Badgers Hold Off Mavericks 4-3 For Series Sweep
November 15, 2003 | Women's Hockey
The seventh-ranked Wisconsin women's hockey team edged 10th-ranked Minnesota State 4-3 Saturday afternoon to sweep the two-game series on the road at MSU's All Season's Arena.
In just her second game back from playing with the Canadian senior women's national team at the Four Nations Cup in Sweden, Wisconsin's team captain Carla MacLeod assisted on three of UW's four goals to lead the Badgers in scoring.
With 23 saves in the win, frosh goaltender Christine Dufour improves to 6-1-0 in just eight career games at Wisconsin. Minnesota State goaltender Shari Vogt collected 35 saves in the MSU loss.
Game two of the series started fast and furious with the Badgers opening up scoring just two minutes into play. Originally from nearby Ellendale, Minn., frosh Lindsay Macy put Wisconsin on the scoreboard with a goal at 2:48 off assists from MacLeod and frosh Heidi Kletzien. The assist marks Kletzien's first career point as a Badger.
It didn't take long for the Mavericks to dash UW's hopes of a second shutout in the series though. Following a Wisconsin penalty for roughing, Minnesota State's Autumn Conway beat Dufour in net during the closing seconds of the power play. Cara Hendry and Amber Sharatt earned the assists.
The Mavs would take a surprising lead off a face-off five minutes later. The official dropped the puck on the face-off between UW's Grace Hutchins and MSU's Devon Nichols and the ensuing swipe by Nichols sent the puck past Dufour for a 2-1 lead at 12:37.
The MSU lead was fleeting however as Wisconsin frosh Bobbi-Jo Slusar brought her team back in the game at 15:20 with an unassisted breakaway equalizer for the 2-2 brand on the scoreboard ending the busy period. The Swift Current, Saskatchewan native intercepted the puck from a Minnesota State player to bring it down center ice and beat two defenders and Vogt for her second career goal as a Badger.
The second period continued the back-and-forth play between these two teams, but Wisconsin's attack would break Vogt twice more in the MSU net. Following coincidental roughing penalties on each team at 9:28, the Badgers claimed a 3-2 lead at 10:53 as senior Meghan Hunter tipped the puck past Vogt's glove with assists from MacLeod and senior Karen Rickard.
MacLeod would earn her third assist of the contest six minutes later as the Badgers climbed to a 4-2 advantage in scoring. Teammate Steph Millar and MacLeod worked the puck around to create the open shot on the MSU net for frosh Meaghan Mikkelson at 17:17, her first point since the season-opening series when she fired in two goals in UW wins against Vermont, Oct. 10-11.
A second set of coincidental penalties in the third period allowed the Maverick's to tally their third goal of the game. Melanie Salatino, MSU 's leading scorer, brought her team within one of Wisconsin with an unassisted goal at 13:31.
Minnesota State pulled Vogt from the net with 25 seconds left looking for the late rally, but the Badgers would hold on for the 4-3 victory and series sweep. The win improves UW to 9-3-0 overall and 5-3-0 in the WCHA, while extending their winning streak to 17-0-1 all-time against the Mavericks (7-3-0, 4-2-0 WCHA).
Next up for the Cardinal and White, Wisconsin returns to Madison for a two-game home series against St. Cloud State at The Eagle's Nest Ice Arena in Verona, Friday, Nov. 21 and Saturday, Nov. 22. Both games will begin at 7:05 p.m. Live stats and game recaps against the Huskies will be available on uwbadgers.com.
