The No. 2 Wisconsin Badgers entered their penultimate regular season series against the No. 5 Minnesota Golden Gophers hoisting a 13-game win streak.
The Gophers, who came into the series with an impressive 8-game win streak of their own, started off hot on Friday night. Forward Peyton Hemp found herself wide open from the left circle with just over nine minutes to go in the first period and rifled one past the right of Badgers goaltender Jane Gervais’ glove, finding the back of the net. Minnesota Goaltender Skylar Vetter was stellar throughout the first period, stopping all 15 shots on goal.
The Badgers would respond with just over 10 minutes remaining, forward Kelly Gorbatenko found defender Laney Potter in front of the net. Potter buried it over the right shoulder of Vetter.
The game would continue to go back-and-forth, with forward Marianne Picard deflecting a puck into the net for the Badgers. Then, five minutes into the third period, forward Josefin Bouveng lobbed a backhanded shot over Gervais to knot the match at two.
Just two minutes later, forward Britta Curl’s backhanded shot found the five hole of Vetter to put Wisconsin back out in front.
The Badgers looked to be in control in the final minutes of play, preventing Vetter from exiting the goal until there were 90 seconds left. But, with 1:07 remaining, forward Laila Edwards was called for roughing. The Gophers, the best power play team in the nation (38.8%), quickly took advantage, with Bouveng sending a shot by the right pad of Gervais for her second goal of the game.
Women’s Hockey: Hat trick heroes Edwards, Simms propel No. 2 Badgers to weekend domination
In overtime, Edwards would make up for her penalty, managing to finesse the puck past the right pad of Vetter as she was falling to the ice, ending the game.
“It was a stupid penalty,” Edwards said after the game in an interview with the Wisconsin State Journal. “I had to do my best to make it up, and luckily, I did.”
The Badgers carried this moment into Saturday afternoon. Forward Kirsten Simms, who had a hat trick last weekend at Bemidji State, got the scoring going early in the second period for the Badgers. It was an athletic play as Simms was skating right, fired across her body and found the top left corner of the goal.
Just four minutes later, it was Simms again, firing a nearly identical shot from the right side of the ice into the left corner of the goal. Simms’s strong outing was all the Badgers would need Saturday afternoon, as freshmen goalie Ava McNaughton was a solid presence, tallying 17 saves in her shutout performance.
In the final series of the regular season, the Badgers host the top-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes. While this series has no post-season implications, as the Badgers and Buckeyes are locked in at the 2nd and 1st seeds for the WHCA tournament, it could serve as a preview to a Frozen Four matchup. Puck drop will be at 7 p.m. Friday and 8 p.m. Saturday at La Bahn Arena.
