The No. 1 University of Wisconsin women’s hockey game (8-0-0, 2-0-0 WCHA) skated past the Long Island Sharks (0-4-0, 0-2-0 WCHA) this weekend, winning their two-game series 10–2 and 12–0.
A six-goal first period led Wisconsin to their dominating win Friday night, as both Sophie Shirley and Presley Norby scored two goals, along with Daryl Watts, Brette Pettet, Britta Curl, Chayla Edwards, Abby Roque and Grace Shirley all scoring for the Badgers as they outshot the Sharks 64–13.
Head Coach Mark Johnson was impressed with his team’s performance following the first game.
“You get more out of these types of things than you do in practice, so obviously we started off quickly and after the first period, we could continue the progress of becoming the better team,” Johnson said in the postgame press conference. “Some kids got to play more than they normally do, get a couple goals involved in the game.”
Women’s Hockey: Badgers continue to set gold standard after championship season
Junior transfer Daryl Watts once again shined on the ice, as she amassed four points on Friday night and extended her scoring streak to seven games. This impressive feat ties the Patty Kazmaier award winner for fourth in Wisconsin history alongside recently graduated Annie Pankowski and her impressive scoring streak last year.
Saturday’s contest saw Watts’ scoring streak end however, but the immensely talented forward still leads the NCAA in points with 25 in just eight games.
Saturday night was perhaps the most dominating win that Badgers have had all season, as they outshot Long Island 80–6, breaking the school record for most shots on goal in a single game. The previous record was 72, which was set during a dominating 11–0 Badger shutout against Lindenwood in 2011.
Following her two-goal performance Friday night, Sophie Shirley managed to find the back of the net three times Saturday, finishing with her first career hat trick and totaling five goals on the road trip.
“Its obviously a pretty cool feeling and one that I won’t forget. But a lot of credit goes to my linemates as they made some pretty amazing plays to set me up,” Shirley said in the postgame press conference.
Women’s Hockey: Badgers complete two shutouts, sweep Penn State to open home schedule
In total, 19 different Badgers landed their names on the scoresheet during the sweep of the Sharks, including five Badgers (Grace Bowlby, Jesse DeVito, Dara Greig, Edwards and Shirley) scoring the first goal of their collegiate careers.
The team will return home to the LaBahn Arena to host Bemidji State this weekend, with puck drop scheduled for 2 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. The games can be followed live on Twitter @BadgerWHockey.
