Sophomore Hilary Knight’s seven-goal weekend led the Badger women’s hockey team to a sweep over Quinnipiac in the first series of the season this weekend at the Kohl Center. Knight starred throughout the weekend, especially on Saturday with a record-breaking five-goal performance.
“We have some excellent passers on our team, and fortunately enough for me, the passes got through, and I was able to put a few in,” Knight said.
For the second consecutive year, Knight is playing on the same line as senior captain Erica Lawler and senior Angie Keseley.
“I love playing with Knight,” Lawler said. “We’ve played together for a year now, and it’s nice when her hard work can reflect on the scoreboard.”
Lawler finished the weekend with six assists, and linemate Keseley added three points. Lawler and Keseley have been linemates since their freshman season, and that time together has helped form some good chemistry.
Knight, however, joined the duo on the same line just last season, playing a key role as a freshman in the Badgers’ success. Lawler finished the 2007-08 season with 40 points, while Knight had 38 points and Keseley added 25, meaning they return a lot of experience and scoring ability from last year.
Knight used her size to create space against Quinnipiac, camping out in front of the net where her linemates were able to find her easily.
“She’s an unbelievable player, so easy to find in front of the net,” Lawler said. “She seems to always get open in front.”
Lawler assisted Knight four times over the weekend, including a beautiful pass through a Quinnipiac defender’s legs to a wide-open Knight.
At 5-feet-11-inches, Knight is the tallest player on the team. But she also is deceptively quick and has good hands. Her strength, coupled with Lawler’s quickness, create matchup nightmares for coaches, as was evident by the handful of highlight reel passes Lawler made to Knight against the Bobcats.
“Lawler is a great player. She’s a hard worker, very speedy, actually hard to keep up with,” Knight said. “I’m very lucky to be playing with her.”
Add in the speed of Keseley, and the line can beat opponents in a variety of ways.
“I’m more a passing kind of person, and [Knight] is more a goal-scoring person, so it works out,” Lawler said. “Angie definitely contributes there too. Whether it be Angie to me, Knight to Angie, Knight to me, you know, we do have a lot of good chemistry together. I think our experience helps a lot.”
Knight already has plenty of international and collegiate experience, as she was the youngest player to be accepted to the women’s national team at the 2007 IIHF World Women’s Championship and has twice represented her country at the U-22 U.S. Canada series. As a freshman, she was third on the team in scoring with 20 goals and will be leaned on even more this year with the graduation of last season’s leading scorer, Jinelle Zaugg.
