Back in 1999 when the Wisconsin women’s team played its first game, few knew what to expect from the program. That team went 19-16-2. Fast forward 16 years and four national titles later, and Wisconsin has become one of the most dominant programs in women’s hockey. Friday afternoon, the program passed another milestone: its 500th win came by way of a 6-1 road victory over Bemidji State.
The Badgers became just the 10th Division I women’s program to win 500 games, and eight of the other nine have been playing hockey for 20 years longer than UW.
"It's a reflection of what's gone on for a long period of time," head coach Mark Johnson told UWBadgers.com. "We have good support from our fans, good players, good commitment from a lot of different people and it's something to be very proud of as a group."
"It's pretty cool to be part of a program with so much history," junior forward Emily Clark said. "To be able to be part of that milestone is pretty special."
Wisconsin (20-2-1 WCHA, 25-2-1 overall) wasted little time waiting to score. Clark tipped the puck past Bemidji State goalie Brittni Mowat 44 seconds into the game for her first of two goals in the period. Later, freshman Abby Roque lit the lamp with a backhanded goal that gave the Badgers a 3-0 lead. The Beavers (5-15-3, 9-15-3) added a late-first period goal as Emily Bergland beat UW goalie Ann-Renée Desbiens.
In the second period, Roque netted her second goal of the game on a Badger rush to the goal, extending the lead to 4-1.
"I just think the lines were passing really well with me," Roque said. "My two linemates did really well getting the puck and moving it around, so opportunities just kind of came."
UW has shown a much-improved power play during its current 11-game winning streak—a trend it continued in the third period. Badger captain Sydney McKibbon snuck the puck past Mowat for the power-play goal. Wisconsin has now scored a power-play goal in six consecutive games. 44 seconds later, sophomore forward Sam Cogan joined in on the scoring and knocked in a rebound to wrap up the scoring at 6-1.
Desbiens stopped 27 out of 28 shots to earn her 91st career victory, tying her with UW great Jessie Vetter for second all-time in program history.
The top-ranked Badgers wrap up the series Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.
