The No. 2 Gopher Women’s hockey team saw its season come to an end, 3-2, in an overtime thriller in the NCAA Frozen Four semifinals at the hands of the Wisconsin Badgers.
Just over three minutes into the opening period, Taylor Heise buried a wrist shot for her 30th goal of the season to open the scoring. Minnesota (30-6-3) took the one-goal lead into the break after neither team could find the back of the net for the remainder of the first. Wisconsin (28-10-2) made a push in the second period, outshooting the Gophers 17-7 without a goal for its efforts.
The Badgers opened the third with two goals in 52 seconds to take their first lead of the game. The Gophers pushed throughout the third before finally netting the equalizer from a point shot from Madeline Wethington with 1:11 remaining. It was her fourth goal in her last six games. After almost 17 minutes of overtime play, Wisconsin’s Caroline Harvey scored the game-winning goal.
Skylar Vetter stopped 35 shots in the loss. She finished her sophomore season with 27 wins – the sixth-most in a single season in program history. Wisconsin’s Cami Kronish made 37 saves in the victory.
Quotable
“A very entertaining hockey game tonight,” said head coach Brad Frost. “Swings of momentum both ways, but Wisconsin found a way to make a play there at the end with a nice goal. I’m super proud of our team and group for the way they left it all on the ice and played for one another.”
“Unfortunately, when you step under the bright lights, one team is going to lose and one team is going to win. We love these guys and love this group. We’re very proud of the season we had.”
Notable
• Minnesota suffers its first loss all season when leading after two periods (25-1-2).
• The Gophers lose for the first time on a Friday all season (15-1-1).
• After a goal and an assist, Taylor Heise finishes her final season with a team-leading 19 multi-point games.
(info courtesy of Gopher Sports)