Faced with the prospect of falling below .500 and continuing its worst winless streak in a decade, the Wisconsin women’s hockey team (1-3-2-2 WCHA, 5-3-2 overall) responded with a pair of victories to sweep its weekend home series with New Hampshire (1-2 Hockey East, 3-4 overall).
“The kids should feel good about themselves, they worked hard for a couple of home victories,” Wisconsin head coach Mark Johnson said. “Those non-conference games are always really helpful, it was all good.”
On Friday the Badgers used a quick start and physical defense to bully their way to a 2-0 win in the series opener, securing their first victory in their brand new LaBahn Arena.
“People were a little bit more comfortable in the building this weekend than they were last weekend,” Johnson said. “It was good to see them come in and create that energy.”
Wisconsin struck early, scoring in the third minute of the first period when a deflected puck off the stick of sophomore forward Karley Sylvester put the Badgers ahead. The goal, Sylvester’s fifth of the season, was the first time Wisconsin had scored a goal in the opening period since a 9-1 win over Lindenwood October 6.
Senior forward Brianna Decker doubled the Badger lead with two minutes to go in the first, sneaking an unassisted goal past Wildcat freshman goaltender Vilma Vaattovaara.
The Wildcats would not go away quietly, though, moving to within one in the third period on a score by senior forward Kristina Lavoie. With the Badgers falling back to defend their net, Wildcat senior forward Kristine Horn found Lavoie on a three-on-one break for the easy scoring chance.
The loss marked the first time in New Hampshire’s young season that the Wildcats had not scored a goal via the power play. On the weekend the Wildcats were a combined zero-for-eight when up at least one skater.
“It comes down to going out executing, and when your goalie is playing well, she has to be your best penalty killer,” Johnson said. “Back-to-back games [junior goaltender Alex Rigsby] has been playing well, and when she is able to do that it makes it that much more challenging for the other team.”
The Badgers got a quality performance from freshman defenseman Courtney Burke Saturday—who finished the day with three points—and opportunistic passing on the power play to run away with a 5-0 win.
Decker continued her big weekend, getting the Badgers’ on the board for the 1-0 lead in the first period with a goal on a five-on-three power play. After a pair of Wildcat penalties, freshman defenseman Courtney Burke found Decker from the top on the left side of the net for a chance at goal that the senior would not waste.
Burke added her second point of the day in the second period, scoring with a nice move up the middle through a pack of Wildcat defenders. The goal, Burke’s second of her career, gave the Albany, N.Y., native six points on the season, tops among freshmen on Wisconsin.
“To be honest I didn’t really even know what I was doing, I just kind of faked the shot and went around and toe dragged the defender and shot the puck,” Burke said. “Decker was right near the goalie, so it just kind of snuck in.”
Wisconsin sealed the sweep in the 14th minute of the second period, when a goal by junior forward Madison Packer put the Badgers up 3-0. With the Badgers working the puck around their offensive zone, senior defenseman Saige Pacholok ripped a shot from the point that deflected off of Packer to get past Vaattovaara.
