Traveling to Grand Forks, N.D., this past weekend, the No. 2 Wisconsin women's hockey team (11-2-0 WCHA, 15-2-0 overall) continued their conference dominance, sweeping the No. 8 North Dakota Fighting Sioux (7-6-2, 8-7-2) and taking home six points.
Carried by the electric play of sophomore forward Brianna Decker, Wisconsin took the series opener Saturday night by a score of 4-3. Decker's two goals and one assist led the team as she secured her eighth multipoint game of the season.
The Badgers opened the scoring Saturday early in the first period. Junior forward Hilary Knight netted the game's first goal off an assist from senior forward Mallory Deluce and senior defender Anne Dronen. Knight's goal released the first period flood gates, as Wisconsin would finish the period with three goals. Senior forward Meghan Duggan would score in the sixth minute and, Decker closed the period with a goal in the 18th minute.
The Badgers' dominant first period wasn't enough to silence UND, however. The Sioux came within one goal halfway through the second period on goals from sophomore Jocelyne Lamoureux and sophomore Jordan Slavin.
With just over four and a half minutes left in the second, the Sioux went on the power play with a chance of tying up the game. Despite being a player down, the Wisconsin penalty kill was in control of the player advantage. One minute after killing the penalty, Decker intercepted the puck at the blue line and carried it into the UND zone, netting her second goal of the game on the unassisted effort to put the Badgers up 4-2.
UND would again come within one goal late in the second period, scoring at the 19:41 mark. However, after a scoreless third period, Wisconsin walked away with the win.
The Badgers went back to work Sunday, riding the confidence of the prior night's win.
After a scoreless first period, UND opened the scoring in the second. Lamoureux tallied her second goal of the series and put the Sioux up 1-0. But from there, it was all Wisconsin. The Badgers would answer the UND goal by scoring four consecutive to finish the second. In control of the game, Wisconsin entered the locker room with a 4-1 lead after 40 minutes of play.
Continuing the goal streak, the Badgers added to their total 4:41 into the third on a goal by junior forward Brooke Ammerman. UND would add another score of their own just over two minutes later, but it proved to have no impact on the flow of the game as Wisconsin padded the stats on a goal by freshman forward Madison Packer, her first of the season, sealing the 6-2 win.
On short rest, Wisconsin will take to the road for a set against St. Cloud State next weekend.
—UWBadgers.com contributed to this report.
