The No. 2 Wisconsin Badgers punched a ticket to their 17th Frozen Four after a dominant 6-0 victory over the Quinnipiac Bobcats.
Wisconsin put the pressure on early, as they flooded goalie Felicia Frank with shots. It didn’t take long for Wisconsin to find the back of the net. With a forward pass from Co-captain and forward Lacey Eden, Kelly Gorbatenko snipped one in to get the Badgers on the board first.
“I think, you know, getting that first goal helped a lot, and so we were able to just kind of relax and settle into our game,” Gorbatenko said.
Following the goal, the intensity of the game only increased. The Badgers kept control of their zone.
Laney Potter almost scored from the crease halfway through the period, but Frank was there to make the save.
With 8:24 left to play, the Badgers were up 11 shots on goal to Quinnipiac’s zero. The Badgers kept high pressure on Frank throughout the first, dominating in zone time.
Swerving around the Bobcats, Adéla Šapovalivová fought to keep the puck in the zone, centered herself and shot right into Frank’s glove.
Just under three minutes remained when Kirsten Simms was taken down by Zoe Uens, who was sent to the penalty box for interference. Only 13 seconds later, Simms converted on a backside shot off the post to put the Badgers up 2-0 going into the second period.
The Bobcats drove down the ice, to begin the second period, but Vivian Jungles was there to make the block.
The Badgers took the puck right back, and Šapovalivová hit the top of the net to make the score 3-0 just over a minute into the second period.
With 16:16 left to play in the second, Ava Murphy skated over to the box for hooking. Wisconsin, the No.1 power play team in the country, took care of business, clearing the puck twice in the first 20 seconds. Laila Edwards took the puck down and tried to get a short-handed goal but didn’t have room to get the shot off, which killed the Quinnipiac power play.
Minutes later, the Badgers went on their second power play of the game. They were almost able to tuck it in from the crease, but Frank held strong.
Then, with just under three minutes remaining, Gorbatenko took the puck off the faceoff and hit just above Frank’s glove side to give the Badgers the 4-0 lead.
To begin the third period, Hannah Halverson was taken down by Mia Lopata, what looked to be just a holding on the Bobcats led to a four-on-four as Halverson was called for embellishment.
But the four-on-four felt more like a Bobcat power play as they sat in the Badgers zone. Neither team came up within those two minutes.
Just as teams were at full strength, Marianne Picard got taken down in front of the crease leading to a Wisconsin power play. Originally a two minute minor against Taylor Brueske, the call was reviewed for head contact and upgraded to a five minute major.
Thirty seconds into the power play, Edwards missed a shot just wide. Over the course of those five minutes the Badgers, while giving Frank many good looks,were unable to come up with any points.
With 7:35 left to play, Halverson got called for slashing. The Bobcats decided to pull Frank and leave the goal empty to give themselves a six on three advantage.
Just as the Bobcats were setting up, Eden grabbed the puck and sent it down the length of the ice to secure a shorthanded, empty net goal, putting the Badgers up 5-0.
Caroline Harvey sniped a shot toward the goal with just under five minutes on the clock, but it ricocheted off the crossbar and away.
To seal the Frozen Four trip to Happy Valley, Gorbatenko ripped a one-timer with a pass from Mackenzie Jones and secured her second hat trick of the season.
With the 6-0 win, Mark Johnson secured his 700th career win as Wisconsin’s head coach.
The Badgers will face No. 3 Penn State on Friday at University Park for their fourth straight Frozen Four appearance.
“We have a team that has fun, loves hockey and loves each other, and when you have something like that it creates something pretty special on the ice,” Simms said.
