Badgers Edge Black Bears, 5-4
October 19, 2003 | Women's Hockey
The sixth-ranked Wisconsin women's hockey team defeated Maine, 5-4, Sunday afternoon at UM's Alfond Arena.
In the Badgers' first road trip of the 2003'04 season, Jackie Friesen led UW in scoring with two goals, while Steph Millar posted a goal and an assist in the win. Frosh goaltender Christine Dufour earned eight saves in her first collegiate start for UW.
Wisconsin jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first period. Sophomore Nikki Burish put Wisconsin on the scoreboard first with assists from Kathryn Greaves and Sharon Cole at 5:12, quickly followed by Friesen's first goal of the game at 6:20. Frosh Sara Bauer earned the assist on Friesen's goal.
Like the series against Vermont last week, the Badgers brought a strong attack against the Black Bears outshooting Maine 13-4 in the first period and 46-12 throughout the game. However, the Bears aggressively kept themselves in the game.
Maine's first goal came late in the first period to break the UW shutout lead. UM's Tristan Demet found the puck in the neutral zone and brought it down ice with a Maine teammate for a two-on-one and beat Dufour in net to tally an unassisted goal at 19:34. The Badgers rebounded immediately with a goal by Karen Rickard at 19:54 courtesy of assists by Millar and her fellow assistant captain Meghan Hunter to make it a 3-1 game entering the period break.
The second period saw both teams post two goals each. Friesen and her teammates capitalized on a power play as the UW junior fired one past Maine goaltender Lara Smart at the two-minute mark with assists from Bauer and frosh Lindsay Macy. Millar, a Hudson, Wis., native, scored the Badgers' fifth goal and her first of the season just over two minutes later. Frosh defender Bobbi-Jo Slusar recorded her first career point with the assist.
Maine scored its next two goals off scrambles in front of the Badger net. UM's Meagan Aarts found the loose puck in a mess of players in front of Dufour and earned a goal at 5:45 after her shot banked off a Badger defender's skate blade. Aarts would strike again at 8:02 after the errant puck bounced off two Badgers and slid past Dufour for a 5-3 score.
UM tallied just four shots to UW's 17 in the third period, as Wisconsin fought off Maine and continued its shooting barrage but could not break Smart in the Black Bear net. Maine's Kate Sunstrum would put her team back on the scoreboard one last time with a goal at 12:09 and the Bears gained confidence to keep looking for the equalizer.
A late penalty on Wisconsin created that opportunity and Smart was pulled from the net, however the Badgers killed the power play to capture the win in the final seconds.
Wisconsin, now 3-0-0, will face Maine (0-1-0) again in a rare Monday afternoon game at 1 p.m. CST. Full results and a recap will be available on uwbadgers.com.
