A trip to Grand Forks, N.D. was just what the struggling Wisconsin Badgers women's hockey team needed coming off a 1-5-1 stretch. The Badgers swept the Fighting Sioux, lifting their WHCA record to 8-4-2.
The Badgers had never lost to North Dakota, but were coming off a home sweep at the hand of Minnesota Duluth.
The first game saw the Badgers come through with a 3-2 win. There was no score in the first period but N.D. junior forward Randi Motsko deflected in a shot from freshman defender Kelly Lewis for her fourth goal of the season five minutes into the second period. The lead was short lived however as freshman forward Hilary Knight scored off a rebound 28 seconds later to tie the game up.
The score stayed there until the Badgers took control late in the third period. North Dakota's Ashley Paulson had a breakaway, but junior goalie Jessie Vetter made a difficult save. The Badgers took the puck back up ice and sophomore forward Jasmine Giles put a pass from fellow sophomore forward Kyla Sanders between the pipes.
Junior forward Erika Lawler extended the lead 45 seconds later when she scored her sixth goal of the season. With 12 seconds left in the contest junior forward Melissa Jaques halved the Sioux deficit, but North Dakota would come no closer.
Just like game one, game two on Saturday began with a scoreless first period. In the second, however, the Badgers went to work.
One minute into the period Lawler set the puck out in front of the net and Knight put it in. Later in the period, freshman forward Kelly Nash scored off a Malee Windmeier pass.
Wisconsin got their first three goal period in two weeks when senior defender Emily Morris missed a wrap-around and freshman forward Mallory Deluce put back the rebound. The goal was Deluce's first since Oct. 20. Lawler scored in the third to close the scoring and registered her fourth point of the weekend as the Badgers rolled to a 4-0 victory.
Vetter collected her fifth in-conference shutout of the season but received a lot of help from the skaters in front of her. The Badgers allowed a grand total of five shots on goal on Saturday.
Analysis
Despite getting the sweep, the Badger offense had trouble shaking off the struggles of recent weeks.
The Badgers only took the first game by one goal despite attempting 26 more shots than the Fighting Sioux. North Dakota also had some very good scoring opportunities early in the game.
Head coach Mark Johnson pulled Vetter three times in the game to get a sixth skater on the ice.
In the second game, the Badgers did manage four goals, but keep in mind it was against the second worst defense in the conference. North Dakota's sophomore net minder Brittany Kirkham is allowing 3.1 goals per game against WCHA opposition. Last season Wisconsin outscored the Sioux 18-1 in four games.
The Wisconsin power play also struggled mightily over the weekend. The Badgers were unable to score on all 13 of their power play chances. Wisconsin is only converting 16 percent of their power plays this season.
The Badgers' defense has been its strength all season. They are allowing fewer than 16 shots on goal per game and give up the fewest goals per game of any WCHA team.
However, when Wisconsin does give up shots, they often find the back of the net. As a result, Vetter has slipped to sixth in the conference in save percentage with .918.
Wisconsin played well enough to win this weekend but will need to find more offense over the break. The Badgers are off until early January when they visit Mankato to play Minnesota State.
