It was another record-setting weekend for the Wisconsin women's hockey team.
Opening the season at the Kohl Center against the Quinnipiac Bobcats, senior goaltender Jessie Vetter recorded the 26th shutout of her career in a 10-0 win on Friday. Saturday, sophomore forward Hilary Knight rewrote the offensive record books, scoring a school-record five goals in a 7-3 victory.
The Badgers (2-0-0) scored early and often Friday night. Senior forward Angie Keseley redirected a pass from senior defender Alycia Matthews to give the UW a 1-0 lead four minutes into the first period. Goals from junior forward Meghan Duggan and sophomore forward Mallory Deluce propelled Wisconsin to a 3-0 advantage going into the second.
The underclassmen stepped up offensively in the third. With Wisconsin leading 4-0, sophomore forward Maria Evans and freshman forward Carolyne Prevost each scored their first goals in a Badger uniform. A power play goal from sophomore forward Kelly Nash pushed the UW advantage to 7-0.
[The freshmen] all played awesome, and I wouldn't expect anything less from them because they have all come in and picked up huge roles on the team,"" senior captain Erika Lawler said. ""They're such a huge asset for us this year.""
With 6:31 left in the game, Quinnipiac's Breana Burton took a five-minute major penalty and game misconduct for checking from behind. Deluce, Knight and Prevost all added power play goals in the game's final minutes. Vetter made 20 saves in the victory.
""If you've made it to the last minute, you kind of want to hold it out,"" Vetter said. ""[Shutouts] really help the team out.""
Freshman forward Brooke Ammerman scored her first collegiate goal giving UW a 1-0 lead Saturday night. With the game tied 1-1, Knight gave Wisconsin the lead again. Lawler fired a shot from the left side and Knight was able to knock in the rebound, putting the Badgers up, 2-1 at the end of the first period.
Knight lit the lamp again 42 seconds into the second period. Skating in on a wrap-around, the New Hampshire native snuck a backhanded shot past the glove of Bobcat goalie Nann Holm-Glaas, giving Wisconsin a 3-1 advantage.
With the score 4-2 late in the second period, Wisconsin found itself in a potentially dangerous 5-on-3 situation. However, the penalty kill was successful, and Knight took all of the momentum back for the UW, scoring her third goal of the night with nine seconds left in the second period.
""All of a sudden you're down on a 5-on-3 for 1:40, I thought we responded pretty well,"" head coach Mark Johnson said. ""We did a good job killing it off, and it's nice to see how the kids responded to a little bit of adversity.""
After scoring her fourth goal of the night 61 seconds into the third, Knight's record-breaker came with just under two minutes left. Keseley put a shot on net, and Knight fired in a rebound to make the score 7-2. Quinnipiac added another in the closing minutes.
With her fifth goal, Knight broke a school record previously held by Meghan Hunter and Cyndy Kenyon.
""I just stayed patient,"" Knight said. ""We've got kids on our team who are excellent passers, and fortunately for me, [the puck] went through.""
The Badgers look to follow this weekend's performance as they host Syracuse next weekend at the Kohl Center.
