The No. 2 UW women's hockey team continued its drive for an NCAA Championship Saturday night, advancing to the Frozen Four with a thrilling double-overtime 2-1 triumph over No. 7 Mercyhurst at Capitol Ice Arena in Middleton, Wis. Freshman forward Tia Hanson knocked in the game winner at 10:10 in the second overtime.
I didn't see it go in,\ Hanson admitted. ""I just saw everyone pile on so I just joined the crowd.""
In the game, the Lakers (23-8-6) drew first blood just over nine minutes into the first period. Mercyhurst forward Julia Colizza netted her 20th goal of the season on a short-handed breakaway shot that bounded just over the left shoulder of Badger freshman goalie Jessie Vetter.
The Badgers (34-4-1) tied the game four minutes later, with a power-play goal by junior defender Bobbi-Jo Slusar. It was her 12th of the season and was set up by junior forward Sara Bauer and sophomore forward Jinelle Zaugg.
After two full periods and one full overtime of evenly matched play, with both teams trying desperately to break the other team's defense, Hanson found a chink in the Lakers' armor. The Alberta native tipped in a shot from just above the right circle by junior defender Kristin Witting.
""The puck came up to the blueline and happened to come on my stick. I was just trying to get it on net,"" Witting said. ""That was our goal for the period— was just to get as many shots on net as possible. I didn't know if I had scored at first or if it had gotten tipped in. I was just happy that it got in.""
The Badgers received a phenomenal performance from Vetter. The freshman goalie stopped 37 shots on the night, including 10 saves in the first overtime.
""There was definitely a lot of pressure on my end. One bad move and the game's over,"" Vetter said. ""I knew that if we just kept going at them—because we were playing really well—that it would eventually go in the net.""
The Badgers advance to their first-ever Frozen Four, to be held at Marriuci Arena in Minneapolis this Friday and Sunday. The Badgers will face No. 3 St. Lawrence in the semifinals. The Saints (31-4-2) advanced to their third-consecutive Frozen Four with a 1-0 win over Minnesota-Duluth. Sophomore forward Sabrina Harbec is the Saints' on-ice leader, leading the team in assists (36) and overall points (61). Senior goalie Jessica Moffat anchors the Saints' defense, boasting a 1.29 goals against average.
The Eastern College Athletic Conference regular-season champion Saints are second in the nation as a team on the power play, converting more than 23 percent of their chances. They also lead their conference in both scoring offense (4.00) and scoring defense (1.27).
The Badgers' Bauer is up against Harbec, along with Minnesota-Duluth goalie Riitta Schaublin, for the 2006 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, honoring the nation's top player.
With a victory, the Badgers will take on either No. 1 New Hampshire (33-2-1) or two-time defending champion Minnesota (27-10-1). The Badgers have won four of five contests against the Gophers this season, most recently defeating their WCHA rival 4-1 in the conference's championship game.
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