Head coach Mark Johnson stressed after practice Thursday he would find out where his team is at during this point of the season after the weekend series with WCHA rival Minnesota, and he certainly found out his team can put up a fight against a superior team. Despite that, the No.10 Wisconsin women's hockey team (6-6-2 WCHA, 10-6-2 overall) was swept by the No.1 Gophers (12-0-0, 18-0-0) Saturday and Sunday by scores of 4-1 and 2-0, respectively.
As the first period got underway in Saturday's contest, the Badgers got off to a strong start, holding Minnesota’s dynamic goal scorers in check and getting quality shots on goal in the Minnesota defensive zone, despite being outshot 14-8. However, the second period would prove to be drastically different. After getting a string of flashy saves from goaltender Noora Raty, the Minnesota offense showed why it leads the country in goals per game as it put on a scoring display en route to four consecutive goals. The flurry of goals started at the 5:37 mark of the second period when forward Maryanne Menefee took advantage of a three-on-one opportunity after a Badger turnover to break the 0-0 tie. From there on out, the Gophers would get goals from the trio of forwards Amanda Kessel, Sarah Davis and Becky Kortum to increase their lead to 4-0.
Wisconsin would not go away without a fight and cut into the lead at the 6:39 mark of the final period of play when senior forward Brianna Decker was fed with a perfect pass from freshman defenseman Courtney Burke for the Badgers’ lone goal of the contest. Overall, Minnesota was on the offensive for a majority of the game, owning the shots-on-goal advantage, 41-23.
On Sunday, the Badgers were on a mission to end the Gophers' 25-game winning streak. While that was not accomplished in the 2-0 defeat, they did do something that no opponent has done to Minnesota this year—shut them out for the first 49 minutes. Despite being on the defensive in the first game of the series, Wisconsin's offense came alive in the first period, owning an 11-7 advantage in shots on goal, but was unable to capitalize. Similarly to the second period of Saturday's game, Minnesota owned a huge 17-2 shots-on-goal advantage, but junior goaltender Alex Rigsby and her defensive teammates rose to the occasion to keep intact the 0-0 tie heading into the third period.
The Wisconsin defenders were able to keep the No. 1 team in the country in check through two periods of play, but the Gophers would finally get on the board at the 9:14 mark of the period on a power play opportunity when defenseman Mira Jalosuo scored on an one-timer from the slot.
In a last-minute effort to force overtime at Ritter Arena, Johnson pulled Rigsby in exchange for an extra skater, but Kessel converted on the open net to put the game out of reach, 2-0.
Wisconsin will have its hands full next weekend as No. 8 North Dakota travels to LaBahn Arena. Game time is slated for Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. and 1 p.m., respectively.
UWBadgers.com contributed to this report.
