The No. 2 Wisconsin women's hockey team added a pair of wins to its record this weekend, taking down the No. 9 Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus.
After a 7-4 victory Friday night, senior goaltender Jessie Vetter recorded the 28th shutout of her career Saturday, and the Badgers completed the sweep with a 4-0 win.
After a scoreless first period on Friday, the Badgers (6-0-0) and Buckeyes (2-2-0) combined for six goals in the first eight minutes of the second. Junior forward Jasmine Giles gave Wisconsin a 1-0 lead just under three minutes in. Ohio State's Hayley Klassen answered less than a minute and a half later, knotting the score at 1-1.
Freshman forward Carolyne Prevost put the Badgers out front again after an OSU high-sticking penalty, and freshman forward Brooke Ammerman recorded her seventh goal of the year less than two minutes later, giving Wisconsin a 3-1 advantage. Ohio State's Natalie Spooner cut the UW lead in half just over six minutes into the second period, but sophomore forward Hilary Knight responded for the Badgers, giving Wisconsin a 4-2 lead at the end of the second period.
Knight and Prevost each scored again in the third, as did the Buckeyes' Klassen and Spooner. Junior forward Kyla Sanders added her first goal of the year to secure the win for the Badgers. Vetter made 26 saves, surrendering her first goals of the season.
After a high-scoring affair Friday, Wisconsin put the clamps on defensively Saturday night.
After putting up 30 shots in the first game, the Buckeyes could only manage 17 in the second. Vetter recorded her third shutout of the year, the 28th of her career.
Ammerman scored the eventual game-winning goal just over halfway through the first period, and Wisconsin held the 1-0 lead into the first intermission.
Less than two minutes into the second period, senior defender Alycia Matthews found senior forward Angie Keseley in the slot, and Keseley shelved the puck on the power play to give the Badgers a 2-0 advantage.
With Wisconsin still up 2-0 at the beginning of the third, Knight scored her third goal of the series and team-leading 10th of the year, putting the puck past Ohio State goaltender Liana Bonanno on another UW power play. Junior forward Meghan Duggan and sophomore defender Malee Windmeier were credited with assists.
Less than four minutes later, Giles closed out the scoring on assists from Ammerman and Sanders. The 4-0 win gave the Badgers a sweep in their first WCHA series of the year.
Wisconsin goes on the road to face Bemidji State next weekend. The Badgers and Beavers will face off in the inaugural women's United States Hockey Hall of Fame Game on Saturday. The game will be held at the Hippodrome in Eveleth, Minn.
- uwbadgers.com contributed to this report.
