Beating their third ranked opponent of the year, No. 23 Wisconsin (3-2-0 Big Ten, 12-3-2 overall) took down No. 25 Northwestern (1-3-1, 9-5-3) 1-0 Sunday afternoon.
The Badgers have now shut out three ranked squads, holding Marquette, Michigan State, and Northwestern scoreless, all 1-0 victories for Wisconsin.
The win, the first on the road in Big Ten play, gives the Badgers a winning conference record, and also marks the first 12-win season since winning the national championship in 1995.
After a scoreless first half, senior forward Nick Janus tied junior forward Jacob Brindle for the team lead in goals, notching his eighth of the season, 10 minutes into the second half.
Returning to his home state of Illinois, senior forward Chris Prince set up the goal on a pass inside the 18-yard box.
The shutout was the second of the season for senior goalkeeper Max Jentsch, who has now started in four consecutive games. Over that span the Badgers went 3-0-1 and have only surrendered two goals.
Both sides had other chances at the start of the second half, with a few shots hitting the crossbar. Jentsch’s biggest save came in the opening minutes of the half, tipping a shot away just before it would have crossed the goal line.
The Badgers kept on the pressure all day long, firing 19 shots in all, their most in nearly a month.
Defensively, the Badgers were able to shut down the Big Ten-leading goal scorer, sophomore forward Joey Calistri, limiting him to just one shot on goal all game. The Badgers also blocked three Northwestern chances down the stretch, and allowed just three shots on goal throughout the game.
The Badgers have now won seven of their last nine games, going 7-1-1 during the second half of the season.
Wisconsin returns home for their final regular season match of the year, taking on Ohio State Friday at 7 p.m.
UWBadgers.com contributed to this report.
