Badgers women's hockey speeds past Quinnipiac to Frozen Four
Wisconsin women's hockey dominated puck possession throughout the NCAA Tournament regional final
Madison, WI — If the Quinnipiac Bobcats were going to make history and earn their program’s first-ever Frozen Four appearance on Saturday, they would have to complete another historic first by beating the Wisconsin Badgers in Madison. Wisconsin women’s hockey started the day a perfect 8-0 on home ice in the NCAA Tournament and finished the day with that record unblemished as UW earned a dominating 6-0 victory over QU.
Wisconsin (33-4-2, 23-3-2 WCHA) forced Quinnipiac (29-9-3, 14-6-2 ECAC) goaltender Felicia Frank to make 15 saves before the Bobcats logged their first shot on goal of the regional final. For a stretch of over eight minutes in the second period, QU failed to record a single shot attempt as the Badgers proved to be more than the ECAC Tournament champions could handle.
“We knew that it was gonna be faster than we thought it was going to be,” Quinnipiac head coach Cassandra Turner said in a post-game interview.
Wisconsin women’s hockey shuts down Quinnipiac’s top line
UW’s ability to maintain puck possession limited any potential opportunity for QU to operate its offense. Bobcats leading scorer Kahlen Lamarche found the back of the net 42 times this season, scoring more goals than in a single campaign since Daryl Watts’ rookie season at Boston College. Lamarche and her linemate, Emerson Jarvis, combined for over 43% of Quinnipiac’s goals this season.
With those dangerous offensive weapons on the other side, Badgers head coach Mark Johnson, who became the first NCAA women’s ice hockey head coach to notch 700 wins on Saturday, wanted his team to start on the right foot.
“My big thing was, you know, can we come out and play with some energy? Which we were able to do,” Johnson said. “And then, you know, through that, can you create enough chances, maybe score in the first five minutes? And if you’re able to do that, it just, it’ll settle the team down that scores, and maybe put the other team on their heels a little bit, and maybe sneak a second one in through that period.”
Wisconsin quickly put Quinnipiac on its heels. Badgers forward Kelly Gorbatenko scored 2:33 into the first period, making the Bobcats chase the lead throughout the evening.
UW’s Ava McNaughton posted a 17-save shutout, the second shutout effort in the NCAA Tournament of her career, but Wisconsin’s ability to prevent Quinnipiac from breaking out of its own half of the ice minimized the the quality opportunities the junior netminder had to face.
“Our defense was very sharp at the beginning, but it also stems from our forecheck and how we’ve been playing without the puck from the forward end, to the D-end, to our goalie, obviously.” Badgers forward Kirsten Simms, who scored her 99th career goal on Saturday, remarked. “But the way that we’ve been able to get pucks back when they’re not on our sticks, or create turnovers in the D-zone from the other team, and kind of just force dump-ins and things like that that allow us to ignite on the offense has been really good for us recently, and we’ve been really hot on that.”
Wisconsin women’s hockey wins battle of potent top lines
Despite how impressive Quinnipiac’s top group of forwards has been this season, it was the group atop Wisconsin’s line chart that did the most damage through the afternoon. No player had a more effective performance than Gorbatenko.
The junior forward cashed in with her line three times, netting just the second hat trick of her career with a season-high eight shots on goal.
“I listened to coach. He tells me to shoot the puck, and, you know, good things happen when you do,” the Barrington, Illinois native said.
“I think we really struggled in the faceoff dot, and I think that made it a challenge for us,” Turner said of the battle between the teams’ top lines. “And, you know, it is what it is. I think speed too, was another, another piece that was really hard for us to work through with that.”
Wisconsin turned in an elite performance at the dot, winning 60.8% of the 64 draws taken—well above the Badgers’ season average of 54.9%. UW’s top-line center and All-WCHA honoree, Cassie Hall, went 10-6 on faceoffs.
The dominant performance came one week after Wisconsin struggled to win faceoffs throughout its loss in the WCHA Playoff title game against the top-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes.
“If you’re winning a high percentage of that, then you end up having the puck, and you’re not chasing it. And it makes the game a lot different,” Johnson said.
Wisconsin’s dominant possession of the puck created enough scoring chances to add two goals in each period.
The Badgers snuffed out the Bobcats’ comeback bid late in the third period before it could get off the ground. QU pulled Frank in favor of the extra attacker on a power play with over seven minutes remaining, down 4-0. UW co-captain Lacey Eden hit the empty net on the ensuing 6-on-4 for a shorthanded goal, putting the game firmly out of reach.
Gorbatenko added her third goal of the game with under three minutes remaining.
“I thought we did what we want to do at times, in terms of making some of their really skilled, patient players, uncomfortable,” Turner said. “But when you have four lines of that, you know, at some point it just got a little bit tough for us.”
Up next for Badger women’s hockey
With its win on Saturday, Wisconsin advanced to its fourth-consecutive 17th total Frozen Four appearance in program history. UW is seeking back-to-back national championships with a senior class that has appeared in three-straight national title games.
“We have two more games to get the job done again,” Simms said. “And we’re itching for that—for that back-to-back that we didn’t get our second year.”
Wisconsin will face third-seeded and host institution Penn State in the national semifinal on Friday, March 20th. Start time is to be determined.
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