STATE COLLEGE, Penn. — Pay attention to Wisconsin women’s hockey for even a little bit of time and you’ll hear names like Caroline Harvey, Laila Edwards and Kirsten Simms.

On Sunday, it was a different trio of Badgers that shined.

Kelly Gorbatenko, Laney Potter and Claire Enright found the net as the Badgers took down No. 1 Ohio State, 3-2, to win a record ninth National Championship and second in two years.

The Badgers led by two for two periods, but that lead rarely felt safe, despite the best efforts of Wisconsin goalie Ava McNaughton. The Buckeyes pushed and pushed before finally breaking through in the third period

The Buckeyes and Badgers were tied in the shots column in the first period, but it was Wisconsin who made their chances count. Gorbatenko scored less than two minutes into the contest on a tip-in, then Potter added another by finding a gap between Ohio State goalie Hailey MacLeod’s blocker and the post.

While Wisconsin led the scoring, Ohio State was able to control the pace of the game better. That was thanks in part to a seriously large lead in the faceoff column.

Ohio State came out swinging to start the second period, forcing turnovers and creating dangerous chances. The Badgers, on multiple occasions, had to ice the puck to relieve pressure.

McNaughton bailed her teammates out four times in the opening five minutes of the frame, and back-to-back penalties called on Ohio State allowed the Badgers to create chances and give their defense and McNaughton a break.

However, all that pressure stormed back when Ava Murphy was called for interference with 7:28 to play in the frame. McNaughton did her best impression of a brick wall, blocking two huge shots to allow her team to kill the penalty.

The Badgers had their best chance of the second period in its dying moments. Mira Jungaker tripped Laila Edwards, leading to a delayed penalty and a six-on-five opportunity for Wisconsin. The Badgers put Ohio State under siege for nearly a minute but couldn’t find the back of the net.

That six-on-five opportunity morphed into a power play to start the third period, but again the Badgers couldn’t take advantage. Finally, after so many missed chances, the Buckeyes made them pay. Kassidy Carmichael found the puck in traffic and put it past McNaughton to cut the lead to 2-1 with 16:28 to play.

Two minutes later, McNaughton coughed up a rebound into the path of Joeclyn Amos, who found the open net to tie things up.

From there, it became a game of moments. The Buckeyes had a moment turned away by McNaughton. Harvey had a moment denied by MacLeod.

With 6:18 to play, Enright found the moment that made the difference. She moved to her left and fired a wrist shot that kissed the post on its way in for the 3-2 lead.

The Badgers, who had been locked-in on defense for the majority of the game, had to go back to doing just that after the goal. They stymied the Buckeyes for four minutes, forcing Ohio State to pull their goalie with two minutes to play.

There was nearly a repeat of last year’s drama in the closing seconds, when Ohio State was called for covering the puck in the crease leading to a game-tying penalty shot for Wisconsin in the. This time, it was Wisconsin accused of covering the puck but a challenge found that they did not.

Wisconsin went on the power play with 30 seconds to play because of that failed challenge, which just about wrapped things up.

The Badgers wrap up a season that will be remembered for award-winning performances from their stars, but when it mattered most it was the Badgers’ unparalleled depth that shone through.

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