No. 3 Wisconsin Shuts Out No. 4 Minnesota
November 18, 2005 | Women's Hockey
The No. 3 Wisconsin women's hockey team shut out No. 4 Minnesota, 2-0 at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis Friday night. It was just the second time Wisconsin had ever shut out Minnesota and the first time since February 2004 that the Badger claimed a victory. UW improved to 10-1-0 overall and 8-1-0 in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association while Minnesota fell to 9-4-0, 4-3-0 in the WCHA.
In the first period, Bobbi-Jo Slusar (Swift Current, Saskatchewan) dumped the puck into the Gophers' corner. Erika Lawler (Fitchburg, Mass.) pressured the Gopher defense with a fore check behind the net knocking the puck loose to Angie Keseley (St. Louis Park, Minn.) who slid the puck under Gopher goalie Brittony Chartier to put the Badgers on the board at 8:42.
The second period gave the Badgers their second power-play opportunity of the night when Minnesota's Krista Johnson was called for interference. Captain Sharon Cole (Bloomington, Minn.) combined with Meaghan Mikkelson (St. Albert, Alberta) and Slusar to give the Badgers an insurance goal and make the score 2-0. The assist lengthened Slusar's point streak to 10 games.
The third period gave the Gophers their first of just two chances on the power play, but ended the night 0-2 with the advantage. Minnesota had plenty of scoring chances throughout the game, including a pipe shot that just narrowly missed the net, hitting the inside of the right post. With 20 shots on goal, senior goalie Meghan Horras (Appleton, Wis.) got a workout in her second shutout of the season. UW posted 19 shots in just the second time this season the Badgers have been out-shot. Wisconsin has won both those contests. For Minnesota, Brittony Chartier tacked on 17 saves in the game.
Minnesota called for a timeout with 1:01 remaining in the game. Things did not go according to for the Gophers who acquired a penalty at 19:11 for hooking. The Badgers could not capitalize on the final power play and wore out the clock closing out the 2-0 win.
The win credited Wisconsin with 10 points in the annual TDS Border Battle race. The points pulled Wisconsin into the lead with the score 110-100. The team will face off again Saturday night at 7:07 p.m.
