The brooms came out once again for the No. 4 Wisconsin women's hockey team (12-5-1 WCHA, 18-5-1 overall) this past weekend against Western Collegiate Hockey Association newcomers, North Dakota (4-15-1, 7-16-3).
The Badgers victories of 8-0 on Friday and 6-2 on Saturday at the Kohl Center marked the team's seventh weekend sweep of the season and gave them their second series sweep this year against the Fighting Sioux.
Friday night's 8-0 shut-out proved to be a complete team effort for Wisconsin. Both teams remained scoreless well into the first period until senior forward Amy Vermeulen put in Wisconsin's first goal more than eight minutes into the period. The Badgers got one more goal in the period from freshman defender Emily Morris.
During the second period, Wisconsin went on an offensive burst and scored a total of four goals. Junior forward Cyndy Kenyon got things started with her power play goal early in the period. Then junior forward Nikki Burish added back-to-back goals to put the score at 5-0.
To close out the period, sophomore forward Vicki Davis notched the first goal of her Wisconsin career. Prior to Friday night's game, Davis was the lone Badger without a goal on the season, but now all 18 players have notched at least one.
After Davis scored the team's sixth goal on the night, North Dakota decided to take out junior goalie Margaret-Ann Hinkley and put in sophomore Jenna Burdy. Though Hinkley allowed six goals, she had 22 saves while Burdy tallied nine saves.
Despite a goalie change, Wisconsin kept the momentum going throughout the third period. Senior forward Jackie Friesen and sophomore forward Meaghan Mikkelson each tallied one more goal before the night was over. Burish was there for the assist on Friesen's goal and ended the night with three points.
Wisconsin's junior goalie Meghan Horras ended the night with eight saves in her 10th win of the season. In Saturday night's game, North Dakota finally found some offense, but not enough to keep up with Wisconsin. The Badgers struck first with two goals during the first period from sophomore forwards Sara Bauer and Phoebe Monteleone.
Then it was North Dakota's turn. To start the second period, the Fighting Sioux found its first goal of the series from freshman forward Melissa Dianoski. Wisconsin retaliated with Davis' second goal as a Badger to put the score at 3-1. North Dakota was not quite ready to give up though. Senior forward Marissa Hangsleben tallied another Sioux goal before the period was up and brought the score to 3-2 before heading into the final period.
Wisconsin did not let their lead get any smaller. To close out the game, and the Sioux, the Badgers got three more goals from senior defender Molly Engstrom, Mikkelson and Burish.
Horras ended the night successfully with 17 saves.
After playing at home the past two weekends, Wisconsin will now leave the friendly confines of the Kohl Center and take to the dangerous road for next weekend's series against No. 1 ranked Minnesota.
