Heading into their bye week, the No. 2 Wisconsin Badgers wanted to be riding a wave of momentum.
They managed to do just that, earning a series sweep over WCHA rival Minnesota-Duluth.
In the first game of the series on Saturday, the Badgers (16-3-2 WCHA, 21-3-2 overall) were able to get the 3-1 victory by scoring two goals in the first period and dominating on special teams. UW scored on two of their five power play opportunities in the game, and successfully killed all three of the Bulldogs’ power plays.
“I think like any team, you are always working on special teams,” UW head coach Mark Johnson said. “It comes down to execution. Certainly the two power play goals were the difference in the game.”
Success on special teams is nothing new for the Badgers; they boast the nation’s second-best power play scoring percentage and the third-best penalty-kill percentage.
Redshirt junior forward Brittany Ammerman and junior forward Blayre Turnbull led the way for Wisconsin on offense, recording two points apiece.
“We’re building a lot of good momentum, and the whole team has been contributing,” Ammerman said.
Sophomore forward Rachel Jones also contributed to UW’s scoring effort, recording her second goal of the season.
Senior forward Jamie Kenyon finally got Minnesota-Duluth (9-8-5, 11-10-5) on the board with 4:28 left in the third period, but it was too little, too late for the Bulldogs.
Sunday afternoon’s game, played before a large LaBahn Arena crowd, ended up being an exciting, physical contest.
The Badgers’ offense seemed to be firing on all cylinders early in the game, outshooting the Bulldogs 19-5 in the first period. Despite several good scoring opportunities, UW was unable to find the back of the net until sophomore forward Erika Sowchuk scored a power play goal with just 1:17 remaining in the first period.
Midway through the second period, UMD received a golden opportunity when they went on a five-minute power play, resulting from a game misconduct call and ejection on UW senior forward Madison Packer.
But the Badgers penalty-killing unit and senior goaltender Alex Rigsby stood tall, preserving their one-goal lead heading into the second intermission.
In the final period, the Badgers tallied an insurance goal to make it 2-0 with just over five minutes left, courtesy of freshman forward Sarah Nurse.
Nurse scored an impressive goal by breaking away, deking a defender, and going to her backhand to beat sophomore goaltender Kayla Black.
While there wasn’t much scoring in the game, the game certainly wasn’t without excitement.
Both teams played a very physical game (highlighted by Packer’s ejection) and combined for a total of 12 penalties for 35 penalty minutes.
This put the Badgers, one of the country’s least penalized teams, in somewhat unfamiliar territory, but they still managed to find a way to win.
“As I told the team, you play the game for a reason and you never know what’s going to happen within the game,” Johnson said. “It was a game that we haven’t seen in regards to the penalties and things that went on over the course of the 60 minutes, but I thought in a lot of situations we responded very well.”
The main reason for the lack of scoring was the superb play from both teams’ goaltenders. For the Bulldogs, Black recorded 36 saves while allowing just two goals for a .947 save percentage.
For Wisconsin, Rigsby made 17 saves en route to her 94th career win and 27th career shutout.
“I think it was a huge victory for us today,” Rigsby said. “I thought our team came out and battled really hard this weekend, so it’s a great thing to walk away with.”
With the series sweep, the Badgers improved to 13-1-0 at home on the season, but they had to put forth their best effort to win both games over their conference rival.
“Our league is very competitive top to bottom. There are no easy nights and you have to play hard for 60 minutes,” Johnson said. “Those are good signs that each game we are finding ways to win and ways to get things done. Especially at this time of the season, it goes a long way.”
