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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Chicago Bears guard Nate Davis paid $2.3 million in May for a five-bedroom, 5,537-square-foot house in Highland Park.

A Virginia native who previously had played for the Tennessee Titans, Davis signed a three-year, $30 million deal with the Bears in March. He battled injuries in his first year with the team, including missing four games later in the season with a high ankle sprain.

Built in 2003 and designed by Evanston architect Michael Hershenson, Davis’ new house has five bathrooms, three fireplaces, a kitchen with a butler’s pantry, a family room with built-ins and a wall of windows and a wood-paneled study on the first floor. Other features include a four-season sunroom that offers ravine views and a primary suite with a second office, a private screened porch, dual custom walk-in closets and heated floors.

Downstairs on the lower level, the house has a game room, a kitchenette and a fitness room.

The house sits on a 1.28-acre property and is accessed via a wooded private drive.

The agent who represented Davis, Paul Gorney of eXp Realty, could not be reached for comment.

The house had a $52,785 property tax bill in the 2022 tax year.

Bob Goldsborough is a freelance writer.

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It sounds like something out of a horror movie. A fun adventure among friends turns very, very serious when a bunch of hungry lions show up.

But that is roughly what happened at 3M Arena at Mariucci on Saturday, when the Gophers’ seemingly comfortable lead in their playoff game disappeared at the hands of a Penn State team determined to extend its season.

Still, the playoffs are about survival, and via Aaron Huglen’s goal with just 68 seconds left in regulation, Minnesota did just that, beating Penn State 3-2 to sweep their best-of-three playoff series.

While the Nittany Lions’ season comes to an end, the Gophers will advance to the Big Ten semifinals, where they will either have a single home game versus Michigan or a single game at Wisconsin, pending the results of the first-round series elsewhere.

“We were able to hang on long enough to make a play tonight,” Gophers coach Bob Motzko said.

Penn State (15-18-3) probably deserved a better fate, as the Lions were the aggressors for the final two periods, outshooting Minnesota 35-7 over the 40-minute span. Penn State coach Guy Gadowsky appeared devastated after the game.

“I thought the boys played well,” was his only comment after a lengthy closed-door session with his team. Liam Souliere finished with 21 saves for the Lions, who got goals from Jimmy Dowd Jr. and Matt DiMarsico.

After Jaxon Nelson produced a lead just 98 seconds into the game, Minnesota survived a messy opening period which saw star forward Jimmy Snuggerud ejected for a hit from behind and three consecutive penalties called on the Gophers which had Penn State on an extended 5-on-3 advantage. The Gophers killed it off, then doubled the lead when the Nittany Lions ran into penalty trouble of their own.

“We came to play in the first period,” Motzko said, who credited Penn State for its resolve. “And then … we battled through the shorthanded and the 5-on-3 and we took a 2-0 lead, but we had a lot of guys sitting in the first period. There was a lot of emotion at the end of the first and we couldn’t get them settled back down.”

But the visitors were not going away quietly, and the Lions pounced on Minnesota in the middle frame, outshooting their hosts 15-3 and clawing back to a 2-2 deadlock.

With 6:20 left in the third period, there was a video review after a wide shot off the end boards hit Close and slid along — just not over — the goal line. Just 25 seconds later, the Lions appeared to take the lead for real, but Minnesota challenged and replay revealed that Penn State entered the zone offside.

“Give them a lot of credit. They played their asses off tonight,” Close said of the Nittany Lions. “It’s hard to end a team’s season, and I give that hockey team a lot of credit for the way they competed tonight. They definitely didn’t make it easy.”

Then Huglen and Brody Lamb got loose on one of the very rare offensive rushes for the Gophers in the final two periods, and Huglen poked the puck past Souliere.

Briefly

For Nelson, it was the third time in the past four games that he has had multiple goals.

Motzko admitted he was openly cheering for St. Cloud Cathedral earlier in the day on Saturday as the Crusaders defeated Hermantown to win Minnesota’s Class A state boys hockey championship. Motzko’s late son Mack played hockey there and graduated from Cathedral.

“I can officially tell you I was cheering for St. Cloud Cathedral today, and very happy for them,” Motzko said. “They played great too.”

If Ohio State wins its best-of-three series with Wisconsin, the Gophers would host either Michigan or Notre Dame next weekend in a one-game semifinal. If the Badgers win their series, Minnesota would travel to Wisconsin for a one-gamer, which would be played Sunday at noon.

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One down, one to go for Gopher men after they beat Penn St. 5-1

Men’s hockey: Gophers blast Michigan 6-2, clinch third place in Big Ten

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Men’s hockey: Notre Dame hands Gophers worst loss of season

Men’s hockey: Brody Lamb’s OT winner lifts Gophers past Badgers in defensive Border Battle

The Chicago Cubs needed to find reinforcements for the bullpen.

Acquiring a reliever with a consistent track record was particularly important — and something they finally addressed Saturday.

The Cubs and veteran reliever Héctor Neris have agreed to a one-year, $9 million deal that includes a $9 million team option for 2025, a source told the Tribune. Neris’ club option converts to a player option if the right-hander appears in 60 games, a mark he has hit each of the last three years and six of eight seasons excluding the shortened 2020 season. His contract ultimately can max out at $23.25 million with incentives.

Bringing in Neris addresses key needs in the bullpen. He brings durability, pitching in at least 70 games five times, and gives the Cubs a proven, back-end-of-the-pen reliever who has experience pitching in big games. The Cubs bullpen struggled down the stretch en route to missing the 2023 postseason as an inexperienced group wore down and battled injuries in September.

Neris, 34, owns a career 3.24 ERA over 546 big-league appearances coming off two seasons in Houston, including a World Series title in 2022. He also spent eight years with the Philadelphia Phillies. Primarily used in the seventh and eighth innings with the Astros, Neris also has experience closing, earning five saves in Houston and 84 with the Phillies.

Neris gives the Cubs another splitter in the bullpen to accompany right-hander Mark Leiter Jr., whose pitch has been a shutdown weapon versus lefties. Neris utilizes his splitter against righties and lefties, a pitch that generated a 42.2 Whiff% and .237 slugging percentage in 2023.

While he typically relies on a four-seam fastball and splitter combination opposing left-handed hitters, Neris also mixes a sinker and slider when facing right-handed batters. His average fastball velocity dropped by 1.3 mph from 2022 to 2023, but this deal indicates the Cubs are not significantly concerned with that.

The Cubs’ work on building a more proven bullpen should not be complete with the Neris acquisition. They still need more depth and ideally another postseason-tested reliever.

And with Cody Bellinger among the notable position players still available in free agency, the Cubs are capable of making significant roster improvements in the coming weeks.

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