Wisconsin senior forward Blayre Turnbull continued her hot streak Friday with two goals to lead the women’s hockey team to a 2-0 shutout of Ohio State in Columbus.
Turnbull scored a hat trick in their previous series against Minnesota Duluth and now has five goals in the past two weeks.
“Well, I think after our last game where she scored a hat trick, she left the rink a little more confident,” Wisconsin head coach Mark Johnson said of Turnbull. “Certainly that confidence showed tonight as she scored the first goal and then scored a real nice power play goal in the second period.
“Hopefully it’ll continue, I think she’s been pretty consistent all year. There’s some times she was getting some chances but the puck just wasn’t going in, but she stuck with it, had a big weekend last weekend against Minnesota Duluth, which has certainly carried over to tonight’s game against Ohio State.”
The first period of Friday’s game against OSU ended scoreless, with the Buckeyes outshooting the Badgers 8-6 before the Nova Scotia native Turnbull found the back of the net early in the second period, just 97 seconds into the frame.
Turnbull’s second goal of the game came with about three minutes remaining in the second period to extend the Badger lead to 2-0.
Turnbull’s second goal came on the power-play, something that proved to be a big factor in the Minnesota Duluth series as well, as she scored all three of her goals against UMD on the power-play.
Wisconsin senior goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens stopped all 24 shots she faced as she earned her 12th shutout of the season, which ranks second in the country and second in program history for a single season.
Saturday
Wisconsin’s eight-game losing streak was snapped in game two of the series against Ohio States as the Badgers efforts fell just short in Columbus Saturday afternoon, 4-3.
The Buckeyes, still fighting for postseason contention, were coming off a 2-0 loss to the Badgers on Friday. Wisconsin (23-5-4, 18-5-3 WCHA) meanwhile, looked for a ninth straight win to ride out the season, but their efforts could not provide the outcome they looked for despite scoring three goals against the Buckeyes Saturday.
While the team does not need the win, and the one loss will not dramatically, if at all, change their ranking, as Johnson said, if the team does not put out their best efforts, then the dangers of complacency may set in.
Ohio State opened scoring in the first period after breaking out on an odd-skater rush, but the lead was only held for the remainder of the period. Wisconsin tied on a Courtney Burke goal almost six minutes into the second period, but the Badgers, again, gave up a goal in quick succession on an Ohio State power-play six minutes later.
Wisconsin sophomore defenseman Melissa Channell scored off a slapshot from the left point three minutes later to quickly take away an Ohio State lead and tie the game at two.
However, once the third period came around, the Buckeyes made the most of their chances, converting twice to open up a two-goal lead, capitalizing on two Wisconsin mistakes, one while shorthanded.
Wisconsin’s last effort came just too late, as Annie Pankowski tallied her 16th goal of the season with 1:30 left, leading to a dramatic finish as the Badgers peppered the Buckeye’s net with shots. But Ohio State’s Stacy Danczek stood firm and denied all opportunities of a late tying-goal.
Next week Wisconsin will look finish out the season strong at home against St. Cloud State in their final series before the first round of the WCHA playoffs. Puck drop is at 3 p.m. Friday.
