DULUTH, Minn. - More often than not, an undefeated team will eventually falter and blemish its record with a loss. For the UW women's hockey team, that time came Saturday night.
The No.1 Badgers lost for the first time this season, dropping a 4-0 contest to No.3 Minnesota-Duluth at the DECC. A quick Bulldog goal put them on the defensive early and they never managed to climb back into the game.
They're a much better team with the lead,"" assistant coach Dan Koch said. ""So we talked about coming out, competing, setting the tone the first ten minutes and then that goal, it kind of deflates you a little bit.""
Moments after the opening faceoff, Duluth's Haley Irwin forced a turnover in the Badger zone and sent the puck off senior Wisconsin netminder Jessie Vetter into the goal. It took all of 15 seconds for the Badgers to trail for the first time since Nov. 21.
The deficit doubled when sophomore Bulldog forward Laura Fridfinnson scored on a breakaway, 12 minutes into the period.
The Badgers then seemed to take the energy back, going on several power plays, including a 5-on-3. It was all for naught however as Duluth's junior goaltender, Kim Martin turned away all of Wisconsin's shots.
The game took on a very physical tone as neither side was shy when it came to contact.
""I think we always prepare ourselves for [this] type of physical game against Duluth.""
Junior forward Meghan Duggan said. ""Before the game the refs said they were going to let us play, so I think people were throwing their bodies around and it's fun to play like that.""
The Bulldogs held a 16-9 advantage in second period shots and extended their lead when Fridfinnson scored her second goal of the day. Duluth junior forward Saara Tuominen dumped the puck across the crease on a power play and Fridfinnson sent it in before Vetter could come across the goal mouth.
The Bulldogs closed the scoring with one last goal, this one from junior defender Jamie Rasmussen with under a minute remaining in the game.
All game the Wisconsin offense looked out of synch and labored to generate many scoring chances.
""We were talking about it in the locker room, it's just, none of us can really think of any great goal scoring opportunities that we had."" Duggan said. ""I think there wasn't a lot of flow to today's game '¦ it was pretty choppy, not as crisp as we're used to.""
Martin's play in net only added to Wisconsin's scoring woes. The Olympian and Native of Sweden withstood 31 Badger shots en route to her third shutout of the season.
""Obviously she's an unbelievable goalie."" Wisconsin forward Angie Keseley said. ""Our whole team knows that, everyone knows that. It's tough for our team to get past her and I think that that's something that we need to work on tomorrow '¦ getting one of the first goals will be huge for us tomorrow I think.""
Duluth head coach Shannon Miller, however, noted that Martin credited the defenders in front of her for their role in the shutout.
""The one thing [Martin] said though, she said 'I saw most the shots.'"" Miller said. ""That's remarkable too. That means we're doing a really good job in the defensive zone, boxing out our checks, making sure the goalie sees the shot.""
The Badgers played Saturday without their head coach, Mark Johnson, who led the U.S. Under-18 team to a world championship in Germany. His team however will try to earn a split when the series concludes tomorrow at 3 p.m.
