After stumbling into the break with two ties at St. Cloud State, the Badger women's hockey team regained its balance and began 2007 with four convincing wins against rival Minnesota and East Coast foe Providence.
In their first game of the new year, Wisconsin rallied from a first period one-goal deficit at Minnesota to put four straight goals on the board en route to a 4-1 win.
Down a goal late in the first period, junior defender Meghan Mikkelson scored from the point, beating Gopher goalie Brittony Chartier and giving Wisconsin momentum heading into the second period.
Junior forward Jinelle Zaugg gave the Badgers a permanent lead in the second period, rebounding in a Mikkelson shot for her 16th goal of the year.
Ten seconds later, Wisconsin padded its advantage as sophomore forward Kayla Hagen scored from the neutral zone to go up 3-1.
An empty-net goal by senior forward Sara Bauer in the final minute of the game gave Wisconsin a 4-1 victory.
In the winning effort, sophomore goalie Jessie Vetter made 14 saves on 15 shots.
Wisconsin fed off the momentum they earned from the previous day's effort heading into the second game against Minnesota.
Twenty-seven seconds into the game, Zaugg scored what would prove to be the winning goal, scoring from the slot on a pass from freshman forward Meghan Duggan.
Duggan scored the Badgers' second and third goals of the game in the second and third periods, the latter coming at the end of the game on an empty net.
Senior goalie Christine Dufour made 25 saves in the 3-0 win, including 14 second period saves. The shutout marked the fourth time Wisconsin has ever shut out Minnesota, including last year's 3-0 win in the NCAA finals.
Wisconsin returned to the Kohl Center for the first time since Thanksgiving to face Hockey East opponent Providence.
The Badgers utilized two shorthanded tallies to propel themselves to their second straight 3-0 win. Bauer and sophomore forward Angie Keseley scored the man-down goals in the second period to put Wisconsin up 2-0.
Sophomore forward Tia Hanson scored late in the third period to give the Badgers a 3-0 victory.
Vetter, playing in net for Wisconsin, made 16 stops to improve her record to 11-1-2 on the season.
Dufour got the start in net in the second game against the Friars. She had plenty of offensive assistance as the Badgers notched five goals, routing Providence 5-0.
Three freshmen scored for Wisconsin, the first goal coming from first-year forward Jasmine Giles on a shorthanded bid in the second period.
Bauer and Duggan scored later in the second period. Bauer's 41 points lead the team, 10 points ahead of second place scorer Zaugg. In her first year, Duggan has scored 16 goals, leaving her second on the team in goals scored behind Zaugg who has 17.
Freshman forward Kyla Sanders scored in the third period as did Keseley, who put home a power-play goal late in the third period to finish Wisconsin's scoring for the day.
—uwbadgers.com
contributed to this report
