The No. 2 Wisconsin Badgers outlasted the No. 3 Penn State Nittany Lions 4-3 in overtime Friday night, with a goal from Kirsten Simms setting up a date with Ohio State in the women’s hockey national championship game Sunday.
The Frozen Four match started fast. Just under two minutes into the game, Wisconsin forward Charlotte Pieckenhagen got called for a big interference call. It took Penn State just 10 seconds into the power play to get past goalie Ava McNaughton, with Tessa Janecke scoring off the faceoff to give the Nittany Lions an early 1-0 lead.
Wisconsin quickly responded. Laila Edwards, off a clean pass from Caroline Harvey, went one-on-one with Penn State goalie Katie DeSa and backdoored the puck to tie the game.
Laney Potter got called for a high stick with 12:21 remaining, giving Penn State their second power play. Penn State set it up perfectly for Abby Stonehouse to score their second goal just 14 seconds later.
With 36 seconds left in the first, Wisconsin went on a power play of their own after Nicole Hall hit following the whistle. Just as the clock hit zero Edwards got called for interference.
Starting off the second period four-on-four, both teams were bouncing from zone to zone, but ultimately both penalties expired scoreless.
With 16:07 to go in the period, Lacey Eden broke free, but the puck got poked away before she made it to the crease.
The Badgers caught a break with 13:14 left in the second, as Vaslet got sent to the box for tripping. As the power play was ticking down, Edwards received a pass from Simms and tied the game up yet again with the one timer. The goal went under review to determine if Eden was offsides before the play. Luckily for the Badgers, Eden did a good job at getting her skate across the blue line, keeping the goal on the board.
The Badgers found their rhythm in the neutral zone, creating the long passes head coach Mark Johnson stresses.
With 6:20 left to play in the second period, the officials called a double penalty, one on Kelly Gorbatenko for cross checking and the other on Penn State defender Danica Maynard, forcing a four-on-four. With the open ice, each team tried to create unique looks, with little success. Shortly after the power play ended, Adéla Šapovalivová wrapped around the goal to put the Badgers up 3-2, their first lead of the day.
Just as the second period ended, Simms got called for a tripping penalty, giving Penn State yet another power play.
Penn State started the third an odd man up, but about 40 seconds later, picked up a five-on-three advantage with Ava Murphy going to the box for holding.
Eden had a critical block toward the end of the penalty kill to keep the Badgers up.
With 15:10 left to play, McNaughton, stretching her legs to keep the net clear, came up huge with back-to-back saves. A minute later it was McNaughton again with a critical save in front of the crease.
With five minutes left, Janecke, coming off the bench, went one-on-one with McNaughton and swooped around the right side to tie the game. Neither team could find the back of the net the rest of the way, sending the game to overtime.
It didn’t take long for Simms, possibly Wisconsin’s most clutch player, to snipe a shot past DeSa in overtime, connecting from the right wing just 50 seconds in to send the Badgers to the National Championship.
With the 4-3 win over Penn State, Wisconsin will face Ohio State for the fourth straight year on Sunday. Ohio State is coming off an easy win against Northeastern, beating them 5-0, giving them a much more rested team. This year Wisconsin has beaten Ohio State 3-2, however, Ohio State will come in motivated after their overtime loss last year in the National Championship against the Badgers.
