Gophers women’s hockey team sinks again against Wisconsin, in the Frozen Four semifinals

Even in a familiar rink half-filled with its own fans, Wisconsin found itself in a strange place during Friday’s 6-2 NCAA Women’s Frozen Four semifinal victory over the Gophers at Ridder Arena.

Trailing.

The Badgers were behind 1-0 late in the first period during a season when they’ve still lost just once while headed to Sunday’s title game against rival Ohio State, which beat Cornell in Friday’s other semifinal.

The Badgers did so even though they had Gophers star Abbey Murphy’s five-minute major penalty to exploit early on and didn’t. They also had Gophers senior forward Peyton Hemp’s go-ahead goal with 5:46 left in the first period to overcome.

They didn’t score during Murphy’s video-reviewed major penalty for elbowing Badgers captain Caroline Harvey with a skating start high in the body and head five minutes into the game. Then Hemp scored.

No worries. Wisconsin’s Laila Edwards — one of three Badgers who are the final three finalists for the Patty Kazmaier Award — simply delivered a hat trick, scoring her team’s first goal and its last two to send the Gophers home for the summer with a 29-12-1 record.

The two teams played six times this season, in regular season and playoffs, and the Gophers are 0-6.

“These are the games that stick with you forever,” Gophers junior defender Sydney Morrow said. “Personally, I’ve gotten knocked out by Wisconsin three years in a row now so I’m probably never going to forget any of these moments. When we look back, we’re going to remember this game, but we’ll also remember the times of this whole season, with this team. There were games we played lights-out. It’s going to motivate us for next season. We’ll definitely be hungry for next year, and we’re grateful we can come back.”

Edwards’ opening goal, scored shorthanded, tied the game with 2:45 left in the first, and her final two in the third period made the Badgers 37-1-2 with one game remaining. In between, Badgers captain Casey O’Brien scored with two seconds left in the second period for a 4-2 lead.

“These games are about momentum, and we were pretty upset we didn’t score,” Edwards said. “We don’t go down early too often, so it was a little unsettling.”

That feeling didn’t last despite a first period that Badgers coach Mark Johnson called a “little goofy” and “beyond a rollercoaster” after Murphy’s major penalty stirred emotions and filled parts of the game with referee whistles, jarring contact, penalties and penalty reviews.

Johnson wasn’t sure Harvey would carry on after being flattened by Murphy’s elbow. All she did was stay in the game, score Wisconsin’s second goal for a lead it never surrendered and assist on Edwards’ last goal, an empty-netter.

“Once she figured out which bench she was supposed to go to,” Johnson said. “She was trying to find herself. When she finally got to our bench, I thought she was going to be done for the night.”

Johnson was asked if he thought Murphy should have been ejected.

“My opinion? Doesn’t matter,” he said. “I can’t talk about the refs. You saw the same thing I saw, 99 percent of games that would have been ejected.”

Ohio State beat third-seeded Cornell in Friday’s other Frozen Four game, the Buckeyes scoring two third-period goals in a 4-2 victory. The Buckeyes will meet once-defeated and No. 1-ranked all season Wisconsin in Sunday’s NCAA championship game at Ridder Arena.

The two will play for the championship for the third consecutive season. The Buckeyes won 1-0 last year, the Badgers won 1-0 the year before, in 2023. Ohio State won in 2022 and Wisconsin in 2021.

The Gophers last made the championship game in 2019 and lost 2-0 to the Badgers.

“I’m super proud of this group,” Gophers coach Brad Frost said. “I love this team. I’m really proud how they came together this year. They played for one another and left it out there tonight. I’m super disappointed. …

“They’re obviously a very talented team. We weren’t the only ones to lose to them this year. They’re super dangerous on the rush, and we knew that. We’re not that far away. You want to continue to bring in great people and great players. We’re certainly excited for that opportunity next year.”