It had been weeks since the Wisconsin women's hockey team last took the ice as a complete group when it faced off against St. Cloud State Friday night.
Over the winter break, opportunities to play with USA Hockey and Hockey Canada resulted in a musical chairs game that saw 12 players miss time with the Badgers.
After the opening 20 minutes of the series opener, however, any questions about working out the kinks as players got back together were answered.
Wisconsin came out firing, taking a 6-0 lead into the first intermission. The period set the tone for the rest of the weekend, as the Badgers went on to win 10-0 Friday and outscored hapless St. Cloud 16-0 over the series.
""The start of the game and certainly the first period was reflective of how we worked hard and prepared Wednesday and Thursday,"" head coach Mark Johnson said, referring to the two days of practice Wisconsin had as a complete unit before the series.
Junior forward Hilary Knight was a big reason for the Badgers' offensive success against St. Cloud, as she racked up five goals and three assists over the weekend. After breaking the program's career goals record Jan. 8 in a win against Ohio State, Knight has not shown any sign of slowing down, as she scored twice in the first period Friday on her way to a hat trick.
The diversity of Knight's goal-scoring talents was on full display in the game.
Knight scored the game's opening tally just over three minutes in to the first period, firing a wrist shot from the faceoff circle to beat St. Cloud goaltender Ashley Nixon. On her second goal, Knight let loose a powerful shot from the top of the slot that seemed to blow through Nixon's glove and into the net.
""If she gets to the top of the circle she can beat goaltenders, as we've seen now for two and a half years,"" Johnson said. ""Whether she scores high or low she can beat you in all areas.""
Although Nixon struggled Friday, giving up five goals before being pulled less than 15 minutes into the game, she was much improved Sunday and kept the Wisconsin offense at bay for much of the afternoon. The Huskies' netminder made 20 saves in the first period, frustrating a Badger attack that relentlessly pressured the St. Cloud net but had just one goal to show for it through 35 minutes.
Wisconsin eventually broke through, however, and wore Nixon down to claim a 6-0 win.
""She's a great goalie and she played well today; we just had to find a way to beat her,"" said senior forward Meghan Duggan, who scored the Badgers' first goal.
Along with the high-powered offense, the Wisconsin defense was equally dominant. St. Cloud managed just 17 shots on goal in the series and had only one shot through the first two periods of Sunday's game.
The dominant series sweep over St. Cloud–-the winless Huskies' 21st and 22nd losses of the season–-sets the Badgers up for a much tougher four-game stretch against two of women's hockey's elite programs. Wisconsin will first face a road test against defending national champion Minnesota-Duluth this weekend before returning home to take on Minnesota Jan. 28 and 29.
""Our success here this past weekend is definitely going to fuel us for our competition coming up,"" Knight said.
Given Knight's scoring ability, Duggan joked the team will look for Wisconsin's new all-time goals leader to play a big part in their upcoming games.
""It would be great if she could get five next weekend too,"" Duggan said.
