Jocelyn Cookson and Sis Paulsen each collected a goal and an assist to lead the fourth-ranked women’s hockey Badgers to a 3-0 win over Minnesota State at Capitol Ice Arena on Saturday.
Wisconsin (6-2-2 overall, 5-2-1 WCHA) held a 9-7 shot advantage in the first period and outshot the Mavericks 15-1 in the second, but took almost 40 minutes to solve MSU goaltender Shari Vogt.
The Badgers finally succeeded at 18:46 of the second when Kelly Kegley won a face-off to the right of Vogt back to Paulsen. The junior picked up the puck and skated towards the slot.
Paulsen fired and beat Vogt to the blocker side for her second goal of the season.
“Kegley did a great job of pulling it back and Kat Greaves and Melanie Schmitt did a great job of blocking them out so I had a clear shot,” said Paulsen.
The Badgers momentum carried into the third period when Jackie Friesen redirected a wrist shot by Cookson from the high slot for her fourth of the season. Stephanie Boeckmann got the second assist on the goal at 2:40 of the third.
Cookson capped a stellar performance with her third goal of the season at 17:17 of the final period. Carla MacLeod fired the puck towards the goal from along the right boards that a streaking Cookson tipped past Vogt for the score.
“I think the Boeckmann, Friesen and Cookson line stepped it up tonight and did a nice job of finding each other,” said UW head coach Trina Bourget.
MSU’s Vogt made 30 saves, including 14 in the second period, but took the loss to fall to 2-8-0 on the year. Jackie MacMillan stopped all 13 shots she faced for her second shutout of the season. She improves to 6-2-1 with the win.
“This was a big series for us coming off the losses from last weekend and it’s good to get two wins under our belt,” Paulsen added. “Mankato played well, and they came out after us.”
On Friday night the Badgers downed Minnesota State 4-1.
The Mavericks struck first at 13:58 of the first period. Cara Samuelson passed from behind the Badger goal line to Nicole Magnuson at the point. Magnuson’s shot was blocked in front, but Samuelson skated out from behind the net to get a hold of the rebound. Her shot beat MacMillan over the right shoulder to give MSU a 1-0 lead.
Wisconsin looked like a different team in the second period sparked by Kendra Antony’s breakaway score at 7:26. Antony recovered the puck off a face-off in the Badger end of the ice. She then worked a give-and-go with Karen Rickard, whose return pass sent Antony on the break. The junior finished with a wrist shot to Vogt’s blocker side.
“The first goal really fired everyone up and got us going,” said Antony. “We really needed that after the first period.”
Friesen gave the Badgers the lead at 8:48 on a rebound. Cookson won the puck in the corner and skated it towards the net. Cookson lost control, but Paulsen skated in from the blue line and fired a slap shot from the high slot. Vogt made the save, but Friesen was there to backhand the rebound.
The Badgers put insurance up on the board early in the third period when Antony fed Kerry Weiland at the blue line on an overlap. Weiland skated in and hit the net with a wrist shot from the left faceoff circle. Weiland’s third of the season came at 3:34 of the period.
Weiland fed Kathy Devereaux at the red line on the Badgers’ final power play of the contest to start what would be the game’s final goal. Devereaux skated down the right boards and past an MSU defender. Her wrist shot from the bottom of the right faceoff circle found the net. The goal, at 7:30, was the first of the season off Devereaux’s stick.
Wisconsin held Minnesota State to eight shots, breaking its shots against mark for the second time this season. After holding a slight 6-4 shot advantage in the first period, the Badgers picked up their play, outshooting MSU 12-2 in the second and 17-2 in the final stanza.