Hometown hero National Champion in womens ice hockey

The Wisconsin Badgers womens hockey team won the national title game, 4-3 against Ohio State Buckeyes last weekend at Ridder Arena, earning a record eighth national title. 

Whitefish’s own wunderkind, Finley McCarthy, is a left-handed forward on the history-making Badger team.  

Not only did they earn an eighth national title, it was the fourth time in the last seven seasons they’ve done so. The Badgers also broke the record for program history wins in a season with a record of 38-1-2. 

"Many of the older girls expressed that this was the best team they’ve been a part of, the best culture they’ve been a part of, the best group as a whole, not only on the ice but off the ice,” the freshman McCarthy said. “We are all just really good friends. It was the best year I could have asked for.” 

Down by a goal, with just about 18 seconds to play in regulation, Wisconsin scored a penalty shot, forcing overtime where they scored again, just three minutes in, to win the championship.  

“Coming down to those last seconds, we’re still down 2-3, the clock is running down but none of us were going to lose hope until the buzzer went off,” McCarthy said. “We were bonded. We had hope. We had faith. We had trust in each other and we got it done.” 

Two days after Sunday’s game, Cody McCarthy’s voice was still recovering from a weekend full of cheering on her daughter. 

“It was pretty special being there and watching that goal go in,” Cody said. “The place lit up. It was just amazing.” 

Cody, fellow local hockey coach Lini Reading, and other friends and family of the young hockey phenom traveled to Minneapolis for the Frozen Four tournament. Superlatives flowed freely from the fans as they described the championship where, for the third year in a row, Wisconsin and Ohio State met in the final. 

“That final game was beyond anything I’ve ever seen,” Reading said. “For a team to trail the entire game, battle and find a way to win was incredible. 

“I couldn’t be more proud of Miss Finley and how hard she’s worked her whole life to get where she is now,” said Reading. “So many young girls here look up to her. She truly is a hometown hero.” 

Finley grew up in Whitefish, trash talking with her older brother, Darby, as they pushed each other to greatness. They still train together when they come back to town, Finley from Madison and Darby from Southern New Hampshire University, where he, too, plays hockey. 

Their close relationship could be credited for starting her hockey career. 

“She started playing at the age of 3, mainly because her brother, who is two years older, was on the ice and I was on the ice coaching all the time,” Cody said. “So, she was left in the lobby, and she didn't like that.” 

McCarthy played in the Glacier Hockey Association until seventh grade when she played on a U14 prospect team for the North American Hockey Association. That team played about five tournaments in the east and McCarthy caught the eye of recruiters. 

"A few colleges [Penn State and Brown University] called her in the seventh grade,” Cody said, explaining that the current rules do not allow recruiters to talk to an athlete until after their sophomore year. 

McCarthy moved away from home in eighth grade to play for the Bishop Kearney Selects team in Rochester, New York.  

"She played there as an eighth grader on the U16 team and then the next two years on the 16 team and then her junior and senior year on the 19 team, so she spent all four years there and that was an amazing experience for her,” Cody said. “Great coaches, great teammates, great support.” 

McCarthy was selected for the U18 national team three years in a row and represented the U.S. in Madison and in Sweden. When it was time to choose a college, McCarthy was recruited by several schools but chose Wisconsin because she wanted to train with the best. 

“During my recruiting process, I never really toured any school,” she said. “I knew Madison was where I wanted to go.” 

Badgers head coach, Mark Johnson, has been at Madison for 20 years. McCarthy calls him “the biggest name in womens college hockey” and said his calm coaching style was a big draw.  

Even in the 21st century, it can be difficult to be a female athlete. Presently in Whitefish, the sport of womens ice hockey is growing so there are more opportunities for girls but when Finley was young, girls hockey teams in town were sparce. Usually, she was the only girl on the team. 

“It was kind of a bummer,” she said of growing up without local options for growth in her sport, a limitation which necessitated her move from the valley.  

“If there was girls hockey in Whitefish, I, no doubt, would have stayed. I'm such a homebody, I love it here,” she said. “Hopefully, more [girls hockey] gets started here in town so girls don’t have to leave home.” 

Despite the challenges and, possibly because of them, McCarthy’s drive and dedication to her sport became even more powerful. 

As a child, she spent most of her time on the ice which gave her little time to participate in other sports, but she was on the ski racing team as a 10-year-old, she played a bit of soccer and she broke a few records in middle school when she ran track and cross country. 

McCarthy used to enter cross-country ski races just to battle it out with one of her dear friends, Maeve Ingelfinger, who is now a world-class Nordic skier.  

“When Maeve moved to town, they were two peas in a pod, and they just pushed each other," Cody recalled. “They were so competitive.” 

A replay of the entire championship game is available on YouTube. 

    The Wisconsin Badgers womens ice hockey team receives the National Championship trophy last Sunday. (Photo provided)