Any team can get distracted a few days before a rivalry game. A matchup between the top two teams in the country could add even more distractions.
This is the situation the Wisconsin women’s hockey team (19-3-2 WCHA, 23-3-2 overall) faced as they traveled to Ohio State (11-14-5, 6-13-5) this weekend, just one week before the colossal matchup between the Badgers and No. 1-ranked Minnesota.
Wisconsin would not fall prey to distractions as they swept the Buckeyes in Columbus.
Three different Badgers scored and senior goaltender Alex Rigsby stopped all 13 shots she faced Friday night at the OSU Ice Rink. Wisconsin earned its 10th shutout of the season, continuing their dominant defensive performance as they lead the nation in scoring defense allowing 0.96 goals per contest. UW has limited its opponents to one goal or less in 20 of its 27 games this year.
After a scoreless first period, the Badgers got on the board midway through the second, as redshirt junior forward Brittany Ammerman fired a laser past OSU senior goaltender Lisa Steffes on UW’s second power play of the night to give the Badgers a 1-0 lead.
The goal marked Ammerman’s 18th of the year, which leads Wisconsin. The Badgers tacked on two goals late in the third, as senior defender Kelly Jaminski scored her fourth goal of the year off an OSU turnover in its own zone to extend UW’s lead to 2-0 with less than five minutes to go. Junior forward Blayre Turnbull added on Wisconsin’s final goal with 1:53 left to seal the win.
“I told the team at the end of the game that was one of our overall strongest games from start to finish,” UW head coach Mark Johnson said. “We faced a tough team that hadn’t lost in seven or eight games on the smaller ice sheet, but we gave a great team effort. Everybody contributed and it was nice to win the game.”
Saturday night, a two-goal performance from Ammerman propelled the Badgers to a 3-2 victory. Senior Alex Rigsby was solid in the net once again for Wisconsin, making 23 saves to record her 96th career win and improve her season record to 13-2-2. Wisconsin outshot Ohio State 29-25 overall.
Ammerman scored first for the Badgers, sending a wrister to the upper shelf on a UW power play with 10 minutes remaining in the first period. Wisconsin entered the second period with a 1-0 lead after outshooting OSU 12-2 in the period.
Next to light the lamp was freshman forward Sarah Nurse, who knocked in a pass from sophomore forward Rachel Jones on a two-on-one rush at the 4:34 mark to tally her 10th collegiate goal and extend UW’s lead to two.
The Buckeyes retaliated, punching in a puck that was bouncing around the Badgers’ net to score their first goal of the weekend and cut Wisconsin’s lead in half. OSU outshot Wisconsin in the second, taking 11 shots to Wisconsin’s seven.
But Ammerman wasn’t finished, as she slid the puck past OSU goaltender Lisa Steffes early in the third frame to push UW to a 3-1 advantage.
Thirteen minutes into the period, Ohio State’s junior defender Kari Schmitt slipped a loose puck past Rigsby during a five-on-four OSU advantage, leaving the Badgers with a one-goal lead during an intense final seven minutes of the game.
Despite Ohio State’s last-minute offensive push after pulling Steffes from the net, the Buckeyes were unable to knot the score and the Badgers claimed all six possible points on the weekend.
UW takes the ice next weekend in a home series against WCHA-foe and No. 1-ranked Minnesota. The series begins at LaBahn Arena Friday with a 7 p.m. start before concluding with the Fill-the-Bowl game at the Kohl Center Saturday at 7 p.m.
