The No. 1 Wisconsin women’s hockey team (5-1-0 WCHA, 9-1-0 overall) swept No. 4 Boston University (0-0-0 Hockey East, 5-3-1 overall) this weekend at the Kohl Center in Madison. The series concluded a four-series stretch against top-10 teams for the Badgers.
It was the first time the teams met since last season’s national championship game when Wisconsin topped BU 4-1. It is safe to say the Terriers were looking for some payback.
“We knew they were going to come out and try and get back at us because [that game] is in their memory forever,” sophomore forward Brittany Ammerman said. “We definitely wanted to show them we’re as good or better than the team we were last year.”
Ammerman got things going for the Badgers during a 3-0 victory Friday afternoon. She took a pass from sophomore forward Madison Packer and zipped the puck past BU sophomore goaltender Kerrin Sperry to give Wisconsin the lead midway through the first period.
Ammerman added another score in the second period, and the Badgers held that 2-0 lead until deep in the third. BU went on the power play after freshman forward Blayre Turnbull was called for tripping, but sophomore defenseman Kelly Jaminski scored a short-handed goal to shut the door on BU’s rally attempt.
“You don’t want to give [BU] any energy,” head coach Mark Johnson said. “Coming out of there with Kelly’s goal makes it a lot easier to play that last four or five minutes.”
Sophomore goaltender Alex Rigsby had 20 saves Friday afternoon. While Wisconsin held Lindenwood scoreless in two games earlier this season, Friday’s shutout victory likely meant more because of the higher level of competition.
“We’ve been playing some pretty tough opponents,” Johnson said. “When you’re playing BU, you’re not going to get six, seven, eight goals in those games.”
The Badgers did exactly that Saturday afternoon.
Junior forward Brianna Decker recorded her second hat trick of the season and Rigsby made 22 saves as Wisconsin closed the series with a 6-1 win Saturday.
While the final score would indicate a blowout, it was a one-goal game until Decker’s score early in the third period. Senior forward Carolyne Prevost intercepted a BU pass and found a streaking Decker, who backhanded the puck past Sperry.
The Badgers tallied three more goals in the next eight minutes to put the game well out of reach.
“I think it showed that we’re well conditioned and we have a lot of depth,” Decker said. “I think we used that especially in that third [period].”
Wisconsin finished its tough October schedule with a 7-1 record. Although the Badgers are playing at a high level, Johnson would like to see them playing at an even higher level in January.
“The formula to be successful isn’t really difficult, but you have to be willing to do it on a daily basis,” Johnson said. “You just can’t relax or you can’t take a step back. It doesn’t work that way.”
Wisconsin will travel to Columbus next weekend for a series against Ohio State (5-2-1 WCHA, 5-2-1 overall).
