Minnesota State came to the Kohl Center ready to play and repeatedly got the jump on No. 2 Wisconsin by scoring quick goals. The Badgers however refused to stay down and came back to take the weekend series 4-2 Friday and 4-2 Saturday.
Friday's contest began with a quick score as Wisconsin (4-1-1 WCHA, 8-1-1 overall) turned it over behind the net and former Badger Lindsay Macy put in a feed from Amanda Stohr 13 seconds into the game.
Twenty-two seconds later, senior wing Jinelle Zaugg knotted the game back up. A power play goal from sophomore wing Jasmine Giles gave the Badgers a 2-1 lead five minutes into the game.
However, MSU would not go quietly and yet again tied the game very early in the second period during a 5-on-3. Badger junior defender Alycia Matthews put in the game winner with eight minutes left in the second period on a long shot from near the blue line. Freshman wing Hilary Knight would add another goal in the third, scoring off assists from Zaugg and freshman center Mallory Deluce.
The game overall was sloppy with a combined 15 penalties assessed including eight in the first period. The Badgers had more than twice as many shots on goal as MSU (29-14).
Knight, Deluce and Zaugg combined to form the Badger's most formidable line. All three are among the top four point scorers in the conference and together have scored 18 goals.
You've got a couple freshman and Jinelle [Zaugg] who's one of our captains. It's good to see them playing so well, they've had some chemistry the last couple of weekends,"" head coach Mark Johnson said. ""Hopefully they'll continue to get better and continue to do some of the things they done the last couple of weekends for us.""
The second game opened in a similar manner with the Mavericks scoring less than three minutes into the game when freshman forward Lisa Edman put the puck just above junior goaltender Jessie Vetter's glove.
However, Zaugg would tie the game by backhanding in a Meghan Duggan miss later in the first.
Less than a minute into the second period, MSU took the lead when freshman wing Nina Tikkinen tried to dump the puck in front of the goal and it bounced off of Matthew's skate past Vetter. After that the Badger defense tightened allowing only five shots in the last two periods.
""During the periods, coach emphasized communication and that's what our biggest advantage was in the second and third period,"" Matthews said. ""We started communicating and passing more and collapsing when they are around the circle.""
Sophomore wing Kyla Sanders scored the equalizer when she blasted a centering pass from sophomore forward Jasmine Giles past MSU senior goaltender Britni Kehler. The Mav's defense then tightened and frustrated the Badgers deep into the third.
UW's offense delivered with four minutes left in the game when Knight got a breakaway and capitalized for her fourth goal on the season.
""Actually I'm not even thinking about really anything [on the breakaway], I just want to see how she moves and see where I want to put the puck,"" Knight said. ""She didn't move so I put it right through her five hole.""
The Badgers have never lost to MSU and with this sweep and Minnesota-Duluth's sweep at the hands of the Gophers, Wisconsin is poised to retake the No.1 ranking.
