Women's Hockey Cracks No. 10 Buckeyes
October 26, 2001 | Women's Hockey
The sixth-ranked women's hockey Badgers used power-play goals by Meghan Hunter (Oil Springs, Ontario), Karen Rickard (Bowmanville, Ontario) and Molly Engstrom (Siren, Wis.) on its way to a 6-0 victory over No. 10 Ohio State at OSU Ice Arena on Friday.
After failing on its first power-play, Wisconsin (4-0-1 overall, 3-0-0 WCHA) converted on its second when Hunter gave Bucky a 1-0 lead. Kendra Antony (Yorkton, Saskatchewan) recovered the puck in the corner after a faceoff deep in OSU territory. Antony centered to Hunter who redirected the puck past OSU netminder Melissa Glaser for her fourth of the season.
'In the first period, it was nice to see our lines back together in the first period,' said head coach Trina Bourget. 'Kendra and Meghan were back together with Karen and they have great chemistry with Sis and Kerry. '
Wisconsin made it 2-0 in the second period when Steph Boeckmann (St. Cloud, Minn.) finished a breakaway. Jackie Friesen (Regina, Saskatchewan) banked a pass off the right boards out of the UW zone and Boeckmann skated onto the pass. The sophomore skated in on Glaser, went to the backhand, and scored her first of the season at 6:56.
Rickard scored the first of two consecutive Badger power-play goals at 10:05 of the second, scoring on a second rebound. Hunter was stopped on the first shot, Antony's shot hit a player in front, but Rickard was there for the third attempt and scored her second of the year.
With Lindsey Steblen off for high sticking, Engstrom capitalized for her first career goal. The defender succeeded with a wrist shot form above the left face-off circle after taking a pass from Hunter. Engstrom's power-play tally came at 12:58.
Steph Millar (Hudson, Wis.) added to the lead at 18:14 and the Badgers went up 5-0. Kerry Weiland (Palmer, Alaska) skated out from behind her own net, beat a couple of OSU forecheckers and dished to Kelly Kegley (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) on the far side of the ice. Kegley hit Millar in stride and the sophomore scored third of the season with a wrist shot.
'In the second period, we really opened things up and it was definitely deflating to the other team,' commented Bourget. 'With Steph Boeckmann coming down and scoring in the second, it really got us going. She has a great shot but is someone that usually doesn't get the opportunity to get in those positions. She did a great job using her speed to cut to the goal and finding the five hole. That really elevated our team.'
Bucky its final goal in the third with Rickard's second of the contest. Antony found the rebound of Hunter's shot, took two shots and Rickard found the final rebound for the goal.
'It was really nice to see the passing on our team, especially Kerry Weiland's pass to Kelly Kegley,' Bourget added. 'Our defense does a great job of seeing the space in front of them and getting the forwards the puck. It was really a team effort.'
After equaling the team record by holding Connecticut to 10 shots in a game last weekend, the Badgers set the record tonight holding the Buckeyes to nine shots. Wisconsin fired 25 shots at the OSU net.
'We played our systems and we played well,' Bourget said. 'It's our goal to hold people to low shots - don't give them the opportunity. It was a team effort. I thought we did a nice job breaking out of our zone and keeping pressure in the offensive zone.'
Jackie MacMillan (Buffalo, Minn.) posted Wisconsin's first shutout of the season and fifth of her career with a nine-save effort. Glaser stopped 19 of Wisconsin's 25 shots in the loss.
Wisconsin attempts its second road sweep tomorrow against Ohio State (2-2-1, 1-1-1). The Buckeyes and Badgers meet at 7:05 p.m. EDT.
