Badgers national title hopes saved by Simms' stellar OT goal
Despite numerous mistakes in the national semifinal, Wisconsin women's hockey is headed to the national title thanks to more Kirsten Simms heroics
University Park, PA — In front of the largest crowd in Frozen Four history, the Wisconsin Badgers and Penn State Nittany Lions put on a show. In an overtime thriller, Penn State pushed Wisconsin women’s hockey to the brink, until the most-likely hero set a date between the Badgers and Ohio State Buckeyes in the national title game for the fourth-straight year.
“It was a great atmosphere, right from the opening puck drop,” UW head coach Mark Johnson said about the crowd of 5,176 inside Penn State’s Pegula Ice Arena. “There was a lot of energy, a lot of enthusiasm in the building. Appreciate everybody in the student section that came out tonight because it was a treat for our players to play in front of it.”
Ultimately, Wisconsin (34-4-2, 23-3-2 WCHA), despite not playing its best game, ended Penn State’s (33-6-0, 22-2-0 AHA) season, putting a damper on those students’ Friday night.
“We gave ourselves an opportunity and ended up finishing it off the way we like to finish it off,” Johnson said. “Opportunity to play another game Sunday afternoon.”
Penn State capitalizes, early, often, and quickly
Badgers rookie Charlotte Pieckenhagen skated to the penalty box 1:42 into the first period after committing an interference penalty early on. The Ontario native did not spend much time in there. It took just ten seconds for PSU’s Matilde Fantin to win a faceoff and Tessa Janecke to score on a one-timer.
“Certainly didn’t start the game off the way we wanted to,” Johnson said. “Faced a bunch of different adversities throughout the game.”
That pattern repeated itself later in the opening frame. Following Badgers forward Laila Edwards’ goal knotting the game at one game apiece, the Nittany Lions retook the lead just minutes later. Janecke bumped UW defender Laney Potter behind the Wisconsin net.
Potter retaliated, hitting Janecke with her stick. The officials escorted Potter to the penalty box, which she exited 12 seconds later when PSU forward Abby Stonehouse secured her team’s second power-play goal and lead of the night.
Officials assessed 12 penalty minutes against the Badgers, nearly doubling UW’s per-game average of 6.82 per game.
Record-setting overtime game-winner erases miscues, sends Wisconsin women’s hockey to title game
Among the adversities faced and overcome by Wisconsin during the night was the struggles at the faceoff dot. PSU scored those first-period power-play goals immediately following draws lost by Lacey Eden. Eden lost another at the close of the 1st period that would have given UW possession of the puck with a power play, but it led to Edwards committing a penalty instead.
Eden’s one faceoff win of the night came on a second-period power play and eventually led to UW’s goal that knotted the game at 2-2, but the Wisconsin co-captain finished with just one win in seven tries on the night.
Adéla Šapovalivová gave Wisconsin a 3-2 lead in the closing minutes of the second period, but miscues prevented that lead from being decisive.
With just five minutes remaining in regulation, Badgers defender Emma Venusio allowed Janecke, Penn State’s all-time leading scorer, to get behind everybody. All alone against Wisconsin goaltender Ava McNaughton, Janecke delivered a highlight reel goal, sending the record crowd into a frenzy.
Despite the undisciplined penalties, despite the poor performance at the faceoff dot, and despite playing in a true road environment as the higher-seeded “home” team, Wisconsin women’s hockey found a way.
In overtime, it was Nittany Lions defender Kendall Butze who took a game-changing ill-advised penalty. She committed a boarding penalty in the opening minute of the extra frame, sending UW’s power play, the most effective unit in the country, onto the ice in a sudden-death situation.
When the play began, Johnson did not send Eden to the faceoff dot. This time, it was Šapovalivová. The winningest head coach in NCAA women’s ice hockey history had a simple answer for why he made the personnel change:
“Lacey wasn’t having a lot of success against Tessa.”
So, to the rookie he went. Šapovalivová won the draw, Edwards got the puck back to Caroline Harvey at the blue line, and Harvey delivered a puck to a wide-open Kirsten Simms. Simms skated the puck from the top of the zone, down to the right faceoff dot, and perfectly sniped a shot past PSU goaltender Katie DeSa, sending UW back to the national title game just eight seconds after Butze’s penalty began.
Simms’ goal was the 100th of her career, joining just four other Badgers in program history to accomplish the feat. She has now scored overtime game-winning goals in two Frozen Four games. The Plymouth, Michigan, native has two game-winners in national title games.
Still, she admits, “this one’s pretty special.”
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