For a team that was supposed to be missing its two best players, there were plenty of fireworks Monday night as the white team skated to an 8-1 victory in the annual Wisconsin women’s hockey red/white scrimmage.

Even though All-Americans Hilary Knight and Meghan Duggan are gone due to Olympic commitments, the white team appeared to pick up where UW’s stellar offense left off last year. Led by Brianna Decker’s four goals, the white team easily cruised by an overmatched red defense in the 40-minute game.

The red team found itself in a hole early, as junior Geena Prough beat red team goalie Nikki Kaasa from the top of the circle just minutes into the game.

“It kind of just trickled by — it was one of those ones where you are just getting into the flow,” Kaasa said.

Although the red team was able to keep the white offense in check for most of the first half, the white team dominated the entire match. The players outhustled the red team, dominated puck control and capitalized on more of their opportunities. According to interim head coach Tracey DeKeyser, the white team was impressive.

“We saw some good energy that we can harness and run with,” DeKeyser said.

In the second half, the white team was finally able to score with ease against a tired red defense. Focusing more on forward lineups, DeKeyser used only three red team defensemen in the second period and it showed. The defense gave up some uncharacteristic mistakes deep in their own zone, and in a six-minute stretch, the white team scored four times against replacement goalie Becca Ruegsegger.

“Some people were getting some good chances and capitalizing,” DeKeyser said.

The lack of rest also took its toll on the red team offense. Given a penalty shot for the red team, defensemen Malee Windmeier misplayed the puck and was unable to capitalize on a golden chance. With the defense on such short rest, the white offense was able to chase down every loose puck and keep the icing penalties to a minimum.

“I think we started to get more comfortable,” junior Mallory Deluce said. “I think we just settled down and started working together.”

Given so many opportunities to score, the onslaught from the white team was inevitable. Using a combination of speed and awareness, Decker scored three times at the end of the game.

“Our forwards are really good,” goaltender Alannah McCready said. “Decker decided she was just going to score a bunch of goals that period.”

In addition to mismatches, the white team was also aided by a low level of physical play during the scrimmage. Not wanting to injure anybody, the teams were playing about half as physical as they do during the regular season.

“Unlike football, we don’t really have a practice hitting squad,” DeKeyser said. “It’s not really a great example of what the game is going to be like on Friday.”

The scrimmage was in preparation for their first regular season matchup against North Dakota this weekend. The Badgers are hoping to repeat as national champions this season, which would be the program’s fourth title in five years.

Despite losing several All-Americans from last year’s team, perhaps the biggest change in the roster will be the temporary departure of 2009 coach of the year Mark Johnson. However, because DeKeyser has been with the program from its founding days, the players are comfortable with the transition.

“I’ve only had coach Johnson for a brief period of time,” Decker said. “He’s a great guy and that’s why I came here, but with him being gone, Tracy is going to just have to fill his shoes, and I think she can do that.”