The Wisconsin women's hockey team (3-4-3 Western Collegiate Hockey Association, 9-4-3 overall) skated away with a tie and a win against Minnesota-State Mankato (2-7-1, 3-10-1) at the Kohl Center this weekend.
Saturday, the Badgers rallied from behind to come back for the 3-3 tie in the third period. Maverick junior forward Amanda Osborn put Minnesota State's first point on the board early in the first period, with assists from freshman forward Katie Hainrich and sophomore forward Melanie Salatino.
Wisconsin rebounded quickly, scoring a goal of its own only 19 seconds later. Sophomore forward Amy Vermeulen notched her second goal of the season, assisted by sophomore forward Jackie Friesen and sophomore defender Nicole Uliasz.
From there, Minnesota State earned its second and third goals in the second period, as freshman defender Andrea Jensrud and sophomore forward Kristina Koga both got the puck past Wisconsin senior goaltender Jackie MacMillan.
But UW came back from the deficit, as Friesen slipped the puck past Maverick senior goalie Katie Beauduy in the third period. Still behind, they continued to hassle Beauduy, as senior forward Kendra Antony scored the equalizing goal.
Sunday's game saw the Badgers dominate the ice, as they easily defeated the Mavericks 4-0. Although the first period remained scoreless and the teams were evenly matched with the Badgers taking 11 shots on goal compared to Mankato's 12, Wisconsin came out for the second period fired up, scoring three goals on Mankato junior goaltender Shari Vogt.
\[The] first period, we didn't have our feet moving the way we were capable of moving and the result was the period was pretty even,"" Wisconsin Head Coach Mark Johnson said. ""We just needed to step our game and that's what we talked about between the first and second [period] intermission is we needed to step it up a little bit and they came out and we did that.""
Uliasz connected with a pass from Friesen to notch the first and game-winning goal midway through the second period.
""I saw the goalie down low, [my goal was] just to shoot it high and hopefully it will go in. [If not], the goalie would make a good save,"" Uliasz said.
While Wisconsin only needed one goal for the victory that did not stop the team, as senior forward Kathy Devereaux scored an unassisted goal that put Wisconsin up 2-0. The Badgers continued its scoring frenzy, as senior forward Michelle Sikich took a shot that hit the pipe and bounced in late in the second period. Freshman forward Sharon Cole and junior forward Karen Rickard assisted in UW's third goal.
Although Wisconsin maintained a comfortable 3-0 lead against the Mavericks, the team did not let its guard down, allowing only seven shots on goal in the third period. Instead, they continued to own Minnesota State, as sophomore defender Molly Engstrom fired a shot from the top of the circle that got past Vogt.
""[The win] gives us another two points in the standings but more importantly, it shows, especially the last 40 minutes when you compete and play hard, good things can happen and we were able to do that,"" Johnson said.
