Wisconsin Badgers
DULUTH, MN and MADISON, WI (WSAU) — The top-ranked Badger women didn’t let a 3-2 third-period hole bother them as they defeated Minnesota-Duluth 4-3 in overtime to claim the WCHA women’s conference regular-season title and the top seed in the postseason tournament.
Daryl Watts scored her second overtime game-winner of the season to seal the win. She also scored the Badger’s first goal of the game and was credited with one assist. Lacey Eden and Brette Pettet also scored for Wisconsin.
Britta Curl added two assists in the win.
Kennedy Blair made 16 saves for the Badgers.
After the game, the Badgers were awarded the Julianne Bye Cup. The Badgers topped the WCHA in both points percentage (.750) and total points (36). The Bulldogs finished in 2nd place.
Wisconsin will now prepare for the WCHA Final Faceoff tournament in Minneapolis, hosted by the University of Minnesota. The top-seeded Badgers will play the Golden Gophers Saturday at 1 PM, Minnesota-Duluth will take on Ohio State in the other semifinal. The tournament championship is Sunday at 5 PM.
The NCAA Division I women’s hockey tournament will be played in its entirety in Erie, PA beginning March 15th.
Meanwhile, the Badger men completed a weekend sweep of Ohio State in Big Ten play with a convincing 7-0 win over the Buckeyes. Stevens Point native Cole Caufield scored a hat trick in the game to eclipse the 20-goal mark for the season.
Dylan Holloway and Ty Emberson also scored for Wisconsin.
A total of ten Badgers recorded points in the contest.
Freshman GK Cameron Rowe stopped all 21 shots he faced to secure his second career shutout. Nationally, the Wilmette, IL native currently leads all Freshmen goalies with a .939 save percentage on the season.
With the four-point weekend, Wisconsin moves to first place in the Big Ten standings with 46 points. Minnesota sits in second place with 45 points but the Gophers were idle this weekend after their series with Penn State was postponed due to a COVID-19 positive test among “Tier-1 personnel” in the Nittany Lions’ program. Those games are not likely to be rescheduled.
Wisconsin closes out the regular season next weekend with two games against Michigan State. The Gophers will close out their regular season with two against Michigan.
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