Semifinal Coverage
Saturday, March 5 | 1:07 p.m. - Minneapolis
MADISON, Wis.— No. 1/2 Wisconsin is headed to Ridder Arena to take on No. 4 Minnesota for the WCHA Final Faceoff semifinals. The Border Battle is set to start at 1 p.m. on Saturday. The game will be streamed lived on FloHockey.
The winner of UW/UM will take on the victor of the second semifinal between Minnesota Duluth and Ohio State in the championship game on Sunday at 2 p.m.
1.
LAST TIME OUT: The Badgers ended the regular season winning the Julianne Bye Cup at Minnesota Duluth for the second consecutive year. After falling 4-2 to UMD on Friday night, UW rallied for a 4-3 overtime win at UMD on Saturday to clinch the WCHA regular-season title for the ninth time in school history.
Daryl Watts scored twice in the overtime win, including the game-winning goal.
2.
IT'S THE FINAL FACEOFF: Wisconsin leads the league with eight WCHA Final Faceoff championships, all under head coach
Mark Johnson. The team has won four of the last six tournaments and is looking to increase their league-best with a ninth win. Last season, the Badgers defeated Minnesota Duluth 4-1 in the semifinals before falling 1-0 to OSU in the title game.
3.
AWARD-WINNING SEASON: Seven Badgers earned spots on All-WCHA teams as
Daryl Watts,
Grace Bowlby and
Sophie Shirley earned first-team honors,
Nicole LaMantia earned second-team and
Brette Pettet,
Britta Curl and
Kennedy Blair all earned third-team honors. Additionally, Watts was named the WCHA Player of the Year and the WCHA Forward of the Year. Head coach
Mark Johnson has earned WCHA Coach of the Year for the ninth time in his career.
4.
MORE AWARDS: Grace Bowlby earned WCHA Defenseman of the Month and
Lacey Eden was named the WCHA Rookie of the Month. Bowlby had six assists to tie Watts for most points in the league over the month of February and to lead the league for defensemen. Two of her assists came off game-winning goals. Eden earned the Hockey Commissioner's Association Rookie of the Month honors in addition to the WCHA honors. She tied the league rookies with seven points in six games, coming off three goals and four assists.
5.
AGAINST THE GOPHERS: The WCHA Final Faceoff semifinal marks the 110th meeting between Wisconsin and Minnesota. Wisconsin has turned the tide as of late in the Border Battle series, as the Cardinal and White has a 9-3-2 record in its last 14 games against Minnesota and a 15-5-4 record in its last 22 games, dating back to the start of the 2016-17 season.
Britta Curl and
Daryl Watts make a powerful duo against Minnesota. Curl has scored six goals and four assists her career against the Golden Gophers and Watts has seven goals and five assists.
