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Milewski: UW women's great hockey season lacked perfect ending

Todd D. Milewski  —  3/24/2008 6:09 am

DULUTH, Minn. -- It was going to be the end of the line either way, so there was no question that the goodbyes they said to three seniors were going to be emotional when they returned to their locker room inside the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center.

A shutout loss gave the emotions a tinge of sadness instead of joy for the University of Wisconsin women's hockey team after Saturday's national championship game.

UW players credited Minnesota-Duluth as a deserving champion after a 4-0 final in the last game of the season, but the Badgers quickly turned to thoughts of a successful season that just didn't have the perfect ending.

"We made it to the final game. We played as many games as we could in the season. And we're taking hardware home," Badgers goaltender Jessie Vetter said. "Silver's not as good as gold, but it's still a pretty trophy and we're very proud of it."

In his farewell, Badgers coach Mark Johnson talked about the journey. It was a winding road to the finish.

Maybe they talked about the regular season-ending series at Minnesota in which it displayed the potential to be one of the last two teams standing this season.

Or about the Western Collegiate Hockey Association playoff championship, when it had to get through Minnesota to get to Minnesota-Duluth. Or about the 4-1 deficit that the visiting Badgers overcame to force overtime against the Bulldogs.

Or about the NCAA quarterfinal game at Minnesota that went to overtime before UW advanced. Or about the Frozen Four opener in which the Badgers got past the tournament's No. 1 seed, Harvard.

"If you look at our last four or five weeks, I don't think there was another team in the country that had to go over some of the hurdles that we had to go in relationship to some of the games we had to play, where we had to play those games," Johnson said. "And they always found a way to meet those challenges and find ways to win hockey games."

They didn't have an answer for Duluth's pressure on Saturday.

The Bulldogs made it difficult for the Badgers to bring the puck out of their own zone. That led to turnovers, one of which turned into a UMD shorthanded goal.

Minnesota-Duluth crashed the Badgers' net hard and got goals for its effort.

It was not unlike the other four times the Bulldogs beat UW this season, and that led Vetter to say that UMD had her mark.

"It was definitely frustrating because I went into every game vs. Duluth focused and ready," the UW junior said. "They always found a way to find the puck on a power play or they found a way to get in front of me so I couldn't see the puck. They just did a good job of causing chaos in front of me. They're a good team. They're well deserving of the trophy."

That's a little tough to accept when it's your rival holding the championship trophy as you're skating off the ice.

Badgers senior forward Jinelle Zaugg was holding the silver runner-up trophy in one arm and hugging classmate Mikka Nordby with the other as they prepared to leave the DECC rink. Earlier, Zaugg, Vetter and senior captain Emily Morris managed smiles as they held the trophy.

"It's going to sting, but like I told the girls in the locker room, we have to (hold) our heads high," Zaugg said. "We played a great season. I've had a great four years: two national championships and one runner-up. We're taking home hardware. We really have to be happy with what we've done. We've proved a lot of people wrong. A lot of people didn't think we were going to get here. It was a great run, and I think I left everything out there on the ice."

Johnson concurred that the Badgers weren't necessarily early-season favorites to get to this point, despite being two-time defending champions. It wasn't until the second half of the season that the Badgers, playing six freshmen on a regular basis, became title contenders.

Even though Zaugg didn't leave the program with a third title, she can definitively say that she has been a part of the transformation that has the Badgers in a better state than when she arrived.

"Wisconsin's an amazing program, and ever since coach Johnson has taken it, everybody's kind of run with it," Zaugg said. "I look forward to seeing what it's going to be like in five years. It's grown in four years what I couldn't imagine, and I can't imagine what it will be doing in a little bit."

Todd D. Milewski  —  3/24/2008 6:09 am