Finishing second out of 39 teams nationwide is quite an accomplishment.

Factor in an injury-riddled regular season and two NCAA tournament overtime wins, including Friday's double overtime thriller against Boston College, and the feat becomes almost fascinating.

The University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team battled both sheer exhaustion and the University of Wisconsin for the national title Sunday before 3,335 fans at the Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, New York. Although the final 4-1 outcome rested in the Badgers favor, the embattled Bulldogs still had enough fight in them to make it a contest.

\"I'm extremely proud of my team,\" said head coach Shannon Miller after the game. \"Every weekend we beg them to compete and to dig deep to get the job done. Today was obvious that we had half a tank. We stepped out on the ice with less than a full tank of gas and I think that was obvious. But I couldn’t be more proud of my team.”

UMD started out the contest strong, controlling the tempo for most of the first period. The Bulldogs had good scoring opportunities early, but immediately faced red-hot playoff goaltender Jessie Vetter, who had not allowed a single goal in postseason play heading into Sunday's showdown.

After a UMD penalty at the 7:02 mark, the Badgers finally got on the board with just two seconds remaining in the power play when Jinelle Zaugg picked up the puck right off a face-off to surprise Kim Martin with a quick on-ice wrist shot. The Wisconsin goal would be the only one of the opening period, with Martin posting 7 saves and Vetter an almost equal 6.

The Badgers doubled their lead early in the second period when Erika Lawler slipped a shot underneath Martin from the bottom of the left circle, making the score 2-0. After UMD successfully killed-off a penalty given for too many players on the ice at 8:02 in the period, Badger Sara Bauer finished a 2-on-1 attack, snapping a shot into the upper right corner of the net above Martin's glove hand. Bauer's 24th goal of the year gave Wisconsin a 3-0 lead at the 11:56 mark of the second.

The undeterred Bulldogs got on them board less than three minutes later when Freshman Emmanuelle Blais tipped a shot from the point by Noemie Marin past Vetter at 14:23 to close the score to 3-1. The power-play goal snapped a 422 minute and 36 second shutout streak for the Badgers in NCAA tournament play.

It took Wisconsin just 10 seconds later to respond to UMD’s goal, as Lawler got a breakaway off of the ensuing faceoff. Martin made the athletic initial save, but Jasmile Giles was there to flip the puck over her on the rebound, giving the Badgers a 4-1 advantage. The follow-up goal was the fastest consecutive goals scored by two teams in NCAA tournament history.

UMD started the third period with visions of yet another comeback. Dubbed the “Comeback Kids,” they had trailed in both the quarterfinal and semifinal games before earning overtime victories. But despite a Badger penalty to open play and a Bulldog team that peppered Vetter with shots and scoring opportunities, Wisconsin didn't flinch. A conservative Badger wall in front of Vetter and limited risks taken offensively proved too much for the tired, and even injured, legs of the Bulldogs. Both UMD and Wisconsin ended the third period with just four shots on goal.

Martin had 20 saves in the contest, while Vetter had 17.

Wisconsin's victory makes them the 7th consecutive WCHA team to net a national title. The Badgers join the Bulldogs (2001, 2002, 2003) and the University of Minnesota (2004, 2005) as the only teams in NCAA women's hockey history to have won back-to-back titles. UMD remains the only program ever to have repeated three times.







Special Note:

Sunday's game marked the final time six UMD seniors wore the tradition-soaked Bulldog jersey. Defensemen Ashly Waggoner, Jill Sales, Suvi Vacker, goaltender and WCHA-Scholar Athlete of the Year Ritta Schaublin, WCHA First Team forward Noemie Marin and Frozen Four All-Tournament selection and WCHA Third Team forward Jessica Koizumi round out the relentless 2006-07 senior class.