HAMDEN, CONN. – Wearing her jersey for the last time, nearly a half-hour after the final whistle closed out her college career without a second national championship, Gophers senior forward Taylor Williamson was both disappointed and grateful.
Grateful because Williamson, who missed half of last season after being diagnosed with myasthenia gravis, had the opportunity to play again. Disappointed because the end result was one where the Gophers did not end up being the team wearing hats with "Champions" in giant letters.
In a championship matchup between the two top teams in college women's hockey, the Badgers denied Minnesota a seventh NCAA title with a 2-0 victory.
"I thought that we came out ready to play in the first 10 minutes. I thought that we had the jump on them," Williamson said. "If you talk to anyone in our locker room you would hear them say that they truly believed that we would win this game up until the final seconds there."
Wisconsin, claiming its first national title since 2011, got 27 saves and a third consecutive shutout from Kristen Campbell, the Frozen Four's Most Outstanding Player.
"You look at the journey this team has taken, and I'm just so proud of everybody," Wisconsin redshirt senior Annie Pankowski said.
Wayzata native Sophia Shaver opened the scoring with a goal on Gophers goaltender Alex Gulstene midway through the first period. That proved to be the difference.
A period later, Pankowski, moments after Campbell denied Amy Potomak the tying goal on a Minnesota power play, went around a pair of Gophers forwards to score her ninth career shorthanded goal.