Closing out the regular season with style, the Wisconsin women's hockey team put on a show at the All Seasons Arena in Mankato. The Badgers (24-2-2-2 WCHA, 30-2-2 overall) swept the Mavericks (7-20-1-0, 8-23-8-3) in a decisive manner, outscoring their opponent 13-1 over the weekend.
The final weekend of the regular season saw many individual and personal achievements. In Friday's 4-0 win, sophomore Brianna Decker found herself involved in every play that produced a goal. Decker would open the flood gates tallying the first goal of the game and weekend. Going on to score the 2nd and 4th goal of the game, Decker earned her second hat trick of the season.
Collecting a assist on the 3rd goal of the game, Decker would earn four points on the night, tying her career high for points in a game.
Overshadowing Decker's career-tying night, however, was the record night of senior Meghan Duggan. Entering the series, Duggan was just one point shy of the UW career points record of 218, previously held by Sara Bauer. Needing just one point to tie the record, Duggan did more than that by earning three points to set a new record of 220 career points.
Duggan has always attributed her success to the success of her teammates, and in a way if it were not for Decker's hat trick, she would have not have broken the record. Duggan's three points all came on assists to each of Decker's three goals Friday night.
Breaking the UW career-points record on a hat trick of assists highlights Duggan's unselfish play and her team-first attitude.
Neither Duggan nor Decker would be finished though, both earning more points Saturday afternoon.
But it was two other Badgers that would steal the spotlight in the 9-1 thrashing that saw ten different skaters earn at least one point.
Duggan had another career performance Saturday, tallying two goals, her 100th and 101st, and two assists to bring the new career-points record to 224. She joined junior Hillary Knight as the only two Badgers to reach 100 career goals. Decker picked up three assists to earn a total of 7 series points, a career high for her.
Despite another career night for Duggan and Decker capping off a career weekend, all eyes were on a pair of players that would earn the second and third hat tricks of the series.
Knight was the first to do it Saturday, pushing her career goals to 107. Joining in on the fun would be freshman Madison Packer, whose three-goal performance was her first career hat trick.
Other Badgers earning points Saturday were: junior Brittany Haverstock scoring a goal; sophomores Stefanie McKeough and Saige Pacholok each earning two assists and seniors Geena Prough and Mallory Deluce and freshman Kelly Jaminski with one assist.
Wisconsin enters postseason play next weekend with a best- of-three series against St. Cloud State in the opening round of the WCHA tournament at the Eagle's Nest in Verona, Wis.
