Nadine Muzerall, coach of No. 1 Ohio State, referred to the Buckeyes’ 4-2 loss to Wisconsin in the final game of the regular season as a wakeup call.
After the championship game of the WCHA Final Faceoff on Saturday at Ridder Arena, it might be time to sound the alarm.
The preeminent favorite to win the national title was humbled by the Badgers once again in a 6-3 loss. The Badgers opened up a 6-1 lead before Ohio State added a pair of late goals.
It was the most goals the Buckeyes (32-4-0) have given up in a game this season.
“I just hope it pisses off our team and we go and try to win a national championship,” Muzerall said.
Casey O’Brien and Laila Edwards each had a pair of goals for the No. 2 Badgers (33-5-0), who appear primed to make a strong run at a second consecutive NCAA title.
“We’re really excited about the way the game went today,” said Wisconsin coach Mark Johnson. “Knowing the challenge that our league presents to each team, it’s a tough trophy to win.”
After beating the Gophers in overtime on Friday, the Badgers were confident they could beat the Buckeyes if they played to their potential. They did that on Saturday.
“There definitely were some nerves going into it,” O’Brien said. “That’s natural; it’s a championship game. Ohio State is a great team, but we trusted in each other. I think we knew that if we stuck to our identity and played the way we know we can that we were going to be just fine.”
Johnson gave credit to his team for being consistent all season.
“We’ve battled through a bunch of adversity in terms of our health,” he said, “but we’ve been able to stand and be proud of our accomplishment.”
Ohio State registered the first five shots on goal in the game, but Wisconsin made the most of its first one to take a 1-0 lead at 6:31 of the first period. Kirsten Simms, the WCHA Player of the Year, got behind the OSU defense and beat goaltender Raygan Kirk for her 32nd goal of the season.
Shot No. 3 also found the back of the net for the Badgers, with Edwards picking up her 17th of the season on a wrist shot from the left circle at 9:39 of the opening period.
The Buckeyes scored at 1:17 of the second period, but the Badgers responded with goals at 5:16 and 7:46 to take a 4-1 lead.
OSU had a chance to get back into the game late in the period when it went on a power play, but when Wisconsin’s Britta Curl scored on a shorthanded breakaway, the rout was on.
“I think the biggest thing is the mistakes,” said Buckeyes defender Lauren Bernard when asked about her takeaways from the game. “We had some very costly mistakes, and a team like that that is that skilled and has that many great players, they were able to respond and put the puck in the back of the net when they need to.
“We gave them too much respect, and they were able to run up the score.”
Despite it all, Muzerall wasn’t ready to proclaim that the sky is falling.
“You’ve got 1 vs. 2,” she said. “It’s very likely that 2 can win. And that’s OK, and that’s going to happen. We beat them three times during the regular season), and that’s a good accomplishment, too.
“Again, costly errors that we have to make sure we don’t do. They’re self-inflicted, and we’ve got to get that under control quickly. But we’re not going to think about them anymore because that’s not who we are playing next.
“We’re going to move on from that. Congratulations to them, and we hope we get another shot.”
Briefly
Five Badgers were named to the all-tournament team: Edwards, Simms and O’Brien at forward, Caroline Harvey on defense and Ava McNaughton in goal. Ohio State’s Emma Peschel was the other defender. O’Brien was named the tournament’s most outstanding player.
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