No. 3 Wisconsin Sweeps No. 4 Minnesota
November 19, 2005 | Women's Hockey
For the first time in school history, the No. 3 Wisconsin women's hockey team completed a series sweep over No. 4 Minnesota with a 6-2 win Saturday night at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis. It was the first time in two seasons that the Gophers had been swept at home and just the third time they had been swept at home. Nine Badgers took part in the scoring while five registered multi-point games.
The Badgers improved to 11-1-0 overall and 9-1-0 in Western Collegiate Hockey Association action. The Gophers dropped to 9-5-0 overall and an even 4-4-0 in conference play.
After a scramble on the boards near center ice, Bobbi-Jo Slusar (Swift Current, Saskatchewan) got the puck loose to Tia Hanson (Medicine Hat, Alberta) who skated it right down the middle and over Gopher goalie Brittony Chartier's right shoulder at 3:47 to take the early lead.
The Badgers followed it up just over two minutes later when Nikki Burish (Madison, Wis.) cracked her scoring slump with her first goal of the season at 5:51. Providing help was Meaghan Mikkelson (St. Albert, Alberta) and Phoebe Monteleone (Pittsburgh, Pa.). The two early goals rattled the Minnesota bench enough to use its timeout early in the game.
Wisconsin was whistled for two penalties a minute later offering Minnesota a five-on-three power play which it capitalized on the advantage just 17 seconds in, returning one Badger. At 8:20 the Badgers received another penalty causing 11 seconds of another five-on-three. In a final attempt on the nearly four-minute power-play, junior goalie Christine Dufour (Rivere-du-Loup, Quebec) came up with the glove-save to kill the penalty.
Dufour went on to make 25 saves in the game tying her career high in saves and shots faced (27).
Senior captain Sharon Cole (Bloomington, Minn.) sealed the period with a goal at 19:15 with a slick tip-in off assists from Alycia Matthews (Castlegar, British Columbia) and Jinelle Zaugg (Eagle River, Wis.).
Newcomer Chelsea Brodt was assessed a penalty at 19:33 in the first period to give the Badgers the advantage to start the second. Wasting no time, Mikkelson cycled the puck to Slusar who shot the puck towards the net where Cole popped it in for her second goal of the night 27 seconds into the period.
The Gophers got just one minute of respite before and interference call put the Badgers back on the power play. Sara Bauer (St. Catharines, Ontario) capitalized on the chance with a goal at 3:43 off a helper from Cole from behind the net. The Gophers kept Bauer out of the scoring Friday breaking a 19-game point streak for the junior assistant captain.
Bauer's score was the last straw for the Gopher coaching staff as they yanked Chartier in favor of freshman Kim Hanlon. The rookie made nine saves in her third collegiate appearance. Chartier had six saves in her 23:23 of play.
In the third, Minnesota scored its second goal of the night at 6:11. It would not be enough to make a comeback. A final goal from Zaugg on the power play at 13:01 made it 6-2 and closed the game as the teams skated through the remaining seven minutes scoreless.
The Badgers are back in action at the Dartmouth Tournament Thanksgiving weekend in Hanover, N.H. Dartmouth will host Wisconsin Saturday followed by a neutral site match-up against No. 5 New Hampshire Sunday. Face-off is set for 3 p.m. Saturday and noon Sunday.
