It’s Wisconsin, Ohio State for the trophy again

DURHAM, N.H. — The Whittemore Center was home to a block party Friday night.

Not a neighborhood shindig or a New Kids on the Block concert. Wisconsin women’s hockey treated the crowd of 3,553 at the Women’s Frozen Four semifinals to a defensive showcase.

Their 24 blocked shots, many on their four successful penalty kills, as well as two assists from Milton’s Casey O’Brien, propelled the No. 2 Badgers to a 3-1 victory over No. 3 Colgate to advance to Sunday’s national championship game against No. 1 Ohio State. Wisconsin, the defending national champions, meets the Buckeyes in the title game for the second consecutive year at 4 p.m. Sunday.

The teams have played five times this season, with OSU winning three, but the Badgers the most recent two.

Wisconsin (35-5) plays a true team defense, which showed against Colgate. Nine Badgers sacrificed their shins and recorded blocks to hold a speedy Raiders’ offense at bay.

“We blocked a lot of shots tonight,” said coach Mark Johnson. “It’s not an easy task.”

Early on, the Badgers controlled play while Colgate (327-1) served two penalties. Midway through the first, O’Brien, a senior and the team’s No. 2 scorer, passed to leading scorer Kirsten Simms. She sent a wrister past Raiders goalie Kayle Osborne for her 33rd goal of the season.

“It settled our nerves,” said Simms.

Chippiness ruled the second period. Colgate had their best chance to tie the game on a fiveon-three eight minutes into the frame, but the Badgers’ penalty kill, led by blocks by Vivian Jungels and Britta Curl, was successful.

“The five-on-three was a key moment of the game,” said Raiders coach Greg Fargo. “I thought Wisconsin was really good at blocking shots all night, which was really key to the five-onthree.”

Great transition play marked the start of the third. With eight minutes left, a Jungels shot sailed in the corner of Colgate’s net, giving Wisconsin a 2-0 lead and O’Brien her 50th assist.

After Colgate lost leading scorer Danielle Serdachny for part of the third because of injury, the Raiders turned to Kalty Kaltounkova. The senior scored an extra-attacker goal with 2:10 left to bring the Raiders within one. With 12 seconds remaining, Wisconsin winger Laila Edwards stole the puck from a Colgate forward and scored an empty-netter to seal the win.

In the first semifinal, Ohio State (34-4) defeated No. 4 Clarkson, 4-1, in a game that was tightly contested over the first two periods. The Buckeyes, the 2022 national champs, played fearful early on.

“We just had to change the mind-set of not playing afraid to lose,” said coach Nadine Muzerall. “We had to play to win and represent all the work that they did all year.”

While Ohio State held back early, Anne Cherkowski got Clarkson (33-5-2) got on the board within three minutes. Cherkowski, who was questionable heading into the game, spun around and lifted the puck on Ohio State goalie Raygan Kirk for the lead.

The Buckeyes answered at 13:53 of the first, taking advantage of a Clarkson turnover. Makenna Webster went in alone on Clarkson goalie Michelle Pasiechnyk to tie it.

Paisechnyk was the game’s highlight. The Clarkson senior, named national Goalie of the Year Thursday, withstood Ohio State’s relentless scoring depth through the first two periods, making 39 of her 49 saves.

“She makes the big saves time and time again,” said coach Matt Desrosiers. “It gives the rest of the team a lot of confidence.”

After a scoreless second period, Clarkson defender Nicole Gosling made the play of the game at the midpoint of the third, blocking two Ohio State shots centimeters from the goal line with Paisechnyk out of position. But the defensive stand didn’t last. A minute later, Webster shot toward the net, where it was tipped in by Sloane Matthews with 6:48 left.

Frustrated, Clarkson took a penalty soon after. As it expired, national Rookie of the Year Joy Dunne’s shot from the left faceoff dot sailed into the net, giving Ohio State a 3-1 lead with three minutes remaining. Dunne’s goal was set up by Olympian and Buckeyes grad student Cayla Barnes, who transferred from Boston College last offseason.

“Boston College coached her well and we’re lucky to get the tail end of [her] career,” said Muzerall of Barnes, who was a plus67 heading into the playoffs. “She was brilliant. She’s very composed, very smart, and under that kind of pressure you need that as your backbone.”

Clarkson pulled Pasiechnyk for an extra attacker with 2:45 left, but Hadley Hartmetz scored an empty-netter seconds later.