It was not the result the No. 6/7 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team wanted, but if the Bulldogs force of overtime in a title game showed one thing Saturday afternoon, it was that UMD belongs in all postseason conversations going forward.
The No. 1 University of Wisconsin staked claim to the Western Collegiate Hockey Association regular season title with a 4-3 overtime win over the Bulldogs at AMSOIL Arena, coming back from a one-goal deficit with just 1:27 left in regulation. Despite the loss, UMD finishes second in the ultra competitive WCHA -- the program's highest finish since it tied for second over the 2010-11 season.
"I said it last night, we've had our hearts ripped out before and those experiences, while tough to go through, like the one we're going through right now, I think they make you better," said UMD head coach Maura Crowell. "I think they make you hungrier. I think you learn from them and sometimes when things are going well, you don't actually analyze parts of your game and parts of your team as closely as you need to so when the big moments come up. So I think that's where we go and that's where our team thrives and I know there's a lot more to come in the coming weeks."
A Bulldog squad that put up four goals Friday night on one of the nation's stingiest defenses was at it again Saturday, and the hottest offensive player in the WCHA and arguably the country took no time to reheat. Gabbie Hughes followed up her Friday night performance with the game's opening goal at 7:07 of the first period. The junior center intercepted a pass just under Wisconsin's blue line and drove around the left face-off dot before she toe-dragged and roofed the puck between a Badger defenseman for the 1-0 lead.
Both sides found the back of the net in the second frame, started off by Wisconsin's Daryl Watts, who drove to the net for her 14th goal of the season at 4:14. Hughes would break the tie at the 12:11 mark, sputtering the puck through UW goaltender Kennedy Blair's pads after taking the drop pass from Taylor Anderson. Hughes' second goal of the game was her fourth of the series, and it reawakened UMD's prey drive in the period.
Anna Klein followed Hughes' lead and pushed the Bulldogs out front 3-1 when Anderson found Klein on the back door at 17:20. But the Badgers answered almost immediately, and pulled within one on Lacey Eden's goal at 17:43 to set up a 3-2 nail biter with 20 minutes left to play.
The lone goal of the third period came late in the form of Brette Pettet, who lifted Wisconsin into a 3-3 tie with the empty net extra skater at 18:33, and assured the Badgers they would at least get a share of the league title. The only thing left to figure out after 60 minutes and six goals was whether or not UMD would share it for the first time in more than a decade.
Watts wasted no time ringing up her second of the afternoon to deny the Bulldogs that chance, finding the net just 41 seconds into the 3-on-3 overtime to give Wisconsin sole ownership of the league title.
Bulldog netminder Emma Soderberg made a career-high 45 saves in the contest, the second time this season the junior goaltender has made 40 or more stops against a team ranked in the top-three. Soderberg's counterpart Blair made 16 saves for Badgers, who improved to 12-3-1 on the season.
"We talked in the locker room about looking at the weekend as a whole, instead of just today and we're going to take this whole weekend as something to build off," said Hughes. "We realize that what we did this weekend was big and we can continue to build off of that. We know what we can do if we play our best game and that's going to give us confidence going into the tournament."
UMD (11-5), which will claim the No. 2 seed, will face No. 3 Ohio State University next Saturday at 5:07 p.m. in the second semifinal game of the WCHA Final Face-Off at Ridder Arena. The Bulldogs split with the Buckeyes by scores of 2-0 and 0-1 in mid-January at AMSOIL.
BULLDOG NOTES: Gabbie Hughes finished the series with a mind-bending four goals and one assist for five points … Hughes has now compiled 13 points over her last seven games, and her current scoring streak includes nine goals in those skates ... Anna Klein and Hughes are now tied for fifth in the NCAA with 1.31 points per game average … UMD still owns the WCHA's best defense and NCAA's second-best with a 1.44 goals against average with 23 goals against in 16 games.
