A pair of fluke goals by Sis Paulsen provided Wisconsin women’s hockey with all the offense it needed in a 4-1 victory over Bemidji State at John Glas Fieldhouse on Saturday. The Badgers completed their regular season with a 21-10-2 overall mark and 17-6-1 record in WCHA play.
“Our team played with a lot of determination this weekend,” assistant coach Dan Koch said. “It was nice to use all our players, with everyone contributing. Everyone stepped up and accepted their roles. The key this weekend was total team effort.”
A fluke goal gave the Badgers a 1-0 lead late in the first period. Paulsen skated the puck deep into the Bemidji State corner, to the left of netminder Anik Cote. Paulsen attempted a centering pass, but the puck hit a Beaver defender on the way and found the five-hole on Cote. Paulsen’s goal was her sixth of the season and came at the 18:01 mark.
The craziness continued in the second when Paulsen scored for a second time. At 8:11, the junior captain stopped a bouncing clearing attempt with a slap shot that knuckled and bounced its way past Cote. The goal was Paulsen’s seventh of the year.
Bemidji State (12-12-8, 7-11-6) got one fluke back as Kristie Hofer scored at 15:59. Hofer skated across the blue line and lost control of the puck when a Badger defender knocked it away. The defender fell and made an attempt to clear the puck, but put it on net. Hofer continued to goal and got ahead of the puck, screening UW’s Jackie MacMillan. The puck continued its path and slid past the goaltender to pull BSU to within one.
The first normal goal of the game came at 3:14 of the third period when Carla MacLeod gave Wisconsin its two-goal cushion back on the power play. MacMillan stopped the puck behind her own net and handed off to MacLeod. The frosh skated coast-to-coast down the right side and behind the net. She continued and skated out in front of Cote before beating the goaltender for her second of the season.
Meghan Hunter clinched the game later in the third, at 8:33. MacLeod took the puck just inside the Badger blue line and hit Hunter just over the red line. A criss-cross with Kendra Antony gave Hunter a clear path to the goal and she finished for her 22nd score of the season.
MacMillan made 25 saves to improve to 21-9-1 on the season. Cote stopped 33 shots, but fell to 3-4-3 on the year.
Ranked eighth and seeded second for the WCHA Final Five, Wisconsin heads to the tournament and a game against third-ranked and third-seeded Minnesota-Duluth. The Badgers and Bulldogs meet on Friday, March 8 at 4:05 p.m. at Fogerty Arena in Blaine, Minn.
“Our goals this season included improving off last year and we did that. We got the No. 2 seed for the WCHA Final Five. This season has been a total team effort. During certain times, in each game, our goalies came up big. To lead the nation in goals against average is a team effort. We block shots, clear the front of the net and tie up sticks. It’s everyone knowing their responsibilities.”