Bulldogs Edge Badgers in Final Minutes
November 05, 2004 | Women's Hockey
The No. 5 Wisconsin women's hockey faced Minnesota Duluth's fourth-ranked team at the DECC Friday night. The defeat was just the second loss this season and the Badgers stand at 7-1-0 overall and 5-2-0 in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. The Bulldogs remain unbeaten at 6-0-1 overall and in the conference.
The Bulldogs took the lead early in the game with a goal from Caroline Ouellette at 7:08. Wisconsin's leadership combined to answer as Jackie Friesen scored from Molly Engstrom and Carla MacLeod on the power play at 12:05. Moments later at 13:53, UMD snuck another goal in. Facing a five-on-three faceoff on their end of the ice Wisconsin conceded a third goal to give UMD the lead heading into the first intermission.
Sara Bauer lit the lamp at 11:06 with Wisconsin's second goal fresh off a faceoff in Duluth territory. Engstrom had the helper and notched her second assist of the evening. The Badger defense was air tight and held the Bulldogs scoreless through all 20 minutes of the second period and killed the three penalties that were assessed.
With one Bulldog in the penalty box, Nicole Uliasz fired a shot at 12:15 to burn the goalie and tie the game 3-3. Bauer inked her second point of the night with the helper.
Tensions were running high in the final minutes of the game and the whistle blew on Kristen Witting and Cyndy Kenyon at 16:19 and another five-on-three situation manifested. The Badgers cleared the puck and kept the Bulldogs out of the net for 1:58 but Ouellette poked the puck past Meghan Horras after the initial shot was deflected.
In the net for the Badgers, Horras came up with some big saves and tallied 25 saves in the game. For the Bulldogs, Riitta Schaublin stopped 30 shots for the Bulldogs and came away with the win. Horras suffered her first loss in the net this season and is now 4-1-0.
The game was as fast a pace as the Badgers have seen this season as the two top-five teams battled for every possession. An old rivalry was reawakened in the teams' first meeting since the semifinal round of the WCHA Final Five. In that game the Badgers were denied title contention as the Bulldogs skated to a 3-1 victory.
The officials called a tight game blowing the whistle 12 times on Wisconsin and nine times for UMD. Wisconsin capitalized on two of eight opportunities, but UMD was able to score twice as well in nine attempts.
Hungry for revenge the Badgers will return the DECC Saturday to challenge the Bulldogs again. Stay tuned to uwbadgers.com for the latest.
