Badgers bound for Frozen Four: Wisconsin women's hockey earns 14th berth with smothering win over Colgate.

Wisconsin women’s hockey team had just earned another berth to the Frozen Four and Casey O’Brien’s feelings all over the place.

Excited to be back. Relieved to still be playing. Most important, however, is the feeling she'll carry over into the next week.

“I think we’re all pretty confident that if we won this game, we’d be able to go all the way,” she said. “Just to be able to come here and show up and play our absolute best, I think that shows us we can beat anybody moving forward.”

There are three other teams still in the hunt for a national title that feel the same way, but the Badgers should feel more than justified in their ability to matchup following a 4-2 victory over Colgate at Class of 1965 Arena in Hamilton, New York, on Saturday.

BOX SCORE:Wisconsin 4, Colgate 2

UW dominated the tournament’s No. 3 seed on its home ice

The Badgers shut down Patty Kazmaier finalist Danielle Serdachny, got sterling play from its penalty kill and held the Raiders to just 15 shots on goal, which tied their season low.

On a day when two of the nation’s top offenses shared the ice, Wisconsin’s defense stole the show. A team that averaged about four goals per game entering play was held to one score until the final minute.

“We did feel like coming into it we’d be able to play our game a little more and establish a forecheck and have extended offensive zone shifts and really try and wear them down. Really they did a nice job of not letting us out of our end,” Colgate coach Greg Fargo said. “We were extended a little more than we’ve been used to and had a tough time getting out behind their defensemen, so if anything that was the big surprise for us it was how hard and committed they were to playing good defense.”

Penalty kill comes up big for Badgers

The Badgers earned their 14^th berth in the national semifinals and will face Minnesota at 6 p.m. Friday in Duluth, Minnesota. The Gophers defeated Minnesota-Duluth, 3-0, in a regional final.

O’Brien finished with a goal and an assist for the Badgers, who improved to 27-10-2.

Colgate, which finished 32-6-2, got a goal from senior Allyson Simpson early in the second period that tied the game and gave the Raiders a brief spell of momentum, but for most of the afternoon Wisconsin dictated play on both ends of the ice

That, however, was especially true defensively.

The Badgers killed all five Colgate power plays. The first came during the first period and sparked the team’s first goal, a coast-to-coast rush by senior Nicole LaMantia at the 7:01 mark of the period.

Three came in the second period with two coming back-to-back almost immediately following O’Brien’s game-winning goal, which came off pass from junior Maddi Wheeler and senior Britta Curl at the 15:31 mark

Colgate managed just six shots out of its power play, which entered play ranked No. 1 in the nation. On two of those second-period opportunities the Raiders didn't get off a shot.

“It’s just do or die, so you’re not just fighting for yourself," freshman Vivian Jungels said. "You’re fighting for the people next to you in the locker room and every one of your teammates, so you have to make sure you’re doing your role to the best of your ability."

Senior goalie Cami Kronish finished with 13 saves, including a spectacular leg save 5½ minutes into the final period when UW’s lead was still just one goal.

The Badgers gave Kronish some insurance during the final 10 minutes when Jungels scored off a pass from and O’Brien. UW’s final goal was an empty-netter by freshman Laila Edwards during the final 2 minutes

O’Brien was one of seven Badgers with a goal or an assist, Serdachny, a senior who is the nation’s leading scorer with 76 points, had just two shots. Junior Kristyna Kaltounkova, who entered play fifth in the nation with 56 points, had just one shot after two periods but finished with a team-high five and scored the game's final goal with 10 seconds remaining.

“What stood out is we have so many offensively talented defensemen and told they knew what they had to do to win this game,” O’Brien said. “They shut it down in the D zone. They transitioned the puck really fast to the forwards. They got pucks deep and I think they played some of the best hockey I’ve seen them play in the back end all season.”

Three WCHA teams in Frozen Four

The victory set up a Frozen Four with a WCHA feel.

Joining the Gophers and the Badgers will be defending national champion Ohio State, which will face Northeastern in the semifinals Friday.

As for UW, it’s game with Minnesota will mark the sixth time the teams’ have played this season. The Badgers are 2-1-2 in the games so far, though Minnesota won the WCHA playoff game March 3.

“It’s like Groundhog Day. We’ve done this in multiple years and here we are again…,” UW coach Mark Johnson said. “It will be a great match and it will be entertaining hockey as the previous five games against them. We’re going to enjoy this for a couple of days and then we’ll get back to work on Monday”

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin women's hockey smothers Colgate, advances to Frozen Four