Jocelyn Cookson scored with 59 seconds left in the third period to help the Badgers to a 1-1 tie against visiting Connecticut at the Kohl Center Sunday.
The teams skated to scoreless first two periods, with Wisconsin out-shooting the Huskies 11-2 in the first period and 6-2 in the second. Despite the shot margin, neither team generated much of a scoring chance.
The first good shot of the game came early in the third period when Jackie Friesen exited the penalty box and was on her way to the bench when another Badger spotted the freshman. Friesen took the puck and skated in alone on UConn?s Shannon Murphy. Friesen went low to Murphy?s glove side, but the goaltender made a diving glove save to preserve the 0-0 contest.
Connecticut finally broke through at 8:38 in the third. Shannon Connolly won the face-off back to teammate Kim Berry. Berry flipped a shot on goal that Jessica Bernal tried to cover. The puck squirted loose to the far side, where Tiffany Owens waited. Owens put the puck past Bernal and gave the Huskies a 1-0 lead. The power-play goal was just the second given up by the Badgers in the first four games.
It took Wisconsin until the final minute to respond with Cookson?s tally. Molly Engstrom pinched along the right boards and gave the puck to Kelly Kegleyin the corner. Kegley centered, and Cookson redirected with a defender on her back.
The teams also played a scoreless overtime, with both teams registering one shot apiece. Wisconsin?s Jackie MacMillan played the first two periods of the contest, stopping all four shots she saw. Bernal stopped five shots and earned her first career decision. For UConn, Murphy stopped 25 shots and is now 0-1-1 on the season.
Using a balanced scoring attack, including 10 different goal-scorers and five first-period goals, the team skated its way to 10-1 victory over Connecticut Saturday.
It took the Badgers 1:50 to gain a 1-0 lead, when Karen Rickard scored her first of the season.
Jackie Friesen kept the offense going when she scored to make it 2-0 at 5:21
The third of Wisconsin?s goals came from Steph Millar at 8:21. Meghan Hunter passed the puck off the boards to Weiland in the high slot. Millar took Weiland?s pass and redirected it past UConn?s Shannon Murphy for her second of the season.
Jocelyn Cookson (Edina, Minn.) made it 4-0 at 17:19 when she found the puck after Kathryn Greaves? (Mentor, Ohio) original shot banked off the post. For the freshman Cookson, it was her first career point.
Wisconsin scored its fifth goal of the first period with the scoreboard clock stopped at 00:00.1. Kelly Kegley (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) got credit for her second goal of the season from Friesen and Antony just before the buzzer sounded.
The lone Huskie (0-1-0) goal was scored at 1:57 of the third when Megan Mcleod stripped a Badger coming out of the defensive zone and took a shot off that went off the post before crossing the goal line.
The Badgers answered the Huskies’ goal with three from Julia Ortenzio, Kerry Weiland, and Kendra Antony to put the score at the final 10-1.
The Badgers held UConn shotless through the first period and to just 14 shots for the game. Wisconsin peppered UConn goalies with 35 shots.
