UW Women's Hockey Team poised for possible Three-Peat

I'm so mad at myself because I assumed that the Women's Frozen Four would be next weekend since this weekend is the holiday. I never actually checked and of course I missed the Badgers' semi-final match against Harvard last night. The Badgers won 4-1 and will be playing in their third straight Frozen Four on Saturday night.

story from jsonline.com


Badgers' spark provided by a short fuse
By MIKE COOK
Special to the Journal Sentinel
Posted: March 20, 2008

Duluth, Minn. - Wisconsin's smallest player had the biggest game-changing moment Thursday.
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Erika Lawler scored once and added an assist to lead the Badgers past Harvard, 4-1, in the semifinals of the 2008 women's hockey Frozen Four.

Jinelle Zaugg scored twice and Jasmine Giles once for the two-time defending champions, who will face Minnesota-Duluth for the second straight year in the title game Saturday.

Meghan Duggan had two assists, and Jessie Vetter stopped 33 shots for the fourth-ranked Badgers (29-8-3).

The loss was the first in 22 games for top-ranked Harvard (32-2-0). It was only the second time this year the Crimson allowed more than two goals. It lost both games.

Lawler, who stands just 5 feet tall, tied the score 18 seconds into the second period by turning a Crimson turnover into a tying Wisconsin goal. Lawler gathered a loose puck behind the net, came out front and backhanded the puck past Harvard goaltender Christina Kessler.

"Whenever you get out there first you want to be the one to create the momentum, you want to get everyone going, get everyone fired up. You want to get everyone back in the game," she said.

Giles scored 2 minutes later on a one-timer from the right circle.

"It's fun to participate in a game, but we didn't come to participate, we came to play," Wisconsin coach Mark Johnson said. "You've got to go out, play and do what you're capable of. I didn't see it for stretches in the first period."

Lawler did everything but score the third UW goal.

She was checked behind the Crimson net, bounced back up, corralled the puck in the left corner and fed Zaugg in the slot. Falling forward, Zaugg put a shot past Kessler at 6:56 of the second period for a 3-1 lead.

"Erika brings a lot of energy and she's very quick. She goes 100 mph, it looks like, and she ducks her shoulder and gets around people," said Zaugg, who also tipped in a pass from Duggan early in the third period for her ninth goal in nine NCAA tournament games.

Harvard coach Katey Stone was especially disappointed with her team's play in its own end.

"We had breakdowns and things happened. We weren't as good on defense as we've been all year. They capitalized on their chances."

Minnesota-Duluth 3, New Hampshire 2: Freshman forward Laura Fridfinnson scored a power-play goal midway through the third period to send the Bulldogs back to the title game.
Wisconsin 0 3 1 - 4
Harvard 1 0 0 - 1

First period - 1, HAR, Brine (Vaughn, Cahow), 4:42. Penalties - Matthews, UW (interference), 4:04; McDonald, HAR (cross-checking), 15:57.

Second period - 2, UW, Lawler (unassisted), :18: 3, UW, Giles (Hanson, Duggan), 2:25; 4, UW, Zaugg (Lawler, Morris), 6:56. Penalties - Morris, UW (checking from behind), 16:25; Matthews, UW (cross-checking), 19:40.

Third period - 5, UW, Zaugg (Duggan, Deluce), 3:15. Penalties - Griffin, HAR (interference), 8:59; Duggan, UW (tripping), 13:59.

Saves
Vetter, UW 6 13 14 - 33
Kessler, HAR 11 8 5 - 24

Summary: Shots on goal - UW 11-11-6-28; HAR 7-13-14-34. Penalties /minutes - UW 4 for 8; HAR 2 for 4. Power play opportunities - UW 0 for 2; HAR 1 for 4. T - 2:00. A - 3,023.