MANKATO, Minn.- The No. 7-ranked UW women’s hockey team beat the No. 10-ranked Minnesota State Mavericks 4-3 Saturday afternoon to sweep the two-game series on the road at MSU’s All Season’s Arena.
In just her second game back from playing with the Canadian senior women’s national team at the Four Nations Cup in Sweden, Wisconsin’s team captain Carla MacLeod assisted on three of UW’s four goals and led the Badgers in scoring.
With 23 saves in the win, freshman goaltender Christine Dufour improved to 6-1-0 in just eight career games at Wisconsin. Minnesota State goaltender Shari Vogt collected 35 saves in the MSU loss.
Game two of the series started fast and furious with the Badgers opening up scoring just two minutes into play. Originally from nearby Ellendale, Minn., freshman Lindsay Macy put Wisconsin on the scoreboard with a goal at 2:48 off assists from MacLeod and freshman Heidi Kletzien. The assist marked Kletzien’s first career point as a Badger.
It didn’t take long for the Mavericks to dash UW’s hopes of a second shutout in the series, however. Following a Wisconsin penalty for roughing, Minnesota State’s Autumn Conway beat Dufour in net during the closing seconds of the power play. Cara Hendry and Amber Sharatt earned the assists.
The Mavs would take a surprising lead off of a face-off five minutes later. The official dropped the puck between UW’s Grace Hutchins and MSU’s Devon Nichols, and the ensuing swipe by Nichols sent the puck past Dufour for a 2-1 lead at 12:37.
The MSU lead would not last, however, as Wisconsin freshman Bobbi-Jo Slusar brought her team back into the game at 15:20 with an unassisted goal, tying the game 2-2. The Swift Current, Saskatchewan native intercepted the puck from a Minnesota State player to bring it down center ice and beat two defenders and Vogt for her second career goal as a Badger.
The second period continued the back-and-forth play, but Wisconsin’s attack would come up with two more goals before game’s end. Following roughing penalties on each team at 9:28, the Badgers claimed a 3-2 lead at 10:53 as senior Meghan Hunter tipped the puck past Vogt with assists from MacLeod and senior Karen Rickard.
MacLeod would earn her third assist of the contest six minutes later as the Badgers climbed to a 4-2 advantage in scoring. Teammate Steph Millar and MacLeod worked the puck around to create the open shot on the MSU net for freshman Meaghan Mikkelson at 17:17, her first point since the season-opening series when she scored two goals in UW wins against Vermont, Oct. 10-11.
A second set of penalties in the third period allowed the Mavericks to tally their third goal of the game. Melanie Salatino, MSU’s leading scorer, brought her team within a point of Wisconsin with an unassisted goal at 13:31.
Minnesota State pulled Vogt from the net with 25 seconds left, looking for the late rally, but the Badgers would hold on for the 4-3 win and the subsequent series sweep. The win improves UW to 9-3-0 overall and 5-3-0 in the WCHA while extending their winning streak to 17-0-1 all-time against the Mavericks (7-3-0, 4-2-0 WCHA).
–compiled from staff reports
Next up for the Cardinal and White, Wisconsin returns to Madison for a two-game home series against St. Cloud State at The Eagle’s Nest Ice Arena in Verona, Friday, Nov. 21 and Saturday, Nov. 22. Both games will begin at 7:05 p.m.
