Although it was an unexpectedly intense fight Saturday at the Kohl Center, the No. 6 UW women’s hockey team was able to walk away with an overtime win over the Robert Morris Colonials.
It was the Badgers who struck first, keeping the Colonials offense at bay throughout the first period. But Robert Morris held on tight throughout, taking advantage by scoring on two of its power plays and driving the game into overtime. It was the Badgers’ sophomore Brooke Ammerman who had the final word, however, knocking in a goal off an assist from junior Mallory Deluce to seal the 3-2 win.
Wisconsin head coach Tracey DeKeyser was happy to see her team get a win in the series after the strong effort they showed in both games.
“It’s nice to get a win,” DeKeyser said. “We regrouped really well in the neutral zone, we were doing some great stretch breakouts. It’s nice to be rewarded for hard work.”
In the first period, UW came out strong expecting Robert Morris’s physical style of play. Fifteen minutes into the period, UW senior Emily Kranz drove in a goal off a rebound, putting the Badgers ahead 1-0. The momentum of the game soon changed, however, as Robert Morris used its power plays to the fullest advantage. Colonials’ freshman Jamie Joslin shot the puck into the net past Badgers goalie Alannah McCready 10 minutes into the second period.
The Badgers were quick to respond to the Colonials goal, though. Before the series with Robert Morris, Wisconsin had only scored twice out of 44 power plays this season, but Wisconsin finally capitalized off one of only three power plays in the game, as junior Kelly Nash slid the puck past Colonials goalie Daneca Butterfield 14 minutes into the second period to put the Badgers ahead 2-1.
But Robert Morris was not ready to quit just yet. In the third period the Colonials utilized their fifth power play of the game just seven minutes in to tie the game up at two on a goal by sophomore Brianna Delaney, ultimately driving the game into overtime.
The Colonials quickly had a chance to win, getting a penalty shot one minute into overtime. McCready was able to force Delaney to the side and make the save, allowing the Badgers to still have a chance for the win. McCready was at first unprepared for the penalty shot but was happy she was able to come away with the save.
“I didn’t know it was a penalty shot at first,” McCready said. “I was hoping she would make a move because it’s harder to stop a breakaway when they shoot. … It’s always [my] goal to push them to one side so it’s easier to make a save and it ended up working out for me, so I was happy.”
The Badgers were able to come away with the win 3-2 as Ammerman knocked in a goal in the third minute of overtime thanks to a nice pass from Deluce.
“[Deluce] just threw it to the net and the rebound just came to me and I just went down on one knee to make sure I didn’t throw it over the top of the net,” Ammerman said of her goal.
The sophomore also added that Robert Morris played a tough game and it was Wisconsin who got lucky in the end to walk away with the win.
Despite being favored in the matchup, the Badgers fell to the Colonials 3-1 in the opener Friday afternoon, splitting the series with the Hockey America Conference squad.
After neither team scored in the first period, it was all Robert Morris in the second as the Colonials scored twice against Wisconsin goalie Becca Ruegsegger. Although Wisconsin started a comeback midway through the third period as freshman Saige Pacholok scored the first Wisconsin goal of the game, Robert Morris clinched the win when junior Sara O’Malley scored from across the neutral zone into an empty net.
Robert Morris came into the game with a very different style of defense than Wisconsin was used to. Despite preparing for the novel defense, the Badgers were unable to capitalize on their few chances throughout the first game. DeKeyser noted how the Colonials’ effective defensive system disrupted her team’s offensive attack.
“They put basically their whole team in front of their net and if we’re not specific about where we’re shooting or we have our head down, you’re going to most likely hit one of them,” she said. “It’s not very pretty or sophisticated defense, it’s just effective.”
After splitting their fourth series out of five this season, the Badgers are still working on being more consistent.
“We’ve been inconsistent this weekend,” Dekeyser said. “That’s a sign of a young team and it adjusting to their roles, but [we’ve] got to live and learn and hopefully we have.”