The Wisconsin women’s hockey team faced off with the St. Cloud State Huskies this weekend at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. The weekend was more of the same for the Badgers, as UW finished the series with two shutout wins pushing its record to 21-1-0 on the season.
The first game was defined by the Badgers' dominance in the faceoff circle. The Badgers won 33 of the 46 faceoffs throughout the game, with Sam Cogan winning 13-of-14. That wasn’t the only way that Cogan produced however. Six and a half minutes into the first period, Cogan flicked a wrist shot past Huskies goalie Janine Alder to put the Badgers up one to nothing. This would not be the biggest play for the Badgers, however.
Five minutes into the second period St. Cloud State earned a penalty shot, a sure chance to equalize the score. But Kristen Campbell was having none of it as she made an incredible save to keep the Huskies scoreless. This would be the first penalty shot stop since the 2009-’10 season for the Badgers. Wisconsin was dominant on the defensive end, allowing only 16 shots on goal by St. Cloud State. It halted numerous Husky rushes to help Campbell earn her fifth shutout of the year. With the 1-0 win, Wisconsin climbed to 20-1-0, becoming the first team in the country to 20 wins.
The second game of the series was a showing of true dominance by the Badgers in their 3-0 win on Saturday. With offense in the likes of Mozart and defense like Metallica, Wisconsin battered St. Cloud State all game long. Wisconsin opened up the scoring five and a half minutes into the first with a goal from Presley Norby, who was assisted by Lauren Williams and Sophia Shaver. This outing proved to be one of Shaver’s best as she and Mikaela Gardner assisted Claudia Kepler 13 minutes into the second period for the Badgers’ second goal of the game. Shaver would come up big yet again by putting in a goal for herself fifteen minutes into the third. She was assisted by Maddie Rowe and Gardner on the play.
Wisconsin put together a masterpiece on Saturday, showing dominance in every facet of the game. The Badgers won 34-of-54 faceoffs and took three times as many shots as the Huskies throughout the game. Campbell was dominant once again posting her second shutout in a row and her sixth of the season. The victory propelled the team to an impressive 21-1-0 record on the year.
Wisconsin put together one of its best series of the season this weekend as it played complete games on both ends of the ice. Campbell put together her best series of the season, posting two shutouts and making one of the best saves in recent school history. Campbell now has a WCHA leading six shutouts on the season. Campbell can thank her defense for the help in earning her shutouts this weekend. Campbell only faced 32 shots on goal throughout both games. This number appears even smaller when you compare it to Wisconsin’s 76 shots on goal throughout the weekend.
The Badgers now move into their Winter Break with an incredible 21-1-0 overall record with a 12-0-0 record in conference, their best conference start since 2015-’16. They will return on Jan. 13-14 for a series against Minnesota Mankato at LaBahn Arena.
