After more than a month off, the No. 1 Wisconsin Badgers women’s hockey team began the second half of their season with mixed results in a two game series at No. 8 Minnesota Duluth, tying 1-1 on Friday before defeating the Bulldogs 5-1 on Saturday.
It did not take long for the Bulldogs to get the game started Friday, as a long shot from forward Madi Burr skid past Badgers goalie Ava McNaughton's left side. The Badgers were not able to respond in the first.
With 3.9 seconds left in the second, captain and defenseman Caroline Harvey was caught up in some traffic but was able to tie the game up with a top-shelf shot.
In the third, Duluth seemed to have scored on a breakaway, but the goal was overturned keeping the score 1-1.
Neither team was able to find the back of the net in overtime. Duluth, however, came out on top during the shootout, securing the extra point.
On Saturday the Badgers were able to exact revenge, overcoming the Bulldogs with a 5-1 victory.
Wisconsin forward Kelly Gorbatenko scored off a pass from forward Lacey Eden to get the Badgers on the board to open the game.
The Badgers were called for a major penalty early in the second period, but forward Adéla Šapovalivová secured a short-handed goal off a breakaway.
A few minutes later it was Wisconsin who was up on the powerplay, which allowed Harvey to send one past Duluth goalie Ève Gascon to give the Badgers a 3-0 lead. This goal marked Harvey’s fourth straight game with a goal.
The Bulldogs finally got on the board in the third, but Wisconsin forward Kirsten Simms quickly responded with a goal of her own off a pass from defenseman Laila Edwards.
To end the period, Edwards scored her seventh goal of the season on a Wisconsin power play, ending the game 5-1. Four of the five goals scored by Wisconsin was done with the special teams line in.
“We were able to get going pretty early on and that helped with our momentum,” Harvey said. “I think the difference for today, for our team, in general was the special teams who did well.”
With the addition of Edwards’ goal, every Badger set to play in the 2026 Winter Olympics scored during the game. This was the Badgers first game coming off a 34 day break. For four players — McNaughton, Simms, Harvey, and Edwards — those 34 off days were spent with USA hockey in which they all secured a spot. McNaughton said the camps became a mental battle.
“I didn’t really think about the mental component of it and how mentally taxing it is to be at those camps where you know every day you’re fighting for a spot on the team,” McNaughton said in a post game press conference.
The No. 1 Badgers next challenge will be against No. 15 St. Thomas on Friday and Saturday in St. Paul.
