The Badger women’s hockey team spent this weekend doing what they have done best in recent seasons: winning in dominating fashion. Their win and tie against Ohio State meant a successful series against a top 10 team and staked yet another spot in the record books.
Saturday’s 4-0 victory gave Wisconsin (1-0-1 WCHA, 5-0-1 overall) the longest undefeated streak in the history of women’s hockey. Their last loss came to Minnesota-Duluth Nov. 24 last season.
“Overall we’ve done some good things over the last year. This team still has a long way to go. I don’t think about streaks much, longevity of streaks. We’re thinking about what’s going on right now,” head coach Mark Johnson said.
In the first game, Wisconsin took control of the game early and never looked back. In a physical game, the Buckeyes could not seem to keep themselves out of the penalty box, racking up a total of six penalties.
Freshman center Mallory Duluth opened the scoring by tipping in a shot from freshman defender Malee Windmeier on a power play less than two minutes into the game. Later in the period freshman center Kelly Nash scored in front of the net off a pass from junior wing Tia Hanson.
Sophomore center Jasmine Giles extended the lead by batting in a rebound from her own rejected shot and junior forward Kayla Hagen got around junior OSU goalie Liana Bonanno to scoop in the final goal of the contest.
The story of the game was Wisconsin’s defense, which kept All-American junior goalie Jesse Vetter relatively clean, holding OSU to only 12 shots.
The second contest began much like the first. UW scored first on a nice powerplay one-timer from senior forward Jinelle Zaugg that came off of crisp puck movement and execution. The Buckeyes however were getting better shots than the night before and Wisconsin’s play was sloppier.
In the second period the Buckeyes finally got their offense going, scoring two goals in a little more than a minute and a half. The scores energized OSU and pleased a very vocal contingent of Buckeye fans in the Kohl Center.
“We’ve been down before, the other team is going to score. We can’t always have a shutout,” junior defender Rachel Bible said. “I knew we weren’t going to lose, I never have that mentality. I felt that we just have to come back and go hard.”
As Ohio State tightened up to hold on for the win, Wisconsin’s offense began taking control of the game. The payoff came when freshman center Mallory Deluce put back a blocked shot from Zaugg to tie the score.
The Badgers would have power plays late in the contest but were unable to capitalize. They likewise missed several excellent chances in overtime and settled for a 2-2 tie.
“When the second goal went in I just felt bad because I gave Ohio State energy and then our team was down. I basically blame myself for the second goal but you just have to forget it and not let another one in,” Vetter said. “I know that my team will come back and get that goal for me. They did a great job getting that second goal and we thought we could get them in overtime but it is all right. It’s our first come from behind tie and we’ll take that this early in the season.”
It should also be noted that freshman forward Hilary Knight and sophomore forward Meghan Duggan were both moved to different lines before the game.
“We’re trying to find more chemistry amongst our forward line. Duggan and Lawler have played together a lot. They played at Cushing together, at their prep school. They know one another and as Hilary [Knight] grows more comfortable, it gives us the option to move some of those kids around,” Johnson said. “We were looking for some goals. We were playing well but weren’t scoring. So you might tweak a few things or change a few things just to try to create something.”
