This weekend, the Wisconsin Badgers (4-0-0) took on the Penn State Nittany Lions (0-2-2) at LaBahn Arena.

They thumped them.

Friday’s game, the first of the series, saw the Badgers take down the Lions by a score of 7–0. In the first period, Wisconsin unleashed a flurry of goals to give themselves a substantial lead right at the onset of the matchup.

Junior forward Brette Pettet led the Badgers’ scoring efforts in the first period with two goals scored at the 5- and 16-minute marks. Also contributing to the first period frenzy was another key player, junior forward Maddie Posick.

Senior Abby Roque, sophomore Sophie Shirley and junior Daryl Watts also managed to score goals for the Badgers, with Roque scoring two goals in total.

Senior goalkeeper Kristen Campbell recorded a clean sheet through two periods of the game before fellow senior Nikki Cece came into the game off the bench. This is Cece’s first significant playing time of the year.

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Saturday’s game, while a much closer contest in score, again saw the Badgers take an early lead that was reinforced by more goals in the third period.

Star transfer Watts opened up scoring for the Badgers midway through the first period. The score remained 1–0 through the rest of the first and second periods behind an extremely impressive performance from Campbell.

Penn State put the pressure on early, recording 13 shots on goal within the first period alone — all 13 of which Campbell managed to save. The Lions continued to place pressure on Campbell but she remained sound nonetheless, recording a total of 22 saves and adding yet another clean sheet to her record.

Women’s Hockey: No. 1 Badgers host Penn State in hopes of gaining third straight win

Within the first three minutes of the third period, the Badgers managed to put the game out of reach by tacking on an additional two insurance goals. Junior Caitlin Schneider scored the first and Watts came in with the second goal of the period, her second of the game.

The Badgers have continued their strong play from last season, dominating in all four games thus far. While their opponents have certainly not been the toughest they will face all season, it is the way in which they won, not the win itself, that truly matters.

Look for the Badgers to face an early test as they take on The Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus this coming weekend.