The No. 4 Wisconsin women's hockey team opened up conference-play this weekend as it hosted the 1-1 Bemidji State Beavers. The Beavers put up a good fight, but ended up submitting to the Badgers in both games of the weekend — 8-2 on Saturday and 4-0 on Sunday.
The series was the first time the Badgers played against former assistant coach Sis Paulsen. Paulsen played in a Badger uniform for four years after which she served as the Badgers' student assistant coach and assistant goalie coach last season before going to Bemidji State as an assistant coach.
"I'm happy for Sis," said coach Mark Johnson after Sunday's game. "She did a great job for us here at our program, and it's nice that she's getting a chance to coach at the Division I level."
The Badgers failed to match their scoring average of nine goals per game Sunday, but they got a terrific performance from sophomore goaltender Christine Dufour. In the first period, forward Sharon Cole started things off quickly by scoring the first goal of the game less than two minutes in. The Beavers battled hard, matching Wisconsin's intensity and challenging Dufour with ten shots in the period, but it was for naught as Jackie Friesen scored her first goal of the season to put the Badgers up 2-0.
The Badgers took control of the game in the second period. Junior forward Grace Hutchins made the score 3-0 with her second goal of the season and the Badgers continued to pressure Bemidji State's defense. They allowed the Beavers only five shots in the period while logging seventeen of their own on Bemidji State's freshman goalie Emily Brookshaw.
The third period was more of the same. Carla McLeod, who recently returned from playing on the Canadian national team, scored to make it 4-0 and put the game out of reach for the Beavers.
Wisconsin killed eight penalties on the night, including four in the third period. The Beavers had seven shots during the power plays, but failed to score — thanks mostly to the play of Dufour, who got her second shutout of the season and fifth of her career.
"She played well," said coach Mark Johnson of his goalie. "They had a couple of power plays where some pucks got through and she made some nice pad saves."
In Saturday's game, for the first time in this young season, the Badgers fell behind an opposing team when Bemidji State's Helena Tageson drew first blood on a power play. The lead was soon relinquished when Sara Bauer scored her fifth goal of the season to knot the game at one goal apiece.
The second period was not as nice to the Beavers. Sophomore Heidi Kletzien gave the Badgers a 2-1 lead with her first goal of the season. Sophomore defender Bobbi-Jo Slusar notched her first goal of the season as well to put the Badgers up 3-1. A power play goal from Bemidji State's Kelly Hart brought the Beavers within one goal, but the Badger attack was too much. Goals from Sharon Cole and Molly Engstrom finished the second period with the score 5-2 in favor of Wisconsin.
In the third, the Badgers cemented their victory with three goals from Bauer, Engstrom, and Kletzien, each girl's second goal of the night. The Badgers continued to assault Beaver goalie Jill Luebke with a barrage of shots. They outshot Bemidji State in the third period 21-1, and in the game 45-13.
