On Saturday, the Badgers were robbed of their 14th straight unbeaten game. The St. Cloud State Huskies (10-11-1, WCHA 13-14-1 overall) shut out No. 1 Wisconsin (24-3-1, 19-2-1) 1-0 at the National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, Minn.
Not only did the game snap the Badgers' 13-game winning streak, but the loss kept head coach Mark Johnson from getting his 100th win at UW, as well as in his career.
The defeat also gives SCSU its second victory over a No. 1-ranked team this season, a first in school history.
Despite out-shooting the Huskies 36-12, the Badgers still failed to get the puck past Huskey goalie Lauri St. Jacques, who stopped all 36 Badger shots. In the Badgers' goal, rookie goalie Jessie Vetter made 11 saves until 13:18 in the third period.
With less than seven minutes left to play, it seemed that the teams would face-off in overtime. SCSU, had a powerplay and capitalized. Ashley Stewart's shot was originally saved by Vetter, but deflected off of another player's shoulder and went into the net.
In the last 1:30 of the game, the Badgers had an open net power play which they failed to score on. Throughout the game, though, Wisconsin had trouble benefiting from powerplays. In the second period, the Badgers had a 5-on-3 advantage over the Huskies, yet they still could not manage to score. The Huskies' penalty kill maintained their confidence by blocking 10 Badger shots in just over two minutes. Overall, the Badgers were 0-7 on power play opportunities.
After a difficult second period, the confidence of the Huskies' penalty kill was strong. Because they kept the Badgers scoreless for 40 minutes and four power plays, the Huskies were gaining defensive momentum.
Although the Badgers lost Saturday, they started the weekend strong with a 3-1 win Friday over the Huskies. Wisconsin ended SCSU's four game winning streak. The Huskies had just come off of two big series sweeps of North Dakota and Minnesota-Duluth.
Even though the Huskies were first to score, the Badgers played strong and came back with two quick goals by senior forward Cyndy Kenyon and freshman forward Angie Keseley. In the second period, freshman forward Erika Lawley scored the Badgers' final goal of the game, and series.
