The Badger women's hockey team clinched their second consecutive WCHA regular season title Saturday night, defeating the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs 2-1 in overtime on a goal by junior forward Jinelle Zaugg.
A 1-1 tie Friday night at UMD had put Wisconsin two points away from the conference title heading into the second game.
Freshman forward Emily Kranz put the Badgers up 1-0 Friday night, taking a feed from fellow freshman winger Kyla Sanders and beating UMD freshman goalie Kim Martin.
However, like they did against the Minnesota Golden Gophers earlier in the season, Wisconsin failed to hold a lead in the final minute of the third period, as senior forward Noemie Marlin scored for the Bulldogs with 47 seconds remaining in regulation.
The goal was the first that sophomore goalie Jessie Vetter had allowed in 295 minutes and 49 seconds. She made 13 saves for the Badgers in the tying effort, seeing just 14 shots all evening.
With a chance to capture the WCHA crown and unbeaten senior goalie Christine Dufour in net, Wisconsin again had to play some extra hockey to beat Minnesota-Duluth for the second time in four tries this season.
Freshman forward Meghan Duggan, the second all-time rookie scorer for the Badgers, gave Wisconsin a 1-0 lead with 59 seconds left in the first period. Duggan and sophomore forward Erika Lawler had a 2-on-1 advantage in the offensive zone and Lawler passed to Duggan who beat Duluth senior goalie Riitta Schaublin for the goal.
The Bulldogs tied the game with under four minutes left in the third period, as junior forward Karine Demeule knocked in a loose puck to send the game to overtime.
In overtime, Duggan found an open Zaugg, who faked out Schaublin to win the game for the Badgers.
Dufour made 28 saves in the win, improving her record to 12-0-1 on the season.
With the victory, Wisconsin is guaranteed the top spot in the WCHA playoffs. They will have a home series in the opening round of the playoffs against the lowest-ranked WCHA team, which should be North Dakota, who has won only four games this season. The Badgers hosted the Fighting Sioux last year in the WCHA playoffs as well. They have already beaten North Dakota four times this season by a combined score of 26-2.
The Badgers, if they move on, will head to Minnesota for the semifinals and finals of the WCHA tournament and from there will move on to the NCAA tournament, which will feature the top eight teams in the nation. The women's Frozen Four this year is in Lake Placid, where head coach Mark Johnson scored two goals in a win over the USSR in 1980 in the ""miracle on ice"" Olympic game.
Wisconsin hosts Ohio State Friday and Sunday this upcoming weekend.
—uwbadgers.com
contributed to this report.
