Women's hockey team to play for National Championship

The first women's team to ever play in the National Championship game four years running, the Lady Badgers will play for their third title in four years tomorrow afternoon.

They will face Mercyhurst, who beat Minnesota in the other semi-final match.

Hilary Knight and Erica Lawler each scored a power play goal and Patty Kaz winner Jessie Vetter had 29 saves in the 5-1 victory. Kyla Sanders added the fifth point.

UWBadgers.comBlogger: Cute Sports - Create Post story here


The women's Frozen Four is in Boston this year and much is being made about many of the UW ladies' roots in New England.

This article from The Boston Globe talks about Ericka Lawler, Megan Duggan and Hilary Knight.

From the article: "

It's been a nearly flawless run for Lawler, the fast, fierce forward from Fitchburg who left Cushing Academy for the Midwest four years ago, taking a risk in leaving everything familiar behind to go to the big university in Madison. The rewards have been great: This is the fourth Frozen Four for the 5-foot senior captain, and she scored a pair of power-play goals in the second period to jump-start the Badgers.

Knight, a sophomore from Hanover, N.H., also scored two power-play goals and added two assists to boost her nation-best point total to 81. She collected her 43d and 44th goals, setting Wisconsin record.

And Duggan, a junior from Danvers who followed Lawler from Cushing to Wisconsin, collected three assists."

The coverage started even before the win and Duggan had some really flattering things to say about UW: "

"I didn't know much about the school," Duggan said. "They fly you out for your official visit and I was kind of starstruck. It's an unbelievable campus, it's a beautiful city, I love Madison. They won the national championships the year before I got there. I knew the hockey was a powerhouse and it's just an unbelievable university.

"Anyone that goes out to Madison and gets the tour on the University of Wisconsin campus is going to think the same thing. I heard from a bunch of people from home that they didn't go out there because they were afraid they'd never come back.

"I guess that happened to me. It's hard to leave home and be away from my family but it was definitely the right decision for me."