Wisconsin’s split results against the Badger Gophers over Halloween weekend, losing Friday but rebounding with a victory Saturday. The team’s tenuous 58-57-16 all-time winning record and 11 month win streak over the Gophers was on the line when No. 1 Wisconsin matched up against No. 3 Minnesota.
Friday: Down goes No. 1
Entering the weekend, Wisconsin had not lost to the Gophers in the last ten games the team’s matched up. The last time they lost at home to the Gophers was December 2021. And despite Wisconsin Olympians Kirsten Simms and Laila Edwards returning to the lineup for the first time in weeks, the Badgers lost 5-1. It was their first loss in 37 games.
Freshman center Adéla Šapovalivová and junior defender Laney Potter were off the lineup card.
To start the first period, Minnesota laid on thick pressure. However, they couldn’t generate shots on net.
It was Wisconsin who broke through first after junior forward Cassie Hall took a dump-in from Lacey Eden past two Minnesota defenders and the goalie to open up scoring about seven minutes into the game. It was the eleventh goal in eleven games for the Hall.
Several more times in the first period, Wisconsin nearly added another goal. But the Minnesota defense held strong.
About a minute into the second period, Wisconsin sophomore defender Emma Venusio threw Minnesota forward Abbey Murphy into the boards, earning herself a roughing minor.
Halfway through the penalty, Wisconsin defender Ava Murphy and Minnesota’s Jamie Nelson were also sent to the penalty box for roughing.
Wisconsin had a plethora of great looks to extend their lead to two, but none of them managed to find the twine.
A bit under halfway through the second period, the Gophers started playing with an intensity that came to define the rest of the game.
Minnesota didn’t see immediate results, but Abbey Murphy threaded the needle between two Wisconsin defenders to get the puck to Josefin Bouveng who scored a late goal to tie up the game going into the third.
The game didn’t stay tied for long, as just over two minutes into the final third, Minnesota’s Sienna D’Alessandro took advantage of Badger netminder Ava McNaughton being out of position to give Minnesota their first lead of the game.
The Badgers took a handful of frustration-induced penalties over the rest of the game as the Gophers kept rolling.
Gopher Defender Sydney Morrow capitalized on bad defense to score five minutes into the period. Josefin Bouveng scored her second of the game and Abbey Murphy scored her first goal against Wisconsin in well over a year to bring the score to 5-0.
That fifth and final goal chased McNaughton out of the game as Badger bench boss Mark Johnson opted to install the freshman Rhyah Stewart to close out the night.
With about two minutes left in the game, Abbey Murphy attempted to take Edwards down from behind, but only ended up hurting herself as she left the ice and didn’t return.
The loss marked Wisconsin first in 37 games and the Badgers’ first non-win in 23 games.
Saturday: Badgers defend their No. 1 spot with impressive 7-2 win over the Golden Gophers
On the heels of their first loss in 37 contests, Wisconsin was quick to forget their Friday shortcomings in the second game of the series. Fourteen seconds into the game, Wisconsin forward Maggie Scannell put Wisconsin on the board, helping the Badgers establish the momentum they’d hold onto for the rest of their 7-2 win over Minnesota.
Two minutes later, Wisconsin forward Kirsten Simms came down from center to receive a pass from alternate captain and forward Kelly Gorbatenko for Wisconsin's second goal of the period.
With about five and half minutes to go in the period Minnesota’s captain Abbey Murphy headed to the box with boos ringing out from the Wisconsin crowd.
However this would not benefit the Badgers, as Minnesota would end up with a short handed goal to cap the period off at 2-1.
But the Badgers took the energy back with an early goal in the second from Gorbatenko coming in from the right side.
The Badgers dominated the period, severely testing Minnesota goalie Hannah Clark. It wasn’t until Abbey Murphy’s second penalty towards the end of the period that allowed Edwards to shoot one through on the blocker side.
The third began just as the other two had with a Badger goal. This time it was captain and defenseman Caroline Harvey sending the puck perfectly over the blocker to make the game 5-1.
However, Hannah Halverson would get a penalty five minutes into the period, allowing Abbey Murphy to shoot one just above McNaughton's left shoulder. Harvey then got called for crosschecking 30 seconds later, leading to another Gopher power play. This time McNaughton wouldn’t let any past her, defending eight straight shots on goal.
Penalties continued to dominate the third period. Minnesota's Sydney Morrow got called for a hit from behind on Simms. This allowed defenseman Emma Venusio to score her first goal of the season.
With two goals from Wisconsin in the third period, the Gophers took out Clark and brought in freshman goalie Layla Hemp. Just two minutes later, she was met with a Wisconsin power play that led to Kelly Gorbatenko scoring her second goal of the game, to make the score the eventual final 7-2.
After their weekend split, Wisconsin will receive a much needed break this week.
With this time off, the hope for Wisconsin is to get healthy, as Potter, Murphy and Šapovalivová are still not at full strength to return. The break will also give current players a chance to switch gears to USA Hockey, as the annual rivalry series against Team Canada kicks off this weekend.
“You know it’ll be a fun opportunity to play Canada for the rivalry,” Harvey said. “It’s always so competitive and back and forth. So I’m looking forward to that. But once we’re back after those two games, it’s Badger hockey again.”
