For the first time this season, the Wisconsin women’s hockey team had an opportunity to show how they respond when the going gets tough; this past weekend Ohio State University was in town, giving Wisconsin the kind of challenge they haven’t seen much of yet this year, and an opportunity to showoff their ability to bounce back.

In both the Friday and Saturday games Ohio got off to a fast start, forcing Wisconsin to play defense from the get-go, but panic was nowhere to be seen on the home bench.  Maybe it was head coach Mark Johnson’s unique attitude about being in this situation that helped the team to get out of it.

“Every game has its own story, and you don’t know what the story is until you start playing,” Johnson said.

And the Friday afternoon story started 28 seconds into the first period, when OSU freshman forward Claudia Kepler snuck the puck past Wisconsin goaltender Alex Rigsby, sending a message to the Badgers that they were going to have to work for the win.  And when the rest of the first period failed to bring any other goals, thanks to the OSU defense blocking 15 of UW’s shots, Wisconsin had to go into the locker room down by one goal.

Senior forward Blayre Turnbull explained the attitude of the team between the two periods, and how they didn’t let the scoreboard discourage them.

“We knew we had to come out with a little more energy than we did in the first of the game,”Turnbull said.  “Fighting through adversity seems to be something our team is good at, so we knew we’d be able to come back.”

Sure enough, the Badgers gave the Buckeyes a dose of their own medicine when the two teams returned to the ice, when Turnbull found the back of the net 30 seconds after the puck was dropped.  This newfound energy lasted UW the rest of the game, as the team went on to shut out OSU for the next two periods and scored three more goals of its own.  Turnbull reflected on her team’s performance Friday, satisfied with the final outcome.

“Obviously we don’t want to be losing at any point in the game, but if we are losing and we’re able to come back it’s definitely a good sign,” Turnbull said.  “It gives us confidence going into the future if we’re ever in that situation again.”

Ironically, the Badgers did find themselves in that situation again – 24 hours later.  Saturday’s game started off similarly enough, with OSU’s Kepler scoring the only goal of the first period.  The only difference this time around is that the score wasn’t an accurate representation of how the period played out.  UW had controlled the puck for the majority of the 20 minutes, and pushed the game to the offensive zone for most of it as well.

If this was frustrating for the Badgers, there once again was no sign of it.  Coach Johnson explained that his team just had to have confidence in themselves and how they were playing.

“If you come out with the same effort and are consistent with that effort, usually you get rewarded for it,” Johnson said.

Johnson’s words proved true during the second period, as Turnbull racked up two goals for Wisconsin, taking the lead away from Ohio.  But UW wasn’t just answering back offensively; the crowd was holding its breath with seconds left to go in the second period, as Ohio’s Ally Tarr gained possession of the puck at the hash marks and ripped a hard shot at Rigsby, who was scrambling to cover the rebound when the buzzer went off.  The senior goalie talks about how these are the moments when she has a chance to keep the energy of the team alive.

“I think [the energy] for me is more in making the big saves,” Rigsby said.  “Showing [the team] that I’m battling, and it’s not just them battling out in front of the other net.”

But the battle wasn’t over, the third period started with Ohio getting another goal, evening up the score.  After five minutes of fighting over the puck, Wisconsin’s Natalie Berg threw it over to teammate Brittany Ammerman, who was waiting at the backdoor to tip it in, helping her team to take the lead once again.

This goal was the final of the game despite the chaotic last minute of the period, in which the Buckeyes had a scoring opportunity off a breakaway, pulled their goalie, and had a player ejected from the game.  These last-ditch efforts of OSU could not find a way around the Badgers, who continued to keep the game in their offensive zone, outskate OSU, and take ahold of every loose puck.

Johnson attributed this last part of the game to his team’s competitiveness and desire to come out with a win.

“If you’re hungry and you want [the puck], you probably have a pretty good chance of getting it, so it’s just a matter of staying hungry and going after it,” Johnson said.