The Wisconsin Badgers women’s hockey team (8-1-1 WCHA, 14-1-1 overall) completed another road sweep against St. Cloud State (0-10-0 WCHA, 3-10-1 overall). This marked their 23rd and 24th straight wins against the Huskies.
Friday’s matchup saw what the Badgers have shown all season long: early dominance led by their first-line stars. First period goals from sophomore forward Sophie Shirley and junior forward Daryl Watts pushed Wisconsin out to a 2-0 lead. Going into the first intermission, Shirley, Watts, and senior forward Abby Roque all had two points each.
Watts’ goal in the first period marked the 100th career assist for Roque.
"It's pretty cool to reach a milestone like this and be put in a class with some of the other amazing players who have done it before me,” Roque told uwbadgers.com postgame. “Obviously have to give credit to all the girls who I have played with since I've been here because they have been the ones putting the puck in the net."
Wisconsin’s dominance continued early in the second thanks to a score by sophomore forward Britta Curl with virtually no angle to the goal. However, the Huskies regained momentum with two unanswered goals by junior forward Mckenna Welosh and senior forward Hallie Theodosopoulos in the remainder of the second period.
St. Cloud State’s comeback ultimately came up short in the third period. Despite another goal from Theodosopoulos, an unassisted goal from senior defenseman Mekenzie Steffen and a late empty-netter from Shirley closed the door on a 5-3 victory in St. Cloud.
Sunday showed more of the same for each side. Junior forward Brette Pettet opened up the scoring in the first period for Wisconsin, followed by another Badger goal from Watts. St. Cloud State escaped the first period with one goal thanks to a power play score from Theodosopoulos.
Sunday’s second period showcased yet another goal from the NCAA’s leading scorer Daryl Watts, for her second goal of the game, to bring the score to a 4-1 Badger advantage.
Twenty seconds into the third period, sophomore forward Jenniina Nylund brought some life into the Huskies with a goal, but two unanswered goals from Shirley and freshman forward Dara Greig closed out a successful weekend for the title-defending Badgers.
Wisconsin will be back in action next week against Harvard and Boston College in Nashville, Tennessee for the annual Country Classic. The games will be played in the Ford Ice Center, home of the NHL’s Nashville Predators.
