Badgers' Late Rally Downs Beavers 4-1
November 07, 2003 | Women's Hockey
With snow on the ground outside the arena, the seventh-ranked Wisconsin women's hockey team earned its second league victory of the season after defeating Bemidji State 4-1 on the road at BSU's John S. Glas Fieldhouse.
Wisconsin's offense spread its firepower as four different Badgers tallied goals and five of their teammates earned assists. Sophomore Nikki Burish led her teammates with a goal and an assist on the night.
Frosh goaltender Christine Dufour started in net for UW and notched her third career win with 12 saves. Bemidji State's Jill Luebke finished with 30 saves in the BSU loss.
Bemidji State held Wisconsin scoreless throughout much of the first period, but the Badgers outshot the Beavers 8-4. UW frosh Bobbi-Jo Slusar finally broke the stalemate at 16:38 with assists from assistant captain Steph Millar and Burish for the 1-0 lead. The goal marks Slusar's first career goal as a Badger.
After a clean first period, both teams took to the ice with more aggression and the game became a battle of power plays. Wisconsin fended off three, while Bemidji State killed off a UW power-play late in the second period.
However, a Badger penalty at 19:24 gave the Beavers one last opportunity and it paid off. With an assist from teammate Nina Ziegenhals, BSU's Kate Robinson tied up the contest 1-1 on a last-second power-play goal at 19:58.
Physical play continued in the third period and the Badgers fought off an early power play by the Beavers followed by back-to-back UW power plays. Wisconsin earned its own special-team goal at 6:04 on the opportunity. Senior Karen Rickard beat Luebke in net with assists from Kristen Witting and Meghan Hunter for the 2-1 lead.
Seconds later the Badgers took a decisive 3-1 lead when senior defender Kathryn Greaves set up teammate Amy Vermeulen for an even-handed goal at 7:23. Wisconsin held off Bemidji State's attack throughout the remainder of the period as Burish tallied a late unassisted goal at 19:29 for a 4-1 mark on the scoreboard to capture the Badgers' sixth overall victory this season.
Now 6-3-0 overall and 2-3-0 in the WCHA, Wisconsin will finish its series against Bemidji State (1-7-1, 0-5-0 WCHA) Saturday afternoon at the John S. Glas Fieldhouse. The puck drops at 2:05 p.m. and a full recap will be available at uwbadgers.com.
