The No. 1 University of Wisconsin women’s hockey team has done it again, earning their 18th victory this season against Cornell this weekend.
The Badgers flew up to Ithaca with more to lose than they had to gain, as Wisconsin has been sitting at the top of the polls for the past month of play. Heading to No.7 Cornell might have meant the first loss of the season.
Of course, Wisconsin has been on quite the high for the past week, after they swept rival Minnesota in Minneapolis, a feat unseen for the last ten years. The Badgers had the skill, motivation and knowledge of how to defeat Cornell — they just needed to execute it.
Women’s hockey: Wisconsin sweeps Minnesota in Minneapolis for first time in 10 years
Friday’s game showed just how dominant the Badger women can be, as Sophia Shaver came out and scored the first two goals of the afternoon. The Badgers would soon find themselves up 3-0 over the Big Red, with a victory in their sight.
While Cornell would manage to score a goal late in the second period, Shaver and company had ensured enough of a lead to prevent the Big Red from catching up to them. Wisconsin would earn their 17th victory, and walk into Saturday’s game with their heads held high.
Of course, the second game of any series is always more difficult, since both teams have an accurate idea of who they’re going up against. The game also began to get physical, as Cornell tried to prevent Wisconsin for scoring any way they could.
The Badgers would struggle to find the net, but freshman Brette Pettet lit the lamp for Wisconsin six minutes into the second period. 27 minutes later, her teammate Presley Norby, would earn the game-winning goal for Wisconsin.
The final score between the two teams would be 2-1, as Cornell managed to score a power play goal during the last 13 seconds of the third period. While they managed to get on the board, there would not be enough time for the Big Red to tally a second goal, and Wisconsin would walk away with yet another win.
The undefeated Badgers finally get to rest as they enter their bye-week this week. The long break will be much needed as the next time that the Badgers are in action will be Friday, Nov. 24th when UW heads out to D.C for an exciting non-conference matchup.
