The Wisconsin women's hockey team advanced to the WCHA Playoff Championship Saturday night, completing a sweep of North Dakota with a 3-0 victory.
Senior goalie Christine Dufour made 16 saves and freshman forward Meghan Duggan tallied three points to end North Dakota's disappointing season.
A goal by senior defenseman Meaghan Mikkelson one minute into the game gave Wisconsin positive momentum.
The second shot on net by Wisconsin 1:47 into the first period also wound up in goal, this one by sophomore defenseman Rachel Bible, her first of the season, which gave Wisconsin a 2-0 lead.
In the second period, Duggan put the game away with a steal in the offensive zone and a deke to beat North Dakota freshman goalie Brittany Kirkham, which gave the Badgers a 3-0 advantage.
""I figured I'd chase the [the defenseman] down and see if I could take the puck ... I just lifted her stick and grabbed [the puck] and went in on the goalie,"" Duggan explained.
In the third period, Wisconsin relied on the defense and Dufour to carry it to victory, as the Badgers countered the Sioux's nine third period shots with just three of their own.
Dufour made 16 saves for her seventh shutout of the season.
Friday night, the Badgers won the first game of the series 4-0.
Wisconsin came out firing, putting 36 shots on Kirkham. They went up 1-0 on a goal by freshman forward Kyla Sanders.
A tally by senior forward Sara Bauer put Wisconsin up 2-0 under a minute into the second period.
Sophomore forward Angie Keseley and junior forward Jinelle Zaugg notched shorthanded goals in the third period and Wisconsin used freshman goalie Jessie Vetter's 11 saves to execute a 4-0 shutout of the Fighting Sioux.
Vetter's shutout was her seventh of the season, which ties her with Dufour for the team lead.
Wisconsin's victory Saturday was its sixth win in six games this season over North Dakota, which ended the 2006-'07 campaign failing to win a conference game.
""Every game you want to come to play not thinking about who you are playing against, how good they are, what their record is, but rather coming in and getting better,"" Mikkelson said.
With the two shutouts, the Badgers have gone four straight games without giving up a goal.
""Our defense has been really solid all year. It's really coming through right now. The forwards are doing a good job of coming back and supporting us down our end and our goalies are doing a phenomenal job too,"" Mikkelson explained.
Mercyhurst, which led the PairWise rankings (the chief-selection tool of the eight-team NCAA tournament field) heading into the weekend, tied Niagara on Saturday. As a result, the Badgers jumped into first place in the rankings. If it wins the conference tournament, Wisconsin will be the top seed in the NCAA tournament. Wisconsin head coach Mark Johnson, however, was apathetic regarding the development.
""Not at all. Not thinking about it,"" he said, quickly.
Now, Wisconsin will face Ohio State in the semifinals of the WCHA Playoff Championship on Saturday. The Buckeyes swept Minnesota State this weekend, but lost all four of its games against Wisconsin this season. The other semifinal match up pairs Minnesota against Minnesota-Duluth. The two winners face each other in the finals on Sunday.
""At this point forward, every game begins to be more difficult and more challenging and the stakes are higher. The objective now is to make sure we come to work on Monday, have a good week of practice and get ourselves ready,"" Johnson said.
