Let it go

Badgers lose a heartbreaker in the Frozen Four

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The loud crack of the puck crashing into glass, metal and padding became rhythmic as the UW-Madison Women’s Hockey Team unleashed shot after shot in Friday night’s NCAA Tournament semi-final double-overtime loss against Colgate. The Badgers set up and fired, set up and fired, again and again, with each attempt inspiring gasps from the crowd. The onslaught created a lopsided 48-24 shots on-goal advantage for Wisconsin.

But the sound the Badgers didn’t hear enough of was from the back of the net. Colgate took the lead three times in regulation, with Wisconsin quickly evening the score minutes later each time. But overtime hockey is sudden death. You don’t get a shot at redemption. Wisconsin lost 3-4 in this thriller.

“We felt a goal coming in overtime, it just didn’t happen though,” says senior captain Claudia Kepler. “We were outplaying that team for the majority of that game. We just didn’t score. That’s how hockey is sometimes.”

This was the fifth straight visit to the Frozen Four by the Badgers, after a season that showed Wisconsin’s dominance. It began with an 8-0 thrashing of the South Korean national team. It ended with a four-game sweep of arch-rival Minnesota and a third consecutive WCHA regular season conference title.

All that made Friday’s loss sting. “There’s a lot of emotion in that game. It doesn’t feel good to lose,” says Kepler. “But eventually we’ll look back and be proud of what we did.”

Nine current and former Badgers were at the Pyeongchang Olympics, playing for the United States or Canada, including U.S. team captain Meghan Duggan — the most players in South Korea from any collegiate team.

Wisconsin will get two players back next year, Emily Clark of Team Canada and second team all-American Annie Pankowski (a late scratch for Team USA in 2018), who took time off for the Olympics. They will rejoin a team returning all but three of its players, including Western Collegiate Hockey Association goalie of the year Kristen Campbell and Western Collegiate Hockey Association offensive player of the year Abby Roque.

Though her time is up, senior captain Baylee Wellhausen says she’s excited for the team’s future: “I’ve dreamed of being a Badger since I was little. Each year the team is just more and more special. And I am so thankful to have met such amazing people. I’m excited to see what they can do next year.”