The No. 4-ranked Wisconsin women’s hockey team took home a series sweep this weekend from St. Cloud State at the National Hockey Center.
UW freshman forward Sara Bauer turned in a three-point performance in Saturday’s 6-2 win, with two goals and one assist to lead the Badgers over the Huskies. Contributing to the Wisconsin victory was senior Karen Rickard, who tallied two goals.
UW goaltender Christine Dufour posted 24 saves for the win, while St. Cloud State again split its net between two goaltenders. Senior Ellen Brinkman started and ended the game collecting 28 stops, while sophomore Brie Anderson played nearly five minutes of the second period but recorded no saves.
It took the Badgers just six minutes to climb on the scoreboard for a 1-0 lead in the first period. UW freshman Bobbi-Jo Slusar set up the play with a feed to sophomore forward Sharon Cole who fired in an initial bullet against Brinkman in the Huskie net. The puck bounced off Brinkman gloveside and Bauer chipped it in for the red light at 6:26.
Two minutes later, Bauer created the Badgers’ next scoring opportunity with an assist on classmate Lindsay Macy’s goal at 8:39 to make it 2-0.
After a surprising first game of the season in which Wisconsin was out shot 28-27 Friday, despite the 4-1 win, the Badgers returned to their usual high-shooting firepower against the Huskies Saturday with a 17-4 mark in the first period. Play was physical, but clean, as neither team received a trip to the penalty box for the initial stanza.
The game’s first penalty helped Wisconsin climb to a 3-0 lead to start the second period. An interference call sent St. Cloud State to the box and gave the Badgers their first five-on-four advantage of the night. Badger senior Karen Rickard flipped it in for the power-play score at 3:47 after a first attempt by junior Molly Engstrom and a cross from senior Steph Millar.
The Badgers lost their hopes of a shutout victory though after they had to play one woman down because of an obstruction-holding call at 4:43, as they were unable to kill the ensuing St. Cloud State power play. The Huskies’ Carrie Halldorf tallied the goal with assists from Kelly Stewart and Tina Ciraulo at 5:30.
Fans saw two momentum changes occur ten minutes later with three goals scored in a span of 64 seconds. St. Cloud State earned its second power-play goal of the night at 14:57 to edge within one goal of the Badgers, but Wisconsin bounced back by with a Rickard goal 22 seconds later and a lamplighter by Amy Vermeulen 42 seconds after that. UW’s Jackie Friesen and Kristin Witting assisted Rickard’s second goal of the game, while Meghan Hunter earned the assist on Vermeulen’s tally for a 5-2 lead against the Huskies.
Wisconsin’s second line skated back into scoring action late in the third period to give the UW its sixth and final goal. A shooting scuffle in front of Brinkman and the Huskie net sent the puck flying out the right side of the crease. Bauer, a native of St. Catharine’s, Ontario, tipped it in for the goal at 14:02.
The goal proved to be the last major action of the series as the clock wound down for the Badger win. Overall, UW out shot SCSU 34-26 and finished 1-3 for power plays.
UW frosh Lindsay Macy led the Badgers in scoring with one goal and two assists, while classmate Sara Bauer also chipped in two assists.
Wisconsin, now 15-4-3 overall and 11-4-1 in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, returns home to the Kohl Center next weekend, Saturday, Feb. 7 and Sunday, Feb. 8, to play Minnesota State. The Badgers drop the puck against the Mavericks at 2:35 p.m. both days.
–compiled from staff reports
