Wisconsin women's hockey is back in the NCAA title game and will need all its toughness and resilience against Ohio State
DULUTH, Minn. – The beauty of Wisconsin’s late-season surge has been the grit with which it has been played.
While much has been said about the scoring struggles the Badger women’s hockey team experienced during a five-game mid-season losing streak, there was more to their emergence from those struggles than putting the puck in the net.
There was some grit and toughness involved too, and it has paid off in the postseason. Last week the Badgers dominated Colgate on its home ice with some of the best defense it has played this season. Friday they survived an early surge and late run to dispose of a much more seasoned Minnesota squad in the national semifinal.
“I think resilient is a great word to describe our team,” senior goaltender Cami Kronish said. “We’ve gone through some adversity and come out stronger on the other end.”
Consider it good prep work for the task at hand.
Wisconsin (28-10-2) faces No. 1 seed Ohio State (33-5-2) in the national championship game at 3 p.m. Sunday at AMSOIL Arena. If history is an indication, the matchup will test the Badgers' resolve more than anything it has experienced so far.
Simply put, the defending national champions just don’t quit.
Wisconsin experienced that firsthand in a series at La Bahn Arena to end the regular season. UW won the first game on a penalty shot in overtime by freshman Kirsten Simms, but the mark of the contest was the Buckeyes' comeback from a four-goal deficit to force the extra time. The next day Ohio State snatched a sure victory from the Badgers by scoring three goals during the final 4 ½ minutes to get a win a game it needed to clinch the WCHA championship.
It is the kind of mettle one would expect with from a team with as much as experience as Ohio State.
Win over Minnesota another example of UW growth
The Buckeyes' resolve has built over years of continuity. Wisconsin’s needed to come together quicker. With 10 players on the roster who didn’t play last year due to national team commitments or being incoming recruits, the Badgers worked continuously on building chemistry.
The fruits of that labor showed Friday.
They came out slow and allowed a goal during the first 3½ minutes, but by the end of the first period had regrouped and become the more aggressive team over the next 2½ periods.
UW also had to pick itself off the mat at the end of regulation after the Gophers tied the game with 71 seconds left in regulation.
When Ohio State hit the Badgers with a similar late-game surge last month, WIsconsin quickly allowed the winning goal. This time the team maintained its composure.
“If something negative happens you’ve got to reset as quick as you can and go back out and get ready for the next shift because that is the most important one,” UW coach Mark Johnson said. “The big thing I told them this week was they’re prepared physically to play right now. We’ve had many tests in the last month.”
Wisconsin chasing its third title in five years
A victory would mean a third championship for fifth-year seniors Kronish, Sophie Shirley, Britta Curl, Nicole LaMantia and Natiie Buchbinder.
A win would also push UW to the top of the list of national championships with seven. The Badgers share that distinction with Minnesota.
It would also complete an impressive postseason run. UW has already defeated the tournament’s No. 3, seed, Colgate, and took care of No. 2 seed Minnesota on Friday.
Getting the best of the Buckeyes would likely mean surviving some of the ebbs that come with the game.
“Everybody has got to be together,” Johnson said. “No one is going to help you. You’re the only ones that are going to help each other to navigate through that space when things aren’t going well, you’re going to come out of it stronger and we’ve been able to do that.”
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin women's hockey reaches national championship vs. Ohio State
