DULUTH, Minn. — Three straight trips to the NCAA title game is a pretty noteworthy accomplishment.

The last one didn't turn out the way the University of Wisconsin women's hockey team hoped Saturday, but there was some satisfaction in the difficult five-month journey.

Instead of a record-tying third consecutive national title, the Badgers were left to deal with a 4-0 loss to Minnesota-Duluth in the championship game at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center.

"We still played really well," UW junior goaltender Jessie Vetter said. "We had our chances. We're still really proud. Second in the nation isn't too bad. And we still have a nice trophy to take home."

UW coach Mark Johnson said he wasn't convinced another Frozen Four run was possible during the early stages of the season.

To wit, by Dec. 1, the Badgers already had lost more games (six) than they had during the previous two seasons combined (five).

"They had a great season as a whole and they gave themselves a chance to win at the end," Johnson said.

"Definitely a roller coaster year," said senior left winger and assistant captain Jinelle Zaugg said. "I never doubted the skill on the team, but the group as a whole. But everybody came together at the right time and proved a lot of people wrong."

Exploiting a weakness

During a pre-title game press conference Friday, Duluth coach Shannon Miller said she'd isolated a weakness in the Badgers and intended to build a game plan around it.

She declined to share it then, nor did she after the victory that gave the Bulldogs their fourth NCAA title, but first since 2003.

"I'm hoping it's still there next year," she explained.

Was it the UW power play? Its struggles with a methodical tempo? Its inability to keep the Bulldogs from crashing the net and annoying Vetter?

"Our entire focus going into today's game was, 'Here's Wisconsin's weakness. We're going to attack and exploit it.' " Miller said.

Did Duluth exploit said underbelly?

"We did," Miller said, "and we did an unbelievable job doing it today."

Comforts of home

While the Badgers spent four of the last five weeks of the season on the road — including the last three — Duluth played its last 11 games at the DECC.

Because the school hosted the Western Collegiate Hockey Association Final Faceoff and the NCAA Frozen Four, the Bulldogs were at home for all seven playoff games.

"You know you have your locker room and everything that you need to have," Duluth goaltender Kim Martin said. "I think it means a lot to all of us."

Who's the underdog now?

Miller claimed her club was the underdog heading into the NCAA Frozen Four — despite winning four of five meetings with the Badgers this season — so was the victory an upset?

"You can spin it however you want to spin it, right?" Miller said. "I just didn't want my team to feel a tremendous amount of pressure because we had played them five times and beaten them four times.

"Honestly, when I look at their team on paper, I think we are the underdog."

Unfinished business

It remains to be seen how Duluth's title will be affected by a NCAA investigation into whether an ineligible player was used for 26 games this season.

Freshman winger Iya Gavrilova hasn't played since early February when reports surfaced that she had played as a professional in her native Russia.

Her games factored into the Bulldogs winning the WCHA regular-season title and being seeded for the WCHA playoffs and the NCAA tournament.