Gophers women's hockey blown out by border rival Wisconsin in Frozen Four

Minnesota lost all six games it played against the Badgers this season, including Friday night.

Wisconsin forward Laila Edwards is congratulated by teammates after scoring a goal against Minnesota in the first period of an NCAA women's Frozen Four semifinal on Friday, March 21, 2025, at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis. | Dave Kallmann / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel via Imagn Images

The Gophers women's hockey team was just never able to figure out its border rival.

The fourth-seeded Gophers struck first, but Laila Edwards had a hat trick for top-seeded Wisconsin, which dominated the latter two periods in a 6-2 victory in a Frozen Four semifinal Friday night at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis.

The Badgers will face second-seeded Ohio State in the national championship game on Sunday back at Ridder Arena.

Peyton Hemp put the U on the scoreboard first Friday night with her goal 14 minutes, 14 seconds into the first period. The Gophers had a chance to add to their total on the power play minutes later, but Laila Edwards scored a short-handed goal for the Badgers just 3 minutes, 1 second after Hemp's goal to knot it at 1-1, which it remained entering the second period.

Caroline Harvey scored a go-ahead goal for Wisconsin just 2 minutes, 52 seconds into the second period, and the Badgers never looked back. Kirsten Simms made it 3-1 9:42 into the frame, and while Josefin Bouveng scored under a minute later to get the U back within one, Casey O'Brien scored with two seconds remaining in the period to make it 4-2.

Edwards scored twice more in the third period to post a hat trick as the Badgers cruised to a convincing win.

Hannah Clark made 26 saves on 31 shots for the Gophers. Ava McNaughton made 21 saves on 23 shots for Wisconsin.

The Gophers lost all six games they played against the Badgers this season.

Minnesota didn't have an answer for Wisconsin all season long, and that didn't change as the stakes got higher.