The source of excitement for the Wisconsin women's hockey team coming into this weekend's games against Bemidji State was clearly the highly-anticipated Camp Randall Hockey classic that opened the series Saturday.
The Badgers did not disappoint the fans that braved the cold weather, dominating Bemidji in a 6-1 victory. The following day back at the Kohl Center, however, the Badgers couldn't repeat that performance, falling 2-0 and completing another series split.
Wisconsin sophomore forward Carolyne Prevost opened the scoring at Camp Randall on an outlet pass from line mate junior forward Kelly Nash. Prevost then went in on a breakaway, put a nice move on Beaver goaltender Alana McElhinney, and put the puck over her left shoulder.
Four minutes later freshman forward Brianna Decker ripped a shot from the right faceoff circle that found the upper right corner of the net to give Wisconsin the 2-0 lead.
The first period set the tone for the rest of the game: Wisconsin dominated play in the first frame, outshooting the Beavers 13-2.
In the second period the Badgers again controlled the play. The defense shut down Bemidji, and kept them out of the defensive zone and the offense continued to roll.
Ten minutes into the second period senior captain Jasmine Giles found the back of the net on a shot from the top of the right faceoff circle to extend Wisconsin's lead.
Soon after that, Brianna Decker broke into the Bemidji zone on a 3 on 1 with her line mates, Kelly Nash and Carolyne Prevost. Decker dished to Nash, who passed to Prevost. Prevost then passed back to Decker in front of the crease where she tallied her second goal of the game and gave Wisconsin a four-goal lead.
In the third period Kelly Nash was able to tally Wisconsin's fifth goal of the game on a pass from Prevost.
Bemidji State's Jamie Hatheway scored the Beaver's only goal of the game about 16 minutes into the period.
The Badgers capped the scoring when senior forward Kyla Sanders scored from the left side of the goal crease after accepting a pass from sophomore forward Brooke Ammerman.
The Badgers controlled the pace of play in both zones from buzzer to buzzer and outshot the Beavers 42-14.
The game was certainly something special for everyone involved.
""I caught myself looking back at the crowd throughout the game,"" Prevost said. ""Hearing them chant, ‘1, 2, 3 we want more!' and it getting louder and louder it was great. We haven't been this excited for a game in a long time.""
""It was very exciting,"" Decker said. ""This was a once in a lifetime event, and with the crowd behind us, it was great.""
Decker also complemented the team's offensive performance.
""We moved the puck well today and that's how we created so many opportunities,"" she said. ""We were also able to attack on a lot of rebounds.""
After the euphoria that was the Camp Randall Hockey Classic, the Badgers went back to the Kohl Center on Sunday for the series finale.
The Badgers weren't able to repeat the dominating offensive performance that they displayed on Saturday afternoon despite outshooting the Beavers 36-20.
Penalties again plagued the Badgers during this game. On the power play eight minutes into the first period Bemidji State was able to capitalize on a shot from the point from sophomore defenseman Montana Vichorek.
It was again on the power play early in the third period that Bemidji State was able to find the back of the net. Vichorek found junior forward Erin Cody outside the left crease and Cody buried it to cap the game's scoring and send Wisconsin to a disappointing 2-0 loss.
