No. 1 Wisconsin Badgers women's hockey swept the Bemidji State Beavers, winning 10-3 on Saturday and 6-1 on Sunday in their first series back at La Bahn Arena since the new year. During senior week, where Wisconsin honored nine seniors, including Olympians Kirsten Simms, Laila Edwards and Caroline Harvey, the Badgers dominated.
Saturday
The first two minutes of play were spent in the Bemidji State zone, with Bemidji goalie Kaitlin Groess stopping an early threat from Wisconsin’s Laney Potter. Just seconds later, Bemidji State drew first blood, as Isa Goettl tipped the puck past Ava McNaughton. With the goal the Beavers, who lost 11-0 to Minnesota last week and were officially pushed to last seed for the NCHA playoffs, showed they were willing to fight against a frightening Badgers squad.
After Bemidji State’s early lead, Wisconsin began to struggle, turning La Bahn eerily silent.
However, the nervous energy didn’t last long, as Simms finished a controlled move at the crease to get the Badgers on the board. Minutes later, Harvey found her way to the net, centering a shot to give the Badgers the lead.
After a Bemidji State timeout, Hailey Armstrong came out with the puck on a one-on-none, beating McNaughton to tie-up the game 2-2.
Right after Kelly Gorbatenko was called for cross-checking, Bemidji State capitalized on the power play to take the lead. Morgan Smith buried the goal off a face-off, with McNaughton down on the left side of the net, Smith was able to find an empty right side.
With 12 seconds remaining in the period, Hannah Halverson drew a penalty to give the Badgers their own power play. As the clock rapidly wound down, Edwards ended the period with a clutch goal to tie the game 3-3.
While the first period wasn’t pretty, the Badgers made a 180 degree shift in the second period, dominating the rest of the game.
With Wisconsin still on the power play, Harvey worked her way over to the Beavers coverage and rippled a shot past Groess to quickly take a 4-3 lead.
Simms found Groess’ stick side just two minutes later to notch her second goal of the game. Showing much more confidence, the Badgers were on a roll.
Wisconsin continued to set up opportunities throughout the second period. Although Groess had some incredible saves, the goalie could only do so much against an overpowering Badgers attack. Harvey eventually scored her third goal of the day to secure her first-ever career hat trick, filling the ice with hats.
With under two minutes to go in the period, Bemidji State forced two penalties on the Badgers, creating a 5-on-3 advantage on the ice. However, even with a major personnel advantage, the Beavers could not secure a goal, with McNaughton using her whole body to deny a goal.
The third period had an electric start, as Simms recovered the puck from her own rebound and nudged it in to secure the second hat trick of the day. The Badgers first line showed incredible strength in the game, setting up shots for two hat tricks.
“I think my line was rolling,” Simms said. “We were moving the puck really well.”
Halfway through the period, Wisconsin’s staff made the decision to substitute McNaughton, who made 13 saves, for senior Chloe Baker, making her third appearance this season.
As the period creeped towards the end, McKayla Zilish, a former Beaver, received a long pass from Harvey and beat Groess 1-on-1 for her eighth goal of the season.
Lacey Eden continued the senior goal streak for the Badgers, as she drew up a perfect pass to score the ninth point of the day.
With one minute remaining, Claire Enright centered a shot to end the game 10-3, ending a remarkable game for the senior class.
Sunday
Head coach Mark Johnson made a shift to the Badger starting lineup Sunday, as Cassie Hall, Edwards, and Gorbatenko took over for Adéla Šapovalivová, Simms and Eden. Meanwhile, Bemidji State switched goalies with Ava Hills in the net.
Sunday’s game started quickly, as Harvey broke away on a one-on-one, and shuffled around Hills to put the Badgers on the board first.
Eden received a clean pass from Simms minutes later to center a shot. These two goals, paired with Wisconsin holding the Beavers to only two shots in the first eight minutes of play, helped Wisconsin take control of the game early.
Wisconsin continued to generate scoring opportunities, as Halverson rang a shot off the post midway through the period, but the rebound kicked wide.
With 7:20 left in the period, the Badgers went on the power play but were unable to generate many shots on Hills. A few minutes later, Bemidji State had a power-play opportunity of its own, but Wisconsin’s penalty kill stood strong in front of McNaughton.
The Beavers went on a power play for a second time, but Wisconsin's power-play unit kept a stronghold in front of the goal and was able to clear the zone killing the penalty without giving the Beavers much of a chance.
Even with how much pressure Wisconsin put on Bemidji State, Hills came up huge for the Beavers, keeping the score tight for the first half of the period with an 88% save average.
Simms, however, was not burdened by Hills’ presence, as she scored from the high slot to extend the lead to 4-1.
After Smith tipped the puck past McNaughton on her stick side to make the score 4-2, the Badgers immediately responded with Gorbatenko scoring off a give-and-go with Harvey to score her first point of the weekend.
As the period dwindled down, Simms, through a clear lane, scored her second goal of the game to add to Wisconsin's cushion.
Enright started the third period hot, jumping on a frozen puck in the crease to hit the top right of the net.
The middle portion of the period was played mostly unevenly, beginning with Bemidji State’s first power play. Just 15 seconds later, Harvey was sent to the box for cross-checking, giving the Beavers a 5-on-3 advantage. McNaughton came up with a key save on a shot from Bemidji State’s Armstrong to keep Wisconsin alive. Partway through the power play, Wisconsin caught a break when Armstrong was called for interference after knocking away McNaughton’s stick. Both penalties were ultimately killed, and neither team was able to convert.
With the 6-1 win, Wisconsin capped off another dominant weekend.
The Badgers will now have to navigate the next few weeks without their five Olympic athletes and will be thrown into the lion's den with a match-up at No. 3 Minnesota this weekend.
