The Wisconsin women's hockey team swept the Minnesota State Mavericks 4-2, 5-0 over the weekend to advance to the WCHA Final Faceoff at the DECC in Duluth, Minn.
The Badgers scored first Friday when junior center Erika Lawler forced a turnover in the Maverick zone and got the puck ahead to sophomore wing Meghan Duggan, who was cutting toward the net with only the goalie to beat. Duggan deked to get MSU netminder Britni Kehler out of position and scored on a backhand wrist shot.
The offense, however, had trouble establishing a rhythm in the first period, mostly because of the absence of freshman forward Mallory Deluce (11 goals, 14 assists). The Ontario native suffered a knee injury against Minnesota last week and did not see the ice versus the Mavericks despite suiting up for both games.
Junior wing Tia Hanson pushed the lead to 2-0 when she got control of a pass from sophomore wing Kyla Sanders just feet from the crease and slapped the puck in. Wisconsin's advantage grew to three as freshman wing Hilary Knight's shot went top shelf off a feed from sophomore center Jasmine Giles.
However, Mankato struck back early in the third period with a pair of goals in a two-minute span. Senior forward Amanda Stohr scored the first when she got a handle on the puck, which had squirted free from a scrum near the Wisconsin goal, and put it past senior goalie Jessie Vetter. The next goal came from senior wing Brittany Mackley, who put in a centering pass from sophomore wing Kala Buganski.
Wisconsin senior wing Jinelle Zaugg tipped in an Anne Dronen slap shot from the point to close the scoring.
UW head coach Mark Johnson tweaked his lineup again Saturday, moving sophomore wing Meghan Duggan to Deluce's center spot and playing freshman forward Kelly Nash on the wing.
I haven't played center since I was a senior in high school and hadn't taken faceoffs game after game for awhile, but you've got to make adjustments,"" Duggan said. ""Obviously it was difficult ... but you get used to it.""
The Badgers got on the board first when Knight moved the puck around her defender, regained control of it and scored.
""I guess they were trying to break it out,"" Knight said. ""[We] caught them a man down and just went right around the D, put the puck underneath her stick, shot it five hole and it ended up going in.""
Duggan scored on a wraparound that bounced off the stick of a defender seven minutes into the second period.
Vetter stopped 16 shots on the day and earned the 25th shutout of her career, good for second on the all-time career list. She has lost seven shutouts in the third period this season.
""You can't play too cautious because that's when you make mistakes, but [getting the shutout] is definitely always in the back of the mind,"" Hanson said. ""It's nice to get [Vetter] a shutout. She deserves it.""
Duggan scored her second of the day when Nash found her in the slot and she slapped it in. Lawler got the puck to junior forward Angie Keseley as she cut to the net on the rush for Wisconsin's fourth goal.
With less than three minutes left in the game, MSU's Stohr hit Sanders in the face and was thrown out of her final college game.
Over 3,000 people attended both games over the weekend and helped Wisconsin set several attendance records. The team drew 33,480 fans over the course of the season and averaged 1,860 per game. Both of those attendance figures are new women's college hockey records.
Wisconsin will face Minnesota on Saturday and, if they advance, will play the winner of Duluth-St. Cloud. Johnson said that Deluce will probably play next weekend.
