The No. 1 Wisconsin women's hockey team swept St. Thomas last weekend, winning 6-1 Friday and 5-2 Saturday.
An exciting start
Directly after the puck drop on Friday, massive energy flowed off the Badgers. Not even three minutes into the first period, sophomore forward Claire Enright found the back of the net after a pass from Sarah Wozniewicz, who managed her way through the offensive zone on a two-on-two.
The quick goal did not dissipate the energy for Wisconsin. About four minutes later on an odd-player rush, junior forward Kirsten Simms managed to tip the puck in, doubling the score for the Badgers.
With 1:23 left on the clock, St. Thomas freshman forward Isla Lindaman entered the penalty box for tripping, and the Badgers took the advantage. Senior forward Lacey Eden scored on the power play with just 45.5 seconds left on the clock, making the crowd go wild.
The Badgers started strong, ending the first period with a 3-0 lead with 12 shots on goal compared to St. Thomas’ seven.
Starting the second period, St. Thomas came out slightly more aggressive and prepared defensively and offensively, stopping multiple shots and breakaways and not allowing the Badgers to capitalize on them. But this did not stop the Badgers.
After a fantastic save by Badgers goaltender Ava McNaughton, Wisconsin rushed to the other end passing back and forth until sophomore forward Cassie Hall was able to tip it behind St. Thomas’ goaltender and into the back of the net.
Soon thereafter, the Tommies came back fighting and managed to get one behind McNaughton, scoring their singular goal of the game. Firing up after their goal, St. Thomas had a couple of close shots on goal, but they were not able to score again.
The Badgers ended the period with over double the shots on goal compared to the Tommies.
Just 40 seconds into the third and final period of the game, with a massive burst of energy and rush down the ice, sophomore forward Kelly Gorbatenko took a snap shot, earning her fifth goal of the season and adding to the Badgers’ lead.
After many attempted shots and very close calls, the Badgers capitalized again. Freshman forward Finley McCarthy added to the tally halfway through the period, and the Badgers sealed the win.
Securing the sweep and breaking records
Game two began with high energy from both teams. Right from the get-go, not even a minute into the game, the Badgers rushed to the Tommies’ goal, where fifth year forward Casey O’Brien slipped one in, giving Wisconsin an early lead.
Despite their early lead, the first period was an exhausting battle, where both the Badgers and the Tommies came out to fight. Wisconsin hit shot after shot and chased rebounds to attempt again, yet none of them found the back of the net.
There were a couple of very close calls for the Badgers, keeping the fans on the edge of their seats. St. Thomas mainly played defensively in the first period, they had a couple of breakaways which McNaughton skillfully defended.
Wisconsin had double the shots on goal with 15 compared to St. Thomas’ meek five, during a low-scoring first period.
Near the beginning of the second period, senior defender Katie Kotlowski was sent to the penalty box for two minutes for tripping.The Badgers managed the penalty kill with a couple of breakaways, but St. Thomas scored right after Kotlowski was let out of the box. In a scramble at the goal, Tommies sophomore forward Madison Brown managed to tip the puck in, scoring the equalizer.
Not even two minutes later, a fired-up Wisconsin team passed back and forth down the ice, allowing Edwards to pass the puck to Hall to score.
A minute and a half later, the Badgers scored again. After a beautiful long pass down the ice, Edwards hit a nice shot where she eventually tipped the puck in, giving Wisconsin the lead again at 2-1. O’Brien picked up her 139th assist in her career as a Badger, surpassing Sara Bauer and breaking the school record.
O’Brien said in a post-game interview how she is delighted to contribute to this teams success, with the main focus staying on the team and keeping the individual milestones as an afterthought. When discussing the game's goals she added “I don’t really care how it happened, just happy we got the goal, especially where that game was at, we kind of needed it, energy wise.”
With just less than five minutes left in the period, sophomore defender Ava Murphy went into the box for roughing, giving St. Thomas their second power play of the game. Tensions only grew when the Tommies almost scored, causing a fight to almost break out.
Exactly like their previous power play, directly after Murphy exited the box and Wisconsin managed the penalty kill, St. Thomas scored, tightening the Badgers’ lead to one to 3-2.
With a close score, Wisconsin came out strong in the third period. Almost four minutes into play, Tommies senior defender Alli Pahl went into the box for a minor for hooking. Caroline Harvey scored her 100th career point on the power play, extending the Badgers’ lead with a beautiful wrist shot that went right past the St. Thomas goalie.
“I just have the greatest team here. I am never focused on the individual accolades, but I was proud of Casey when that came up,” Harvey added in her interview. “When it happened it was a great pass by Lacey, got set up on the power play from everyone on the ice so I couldn’t do it without my teammates. Nothing I care too much about but moving forward and focusing on the next weekend.”
With eight minutes left, the Badgers added their fifth and final goal to the board as they found a breakaway where Simms sent a pass to O’Brien who shot the puck in. The Badgers ended the game 5-2, adding their 16th win of the season.
Wisconsin is back on the road this weekend and will face Maine Nov. 29 at 5 p.m. CST and Nov. 30 at 3 p.m.
Clara Strecker is a copy chief for The Daily Cardinal. She also covers state news.
