In the semifinals of the WCHA Final Face-Off, the Wisconsin Badgers learned just how hard it can be to defeat a team that is fighting to keep their season alive.
Despite outshooting No. 9 North Dakota 35-24, the No. 2-ranked Badgers (21-5-2 WCHA, 27-7-2 overall) were eliminated Friday in the WCHA conference tournament by UND (14-10-4, 20-12-4) for a second consecutive year.
“I thought we played with a lot of heart. Obviously it was a disappointment,” said head coach Mark Johnson. “Overall I thought we played OK, but this time of the year OK isn’t good enough.”
UW came out firing in the first period, holding a 15-8 edge in shots on goal through 20 minutes, but was continuously stonewalled by North Dakota sophomore goaltender Shelby Amsley-Benzie, who recorded her second shutout of the season.
Both teams had several scoring opportunities throughout the second frame but weren’t able to find the back of the net for most of the period.
Sophomore forward Meghan Dufault finally broke through for UND, scoring a goal with three minutes remaining in the second period to give her team the 1-0 lead and control of the momentum heading into the second intermission.
“I think we kind of played like we were defeated for a bit,” said UW senior goaltender Alex Rigsby. “I mean we had all the momentum and as soon as they scored there was a change in momentum, so we tried to re-group in between periods and come back and try to gain momentum back to our advantage.”
However, the Badgers were never able to recover after Dufault’s goal, allowing North Dakota to control the puck early in the third period.
UW was able to generate a few more scoring opportunities in the closing minutes of the game, but still couldn’t find a way to beat Amsley-Benzie, allowing UND to advance to the championship game, where they lost 3-1 to No. 1 Minnesota.
Rigsby, who was looking to become the third goaltender in NCAA women’s hockey history to win 100 career games, made 23 saves in the losing effort.
Despite being shut out for the second time in three games, the Badgers will still get another chance to play on in the NCAA tournament.
“Obviously we’re fortunate to get another opportunity, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to be successful unless you continue to learn,” Johnson said. “And for our younger players it’s the first time through and hopefully some of the lessons they’ve learned from the past couple weekends will make us a tough out.”
Wisconsin will host Harvard in the opening round of the NCAA tournament Saturday at 7 p.m.
UWBadgers.com contributed to this report.
