The No. 2 Wisconsin Badgers were able to put together a very balanced offensive performance together on Friday night on their way to a 5-1 victory over Lindenwood at LaBahn Arena.
The Badgers (4-2-0 WCHA, 5-2-0 overall) were able to dominate the Lady Lions (0-0-0 CHA, 0-8-1 overall), with five different players scoring goals for UW.
Among the five were freshman defenseman Mellissa Channell and sophomore forward Mikayla Johnson, daughter of head coach Mark Johnson, whose goals were the first of each of their respective careers.
“My dad gave me a pretty nice grin,” Mikayla Johnson said. “I don’t think he needed to do anything, but he gave me a nice little grin, which pretty much got me going.”
“It was exciting, I’m certainly happy for her,” Mark Johnson said. “I’m sure she’s quite excited, and it was a big goal for us.”
While the Badgers had the game well in hand late in the game, Lindenwood was able to make some noise in the 1st period.
With just under 3 minutes to go in the 1st frame, Lindenwood’s Lyndsay Kirkham was able to intercept an errant pass in front of the UW goal and find the back of the net to tie the game at 1-1.
But Wisconsin was able to shake off this miscue and retake the lead just 29 seconds later on a goal by senior forward Madison Packer, giving the Badgers a 2-1 at the 1st intermission.
Unfortunately for Packer, her night ended early when she had to be helped off the ice with an apparent knee injury during the 3rd period.
On a team with plenty of veteran leadership, it was the younger players who stole the show on Friday, led by the goals from Channell and Johnson.
Johnson’s goal came in the middle of the 2nd period, when sophomore forward Rachel Jones found her in front of the net, setting up an easy shot for her first career goal as a Badger, and giving the team a 4-1 lead.
“[Jones] gave me pretty much a perfect pass right to my blade. It wasn’t hard to just tap it in,” Johnson said. “It was pretty exciting. Everyone on the bench went crazy.”
Channell scored her first career goal at the beginning of the 3rd period, giving the Badgers a 5-1 lead and capping off a well-rounded offensive performance for the team.
Perhaps lost in the excitement for the younger players was yet another solid performance by redshirt junior forward Brittany Ammerman, who continues to lead the way for Wisconsin in goals and points.
Ammerman tallied a power play goal and an assist against Lindenwood, bringing her totals on the season to six goals and six assists.
“I think my work with our coaches in the spring got me to where I’m at,” Ammerman said. “Of having good linemates like Blayre [Turnbull] and Katy Josephs is a good confidence booster and we enjoy playing with each other.”
A dominating performance by the offense, who outshot Lindenwood 53-17, coupled with yet another solid performance by senior goaltender Alex Rigsby was more than enough to allow the Badgers to cruise to a win over the still-winless Lady Lions.
“It’s continuing to build on what we did last weekend,” Mark Johnson said. “We want to continue to create good habits, and for the most part, I thought we did a pretty nice job tonight.”
