Behind two third-period goals, No. 1 Wisconsin (4-0-1 WCHA, 6-0-1 overall) beat No. 9 North Dakota (3-2, 4-2-1) 2-0 Saturday afternoon.
After a scoreless first period, UW ramped up its pressure, outshooting UND 19-2 in the second period. However, it was North Dakota who had the best chance to score. Late in the period, the Fighting Hawks had a breakaway scoring chance, but senior goalie Ann-Renée Desbiens smothered the puck to keep it a scoreless game heading into the third period.
The Badgers kept the heat on North Dakota in the third period and were finally rewarded for their effort. With 12:59 remaining in the period, junior forward Emily Clark lit the lamp with her fourth goal and third game-winner of the season, giving the Badgers a 1-0 lead.
“If you want to score you’ve got to get in the dirty areas, and Clark had one of those types of goals where it was a rebound and she happened to be in the right place,” head coach Mark Johnson told uwbadgers.com. “She was able to score a big goal that ended up being the game-winner. She’s a big player, she’s playing well and hopefully she continues to.”
“I think I’ve just been fortunate to get a lot of good opportunities in the games,” Clark said. “Today, the puck was just sitting there and I just finished the job.”
UW would seal the victory with an empty-netter with just nine seconds left in the game by senior forward Sarah Nurse.
“It was definitely a tough game,” Clark said. “They have a lot of skill and a lot of speed and they’re a hard team to play. It’s obviously very physical and a little more of a grittier game, but I’m really proud of how our team kept getting better throughout the game.”
The Badgers outshot the Fighting Hawks 40 to 16. Desbiens recorded 16 saves for her 41st career shutout, two short of tying the NCAA record.
“I definitely want to do the little things right and stay focused,” Desbiens said about her shutout performance. "So it’s definitely nice to be able to make those saves because in a tie game like this, it’s super important and it’s always close against North Dakota. So I have to make sure I stay sharp to give my team a win, and I think that’s what I did today.”
The series concludes Sunday at 2 p.m. in Grand Forks, N.D.
