MADISON – You just had to shake your head at times at what was going on at LaBahn Arena on Saturday, Feb. 28.
The Wisconsin women’s hockey team out shot Bemidji State by almost a four-to-one margin, but countless missed connections left the Badgers in a dogfight in Game 2 of their WCHA first-round playoff series.
Eventually, senior Laila Edwards established order with a goal 74 seconds into overtime that lifted UW to a 3-2 victory, but before the outcome was sealed, the two teams gave the members of the sellout crowd a story to tell.
It started with chance after chance the home team failed to cash in and continued with miscommunication by the UW defense in the second period that left the net wide open for the Beavers’ first goal. That period also included two goals wiped out by replay, one for each team.
And in a fitting end to regulation, Bemidji, using an extra attacker, forced overtime with 25 seconds left.
Wisconsin beat the Beavers by an average of six goals in four regular-season games and scored a 7-0 victory Friday.
“The hardest part for any team is to end somebody’s season because, you know you’re going to get everything that they have in the tank because if they lose their season’s over and they’re not going to play again until September,” Badgers coach Mark Johnson said. “We weren’t as sharp for stretches today as we were yesterday and then we didn’t capitalize on some of the opportunities whether it was in the first period or the second period where we had a lot of chances and opportunities. That’s part of the game.”
It helps to have a player like Edwards to close a game.
The Olympic gold medalist, who splits time as a wing and defender, played the blue line this week and netted just two shots Saturday. She, however, knew exactly what to do after Kirsten Simms passed back to her at center ice, giving her a long charge toward the goal.
Bemidji State goalie Ava Hills, who made 44 saves, was up to the challenge for much of the afternoon, just not this time.
“We have such belief in every one of our girls, and especially when Laila gets that puck on her stick in that spot,” sophomore Maggie Scannell said. “Oh my goodness, she can rip that puck. And we knew that was going in, so we were so excited to give her that opportunity.”
The victory raised UW’s record to 31-3-2 and earned it a trip to the WCHA Final Faceoff in Minneapolis on Thursday, March 5. The Badgers’ opponent will be determined Sunday by the outcomes of No. 5 Minnesota State vs. No. 4 Minnesota Duluth and No. 3 Minnesota vs. No. 6 St. Cloud State. UW gets the lowest remaining seed.
Bemidji State finished the year 6-27-3 with eight straight losses, all coming to teams ranked or receiving votes in the USCHO poll. The Beavers went down fighting, packing in its defense in an attempt to negate UW’s firepower.
“I think they clogged the middle pretty well, and I think their goalie was phenomenal,” Edwards said. “She made a lot of good saves. She wasn’t giving us anything easy, so hats off to her.”
Bemidji’s upset attempt received assist from the Badgers during the 14th minute of the second period when a miscommunication between UW goalie Ava McNaughton and defenders Laney Potter and Edwards left an empty net for Beavers sophomore Morgan Smith to score the game’s first goal.
McNaughton went behind the net to retrieve the puck but attempted to pass it back to Potter, who had a Bemidji player on her hip rather than Edwards.
“It’s a situation where it’s communication between the two defensemen and the goaltender,” Johnson said. “Verbally there’s communication going on and if I don’t get what you’re saying, then I might try something that I’m not ready for.
“Just a major mistake. Now we’re playing from behind. [Those are] things you’ll talk about, things you work on in practice and hopefully you don’t see something like that again. But if you watch hockey long enough, you’ll see that again.”
That play was only a part of a wild second period. During the 18th minute, Bemidji State and then UW scored a goal that was taken off the board after video review.
Wisconsin, however, received a goal from Scannell at the 15:37 mark of the period and a score from freshman Adela Sapovalivova at 19:35 to give the Badgers a 2-1 lead heading into the final period.
Those plays laid the groundwork for the Badgers to complete a series sweep in the playoff opener.
It was March Madness, one day early.
“I think just learning from every game will give us a better chance throughout the rest of the playoffs,” Edwards said.
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