Needing a win after a sluggish performance in a loss Saturday, the Wisconsin women’s hockey team came out Sunday skating hard, and, with some breaks going their way, they beat Ohio State 3-1. The Badgers improved to 5-3-0 overall and 1-3-0 in WCHA play. Meanwhile Ohio State fell to 1-5-0 both overall and in conference play.
“We needed to play with some urgency — play desperate and play hard the whole game,” Wisconsin head coach Mark Johnson said. “Yesterday we did okay at times; at other times we didn’t play very well. The bottom line was we needed to find a way to win today.”
Wisconsin helped itself by scoring first. Previously, the Badgers had lost all the games in which their opponent tallied first, while winning every game in which they scored first. On this day, Wisconsin found the net first as Meghan Hunter tapped home her first goal of the season off the rebound from a Bobbi-Jo Slusar slap shot.
Hunter continued to have a good game, assisting on the Badgers’ second goal at 11:59 in the second period when Jackie Friesen skated out from behind the Ohio State net and lifted a backhand shot over goalie Melissa Glaser’s glove. The goal gave the Badgers a 2-0 advantage and most of the momentum in the game.
Despite being out-shot 12-11 and outplayed during long stretches of the third period, the Badgers were able to finish off the Buckeyes with their third goal of the afternoon. Wisconsin had a 2-on-1 opportunity broken up by the defense, only to have the puck bounce to Amy Vermeulen, who beat the Ohio State goaltender from the slot. The late goal put the Badgers up 3-1 and quashed the Buckeyes’ comeback bid.
Ohio State had cut the lead to 2-1 earlier in the period on the power play when Meaghan Mulvaney took a diagonal pass from the opposite circle and knocked it in the net. Erin O’Grady’s pass set up the scoring chance for the Buckeyes.
Wisconsin’s freshman goalie, Christine Dufour played very well between the pipes. She turned away 23 of the 24 shots she faced, including many from right on her doorstep.
“She stood out today,” Johnson said of Dufour. “When we needed her to make some saves she did, especially in the first period when Laaksonen got a chance from the slot. It’s a confidence booster for her, from the standpoint that next time she plays hopefully she plays the same way and gives us a chance to win.”
Saturday, it was the Buckeyes who scored first, tallying a goal just eight seconds into the game. Heather Farrell picked up a loose puck in front of the UW net and beat goaltender Meghan Horras to finish off a slow developing 3-on-2 break that caught the Badgers flatfooted.
The Badgers got off to a slow start in the second period as well, giving up a blue line slap shot to Jaclyn Haines just 1:17 into the period. The goal gave OSU a 2-1 lead after the UW had controlled play on the power play for the first 47 seconds of the period.
Wisconsin played better following the goal and began to build momentum. Badger forward Sharon Cole got the Badgers on the board when she ushered a rebound into the Buckeye’s goal. Carla MacLeod got the assist, taking a slap shot from that OSU’s Glaser couldn’t corral.
Wisconsin’s momentum was dealt a serious blow ten minutes later when Tessa Bonhomme netted a power play goal on a slap shot from the top of the circle. Jeni Creary was credited with her second assist of the game on the play. Creary would later leave the game with an apparent knee injury.
The third period belonged to the Badgers as they worked hard to tie the score. Despite out-shooting the Buckeyes 15-1 in the period the Badgers could only get the goal they needed. Bobbi-Jo Slusar slid a perfect pass across ice, setting up Molly Engstrom for her second goal of the year. The goal came with just 15.9 seconds left in the game, and the Badgers were unable to mount a serious chance after that.
“They were 0-4 coming in here today, and you could see they were hungry and played well to win the hockey game,” said Johnson after the defeat.
