No. 2 Wisconsin (4-0 WCHA, 6-0 overall) concluded another sweep this weekend over struggling WCHA opponent St. Cloud State (0-4, 2-4) to remain undefeated.
The Badgers again showed dominance both on the offensive and defensive end of the ice, outscoring St. Cloud State 5-0 Friday night and 2-0 Saturday afternoon. This season the Badgers have now outscored their opponents 35-2, including an impressive 22-0 differential in conference play.
Friday night was another Badger blowout, as most were expecting, when the Wisconsin women stormed through the Huskies in periods two and three after a scoreless first. Sophomore defenseman Lauren Williams got the Badger offense going when she scored her first goal of the season six minutes into the second frame, but the biggest moment came when junior forward Sarah Nurse linked together two back-to-back to shorthanded goals, becoming only the fourth Badger ever to score multiple shorthanded goals in a single game.
“Our penalty kill has been successful, not only defending the other team from getting a chance to score but offensively it opened up the game today,” UW head coach Mark Johnson said. “Sarah Nurse scored two short-handed goals in a real short period of time, so any time you’re able to do that it certainly bodes well for us and certainly puts the other team a little bit on their heels in regards to the momentum of the game.”
Junior goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens only had to stop the puck 10 times in her 20th shutout as a Badger Friday night, which puts her third in program history and tied 13th all-time in NCAA history for career shutouts.
“It’s nice that Ann-Renée has been able to finish the last couple of games,” Johnson said. “Although she didn’t get tested a lot, she was still able to focus in for that 60 minutes and walk away with a shutout.”
Saturday night was a different type of match entirely between the two conference foes, with the Huskies giving the Badgers their toughest test of the season. After a repeat performance of Friday’s contest with another scoreless first period, the Badgers lit the lamp two minutes into the second when senior forward Erika Sowchuk found the back of the net for the first time this year off a dish from team captain and senior defenseman Courtney Burke.
“It was a tight game. St. Cloud did a great job of defending the scoring area,” Johnson said. “If you look at the whole game, we had the puck most of it and tried to create some scoring opportunities. They blocked I don’t know how many shots, but they blocked quite a few and the goaltender played well. The one thing about our game, probably the hardest thing to do is to score goals and Sowchuk got a nice goal in the middle part of the second period to give up a 1-0 lead.”
The UW offense slowed down a touch in the second game away series this weekend, but continued to keep its opponents out of the defensive zone and, most importantly, out of the net. Senior goaltender Megan Miller, a Boston College transfer, posted Wisconsin’s fourth consecutive shutout and her first shutout as a Badger.
“It was a great performance by Megan,” Johnson said. “You’re looking for opportunities to play people and it’s certainly what we looked at today in giving Megan a chance. It was a tight game and I’m happy for her, it certainly builds her confidence as we go through the rest of the season.”
UWBadgers.com contributed to this report.
