[media-credit name=’GRED DIXON/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]

The University of Wisconsin women’s hockey team swept Quinnipiac this weekend at the Kohl Center led by a combined seven goals from sophomore forward Hilary Knight, including a school-record five Saturday night.

The No. 2 Badgers posted an impressive 10-0 victory Friday and followed with a 7-3 win Saturday.

Although it is early, Coach Mark Johnson was happy to get the season underway.

“We start the journey now of our season,” Johnson said. “It’s nice to play a game. You try to create game situations in practice, but it’s not the same thing.”

The Bobcats kept the second game closer, but Knight’s prolific scoring kept the game out of reach. Her five goals eclipsed the previous mark of four held by Cyndy Kenyon and Meghan Hunter.

“She’s so easy to find in front of the net,” senior captain Erika Lawler said. “She always seems to get open. She is a great player, and I’m excited to see how the rest of the season is going to turn out.”

Knight dominated the scoring Saturday, but the Badgers took the lead early on freshman center Brooke Ammerman’s first career goal eight minutes into the game with assists from junior forwards Jasmine Giles and Kyla Sanders. Lawler gave credit to the performances of Ammerman and the other freshmen Carolyne Pr?vost, Brittany Haverstock and Nikki Kaasa.

“I thought [the freshmen] were all standout,” Lawler said. “I thought they all played awesome, and I wouldn’t expect anything less from them. I’m so excited to see how they develop for the rest of the season.”

After Quinnipiac tied the game at one, Knight opened her scoring binge on assists from Lawler and Haverstock. Knight added an unassisted goal 42 seconds into the second period, and sophomore center Mallory Deluce made it 4-1 with helpers from junior forward Meghan Duggan and Haverstock. The goal was Deluce’s third of the season.

The Badgers did find themselves tested near the end of the second period, though, when the Bobcats cut the lead to 4-2 and two Badgers’ penalties left the home team at a three-on-five disadvantage for nearly two minutes. The defense was able to hold, and Knight responded with three consecutive goals before a late Quinnipiac goal made it 7-3.

Johnson was pleased with how his team handled the challenge.

“Each time they scored, I thought we responded pretty well,” Johnson said. “It’s nice to see how the kids respond to a little bit of adversity.”

Overall, the Badger offense dominated, outshooting the Bobcats 49-11.

Even though the game was closer, Lawler was satisfied with the performance.

“I kind of think we maybe came in a little complacent,” Lawler said. “But I still think our energy was good.  Overall, we’re moving forward and working toward 60 minutes.”

Friday night, the outcome was never really in question as UW jumped out to a 3-0 first-period lead.  Senior forward Angie Keseley scored the first goal of the season four minutes in with helpers from Knight and senior defender Alycia Matthews.  The Badgers dominated possession of the puck, something Johnson said they emphasize.

“Competing for the puck, whether it’s near the net or on the boards, is extremely important,” Johnson said.

Matthews echoed her coach.

“If we can get in the corners and get out the puck,” Matthews said, “We’re going to score a lot of goals and win a lot of games.”

For the game, seven different Badgers scored, with Knight, sophomore center Mallory Deluce and Pr?vost finding the net twice apiece.  The team scored six of their goals off power plays, while killing off four by Quinnipiac, even though Johnson said the team has not had a chance to work on their special teams with only four or five practices under their belt.

Defensively for the Badgers. senior goaltender Jessie Vetter notched her 26th career shutout.

“Shutouts are definitely nice to get,” Vetter said. “It’s a nice way to ease into the season, and not have 50 shots the first night.”

Lawler was excited with the outcome as well.

“You’re always expecting to make a lot of mistakes because you’re not used to each other, but I think overall we had a ton of energy,” Lawler said. “I think it was an awesome way to start the season.  I think we set a good pace for the rest of the season.”

Lawler already has racked up five assists, including three in the second game. For the weekend, the Badgers won the face-off battle 80-34, and outshot their opponents 100-31.

Next weekend, UW will celebrate its 10th anniversary at the Kohl Center when the team hosts Syracuse. Johnson said he’s hoping to see improvement.

“It’s a process,” Johnson said. “You try to create good habits, try to do it every week.  You hope next week you play a little bit better than this week, and you multiply that over the course of the 18 weeks or so.”