MADISON, Wisconsin – The Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey team saw its season come to an end with a 6-0 loss to the Wisconsin Badgers in the NCAA Regional Final. The Badgers will be heading to their fifth consecutive NCAA Frozen Four appearance which is the most in a row since Wisconsin went to seven in a row from 2014-21.
The opening frame spelled disaster for the Bobcats as they started the game with an offensive opportunity but that would be just about all the offense they could produce, as 2:33 into the first, Kelly Gorbatenko got one by Felicia Frank, making it 1-0 Badgers.
Sophomore defenseman Makayla Watson said, “They’re definitely a strong team, they put up a lot of pressure and it was a battle from the start.”
This would start the Badgers’ onslaught as Wisconsin would get a power play opportunity after Zoe Uens would interfere while trying to play the puck, leaving the offensive zone. Wisconsin would make no mistake as Laila Edwards would control the puck in the left circle, saucer it over to Kirsten Simms and she would shoot one past Frank’s blocker to make it 2-0 Wisconsin. The Badgers ended the first period with 19 shots on goal to Quinnipiac’s four shots on goal.
Heading into the second period of action, the game started to get away from the two teams as they started to play with a lot of aggression and physicality, even throwing cheap shots at one another after the whistle.
A little over a minute into the second period, Adela Sapovalivova would score a point-blank goal right in front of Frank’s net, making the score 3-0 Wisconsin.
Quinnipiac would look to build some momentum up after Ava Murphy takes a hooking penalty on a possible breakaway. They would sustain some zone time, but only end up putting one shot on goal as Wisconsin killed the penalty with relative ease.
The Badgers used the penalty kill as momentum as Gorbatenko would get the puck off of a Cassie Hall faceoff win, walk it into the right circle and fire one right by Frank’s blocker side and just like that, it would be 4-0 Badgers.
The Bobcats headed back to their locker room with one more period left to try and stay alive in their season.
Things then got out of control early on in the third period as Mia Lopata got called for a holding penalty and Hannah Halverson got a matching penalty for embellishment and it would be 4-on-4 action. It was all Bobcats in 4-on-4 as they controlled puck possession and had some decent opportunities.
The Bobcats were able to build up solid momentum until Taylor Brueske would get into it with a Wisconsin forward and pick up a five-minute major for cross-checking. The penalty killed all of Quinnipiac’s momentum as they would have to kill a major penalty. The Bobcats were successful in doing so.
Halverson would eventually get called for a slashing later in the period and head coach Cass Turner would utilize her timeout and try to rally the Bobcats back into this one. This would be unsuccessful as Lacey Eden picked up an empty net goal. Gorbatenko would get one more goal in even strength as she picked up the hat-trick on the day and it would be 6-0 Badgers and that would be your final.
Wisconsin head coach Mark Johnson would pick up his 700th career win and become the first coach in NCAA women’s ice hockey history to reach the 700-win mark. He is also the winningest head coach in NCAA women’s ice hockey history and will look to compete for his 9th national championship.
Although the Bobcats went down today, Watson had nothing but praise for Felicia Frank stating, “ She’s the backbone of our team, she has been backstopping for us all season long.” Frank posted her career high in saves posting 45 saves on 50 shots.
The Bobcats have seven seniors walking away from the program and Watson had only good things to say about this leadership group, “This group of seniors and leaders was unmatched and will definitely go down as one of the greatest leadership groups I ever played under.” Cass Turner added on further saying “This is the most fun I’ve had coaching in my entire career; this was a really special group.”
Turner is confident in this team’s future saying, “ This is one of our best years in ten years and when I think back to recruiting after winning the ECAC Championship, it was our strongest recruiting class in program history.”
The scoreboard in Madison may have told one story, but this season told another. This Quinnipiac team reshaped expectations, built a lasting culture and showed the hockey world what the Bobcats are about. As the Seniors pass the torch to the next generation, the belief in the Bobcat locker room remains unchanged; it is not an ending at all. It is a stepping stone towards another March run waiting over the horizon.
