Kirsten Simms lifts Wisconsin women's hockey past No. 1 Ohio State in overtime

MADISON – Smiles and giggles.

That was Kirsten Simms’ situation Saturday afternoon after her goal on a penalty shot in overtime lifted the Wisconsin women’s hockey team to a 6-5 overtime victory over top-ranked Ohio State in front of a packed house of 2,273 at LaBahn Arena.

The victory continued Wisconsin’s late-season assault of the WCHA’s best.

The sixth-ranked Badgers, who scored a series win at Minnesota last week that knocked the Gophers out of first place, improved to 23-8-2 overall, 19-6-2 in the WCHA, and prevented the Buckeyes from clinching the conference title. UW also scored its third top-15 win of the month and recorded at least five goals against a top-five opponent for the second straight game.

For Simms the effort was punctuated by being the center of a mob celebration from her teammates.

“It was crazy,” she said. “Obviously I’m super-excited I got to take down the No. 1 in the country right now. It was a hard-fought battle obviously, them coming back from four goals (down), but we obviously figured it out in the end and finished it.”

Kirsten Simms scores first game-winner of her career

The contest showed Wisconsin’s continued evolution offensively while the Buckeyes (27-4-2, 22-4-2) showed the mettle you would expect of an experienced team that is the defending national champion.

And it came down to a handling-the-puck-with-hands penalty while in the crease by Ohio State forward Jenn Gardiner during a flurry of shots from Simms, sophomore Lacey Eden and senior Nicole LaMantia.

UW coach Mark Johnson could have chosen any of those three to take the penalty shot. He went with the freshman.

“She was our first shooter Friday night and the goalie made a nice poke check on her and she was not able to score because of it,” Johnson said. “I just felt, a young freshman has been through it once in front of a full house last weekend. Let’s see what she can do with it.”

What Simms did was flip a backhand past the reach of junior goalie Amanda Thiele’s left hand for her first winner.

“For me, I know there are three certain moves that are my go-to ones and whatever I feel like will work best against that goalie is the one I go to in that moment,” Simms said. “I try to not over think it but try and trust myself with it.”

Jesse Compher scores twice, one of eight players to score a point for UW

The effort was quite a turnaround from the teams’ series at Ohio State last month. UW scored one goal in those two games. Saturday the Badgers scored four goals in the first period and after some harrowing moments that included allowing the game-tying goal with 2 minutes 19 seconds left in regulation, posted the program’s second win over a No. 1 team this season. The Badgers also beat No. 1 Minnesota on Nov. 20.

“If you want to be a championship team and you want to be an extended playoff team, you have to be comfortable in those settings,” Johnson said. “You can’t play going on the ice not wanting to lose. You have to go on the ice wanting to win and there is a big difference in that.”

Eight Badgers scored a point Saturday. Senior Jesse Compher recorded two goals and one assist, all in the first period. Junior Casey O’Brien posted one goal and two assists. Four other players scored two points: LaMantia, seniors Britta Curl and Sophie Shirley and freshman Vivian Jungels.

The victory set the stage for a must-win situation for Ohio State on Sunday afternoon. Minnesota beat St. Thomas, 4-2, Saturday night, and thus the Buckeyes will need to score a victory over UW to get the league crown.

Wisconsin, meanwhile, can enhance it positioning for the NCAA Tournament. It climbed three spots to No. 6 in the USCHO’s simulation of the PairWise rankings with its series win at Minnesota last week. A sweep of the Buckeyes would provide another jolt.

The Badgers will honor their seven seniors before the game, which begins at 2 p.m.

“We know this game is over with. Enjoy it tonight, but the second you put your head down on your pillow you put it behind you,” Compher said. “We have some senior stuff before the game that we’re obviously not going to let get in our way either. We’re just going to come out and play like we did today and hopefully we keep going.”

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin women's hockey wins thriller, beats No. 1 Ohio State in OT