The No. 2 University of Wisconsin Badgers hit the road this weekend to visit the No. 7 Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs riding a seven game winning streak. In early December, the Badgers split their series at home against the Bulldogs, accounting for just one of their four losses this season.
Senior forward Casey O’Brien, with two goals, and junior forward Lacey Eden, with three goals and one assist, were responsible for five out of the seven Badgers goals this weekend. But it was sophomore Kirsten Simms who led all women in Division I points, whose game-winning goal with 91 seconds remaining capped off the Sunday afternoon comeback in Duluth. Here’s how the weekend unfolded.
Game one (Wisconsin 2, Minnesota Duluth 1)
The Bulldogs looked to get out to a quick start on Friday afternoon. Just 30 seconds into the game, the Bulldogs had an opportunity in front of the net. Junior goalkeeper Jane Gervais made the initial save on a long distance shot, but the puck squirted loose, and was inches from crossing the red line before Gervais sprawled out to make the save. This would prove to be the best opportunity either side would have in the first period, as the Badgers elected to play uncharacteristically slow and defensive to start the match.
The ice opened up in the second period. Just over three minutes into the second period, O’Brien drove to the net, where Bulldogs goaltender Hailey MacLeod deflected the puck, but O’Brien collected the rebound and maneuvered the puck around the right pad of MacLeod for her 12th goal of the season. The Bulldogs would respond quickly, as sophomore forward Danielle Burgen took it up the right side of the ice, firing a shot in from an awkward angle that managed to get through the right side of Gervais, tying the game. The shift to a faster pace of play clearly favored the Badgers, as they fired off 16 shots on goal in the second period.
Wisconsin would begin the third period with a minute left on the power play. With just seven seconds remaining on the power play, Simms found Eden from behind the net and Eden was able to squeeze the puck past the right pad of MacLeod. This would prove to be the difference-maker, as the Badgers applied textbook pressure in the final minutes, as MacLeod was forced to stay in the crease until there were just 10 seconds left.
Game two (Wisconsin 5, Minnesota Duluth 4)
The Bulldogs bounced back quickly on Sunday afternoon. With about ten minutes to go in the first frame, Reece Hunt put away the first goal of the game. It appeared that the puck inadvertently caromed off her skate into the goal, but a goal nonetheless. It was the alternate captains’ 12th goal of the season, a team high.
Senior defender Nina Jobst-Smith would score from just inside the blue line early in the second frame to extend the lead to two. Minutes later, she would fire again, but this time it was deflected off of Burgun, and slid under the pad of Badgers goalkeeper Ava McNaughton to extend the Bulldogs lead to 3–0.
The Badgers looked to get back on track as Eden found O’Brien in a 2-on-1, where O’Brien tapped the puck into a wide open net for her second goal of the weekend, and cut the lead to two. But, the Bulldogs would quickly respond with a power play goal, returning their lead to three.
Hopeful Badgers fans hung around for the third period, as they put on a clinic. With 13:40 remaining in the third, the Badgers inched closer, as Eden sent a shot that deflected off the skate of Jobst-Smith and found the back of the net for the power play goal. Just twenty seconds later, it was Hall who put away a loose puck in front of the net to shrink the lead to one. Just two minutes later, Eden collected a rebound from the left side and slid it past Bulldogs’ goalkeeper Ève Gascon to tie the matchup at 4–4.
As the clock wound down under two minutes, Kirsten Simms took the puck up the left side of the ice, faked a pass to O’Brien and fired it in from close range over the right shoulder of Gascon. The Badgers improved to 22–4 after their signature win of the season.
Looking forward
Next weekend, the Badgers return home with momentum to face the No. 10 Huskies of St. Cloud State. The Huskies come into the weekend on a three game losing streak after getting swept by the top ranked Buckeyes. Puck drop will be at 3 p.m. Saturday and game two will be at 4 p.m. Sunday at La Bahn Arena.
