In a weekend series at the Verizon Center in Mankato, the Wisconsin Badgers (5-1-0- WCHA, 11-1-0 overall) beat Minnesota State (2-5-1, 4-5-1) 2-1 on Friday night and followed it up with a 2-0 shutout on Saturday.
In the first game of the series, Wisconsin came out strong in the second period and scored twice after a scoreless first period. Sophomore forward Brette Pettet shot and scored a minute into the middle frame on a powerplay after an assist from junior defender Mekenzie Steffen.
“I thought our energy was good and certainly getting the power-play goal in the second period let us play very strong and created a bunch of opportunities,” head coach Mark Johnson said to UWBadgers.com. “I was very happy with the overall effort.”
Later in the period, freshman forward Britta Curl converted a rebound from fellow freshman Sophie Shirley to score and bring the game to 2-0.
"I thought we forechecked hard and didn't give them a lot of time with the puck so we got a lot of time in the offensive zone," Curl said to UWBadgers.com.
In the third period, the Badgers allowed Minnesota State to score, bringing the score to 2-1. After the goal, Wisconsin tightened up its defensive line to hold onto the win. The Badgers outshot the Mavericks 34-17 and became the first team in the NCAA this season to reach double-digit wins.
In the second game in the series, Wisconsin came out stronger. Eight minutes into the first period, junior forward Abby Roque capitalized on her own rebound during a power play to score the first goal of the game.
"I think just working at it in practice has been a really key factor to it,” Roque said to UWBadgers.com. “We know what each other is trying to do and we all communicate out there. We all are pretty similar players so I think just putting the pucks on net and knowing where to go [made the power-play work]."
In the second period, Shirley, who on Thursday was named the WCHA Rookie of the Month, scored with assists by Roque and sophomore defender Grace Bowlby. Junior goalkeeper Kristen Campbell blocked all 15 shots on goal from Minnesota State for her second goal of the year.
“Honestly, I think everyone was just doing the little things right,” Campbell said to UWBadgers.com. “We knew today that Minnesota State was going to come back really hard at us so I think just focusing on the process, one period at a time, and one shot at a time really helped in today's win.”
Although the Badgers were down some players this weekend due to senior forwards Emily Clark and Annie Pankowski and senior defender Mikaela Gardner out practicing for the Four Nations Cup, Wisconsin beat Minnesota State for the 23rd time in a row.
“Obviously we're missing some players, but I think our team really pulled together and we really filled those spots,” Roque said to UWBadgers.com. “Everybody knew their role and needed to come out hard and that's why we got the two wins."
The Badgers have a bye week next week, and will return to the ice November 16th and 17th against the Bemidji State Beavers (0-5-1, 0-9-1) at LaBahn Arena.
