’s hockey team (29-2-5) ended the visiting Ohio State Buckeyes’ (8-25-3) season Saturday night in a WCHA playoff series at the Eagles’ Nest in Verona.
With 7-0 and 4-1 victories, the Badgers move on to the WCHA semifinals to face defending NCAA champion and bitter rival Minnesota Duluth at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis next weekend.
The two wins also secured a share of the NCAA record for wins by a goaltender for senior Jessie Vetter, with 86. Additionally, by blanking the Buckeyes on Friday, Vetter tied the Division I mark for shutouts in a season with 12.
Although Vetter has more records to her name than one can keep track of, the Cottage Grove, Wis., native said the achievement of most career wins is one of the more cherished.
Setting the record on Saturday night, however, did not come easy. Playing for their season, OSU gave UW all they could handle in a match that was closer than the outcome may suggest. UW head coach Mark Johnson said he was happy just to move on to next weekend.
“They’re playing for their lives; they’re playing for another day,” Johnson said. “Any time you put people up against a wall, they’re going to come out and play with a lot of effort and a lot of jump. And they were able to do that most of the game and they clogged us up, but we survived.”
In front of a standing-room only crowd, the Badgers struck first eight-and-a-half minutes into the second period on sophomore forward Hilary Knight’s record-tying 13th power play goal of the season. Knight’s 38th goal overall tied her with former Badger Meghan Hunter for the power play record. Junior forward Jasmine Giles was credited with the assist.
Later in the second, Ohio State scored the equalizer during a 5-on-3 advantage. Senior Buckeye captain Hayley Klassen tipped in a slap shot from the point to even the game at 1-1.
The game remained tied until senior center and captain Erika Lawler lit the lamp on a power play for what ultimately was the deciding goal.
“It was definitely a big goal being on a power play and stuff — being tied 1 to 1,” Lawler said of her go-ahead score. “But I think altogether it was just a great play, and I happened to be in the right spot. It was one of those things where you happen to be in the right spot at the right time.”
The Badgers later added two last minute empty-netters to put the game away. With 36 seconds left, Knight received a breakout pass from senior defenseman Alycia Matthews, and, after being tripped up, guided the puck into the empty net while sliding on her stomach down the ice. Thirty-one seconds later, Lawler capped the victory with her 16th goal of the season.
A night earlier, things were less dramatic for Wisconsin as they sandwiched three second-period goals with two in both the first and third to put Ohio State on the verge of elimination.
Senior defenseman Rachel Bible started the scoring six minutes into the first with her second goal of the season. Still in the first, Giles gave the Badgers some breathing room with a power play goal 12 minutes in — her 14th of the season.
In the second, Lawler, sophomore center Mallory Deluce and Duggan all scored to put the Badgers up five. During the final frame, Duggan added a second score — her 20th of the year — and Matthews netted her second of the year to cap the scoring. The shutout tied Vetter with Harvard’s Christina Kessler for shutouts recorded during a single season.
The challenge for the Badgers won’t get any easier as they look ahead to facing Duluth, who swept North Dakota in their first round playoff series. Johnson said he is eager to start preparing for a rematch with the Bulldogs — a team that defeated the Badgers, 4-0, in January.
“It’ll be a good hockey game,” he said. “The last six or seven years, most of the games we’ve played against them — whether it’s here or up there, playoff games, NCAA final games — have all been … pretty good. “We have to have a good week of practice, get ourselves situated, get ourselves excited because if you win you get to play for a championship now. That’s what makes this week enjoyable.”
