Late Goals Lift Badgers Past UND
December 08, 2007 | Women's Hockey
Sophomore Jasmine Giles and junior Erika Lawler each scored goals late in the third period to lift the No. 7 Wisconsin women's hockey team to a 3-2 victory over North Dakota Saturday afternoon at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
Freshman Hilary Knight (Hanover, N.H.) scored the first goal of the afternoon for the Badgers, who improved to 11-6-2 overall on the season and 7-4-2 in WCHA play.
Junior Jessie Vetter (Cottage Grove, Wis.) made 12 saves for Wisconsin, which out-shot North Dakota 40-14 in the game, including 20-2 in the second period. At the other end, Brittany Kirkham made 38 saves for UND (3-12-4, 3-8-2).
Following a scoreless first period, North Dakota struck first just over five minutes into the second. Kelly Lewis fired a shot in on goal from the right point which was deflected by Randi Motsko past Vetter for her fourth goal of the season.
However, the Badgers needed just 28 seconds to respond. After junior Angie Keseley (St. Louis Park, Minn.) saw her shot stopped by Kirkham, Knight was there to bury the rebound and knot the game at 1-1. Lawler (Fitchburg, Mass.) also tallied an assist on Knight 's seventh goal of the season.
With the game still tied at 1-1, the outcome of the contest was determined by a pivotal sequence with 3:30 remaining in the third period. After a UW turnover in the offensive zone, UND's Ashley Paulson raced in alone on Vetter, who denied the breakaway attempt. The Badgers picked up the puck and raced up ice where Giles (Ottawa, Ontario) took a feed from sophomore Kyla Sanders (Parrish, Fla.) and beat Kirkham for her third goal of the season.
Forty-five seconds later, Lawler gave Wisconsin a 3-1 lead. The junior tried to slide a pass across the high slot, but the puck deflected off of a UND defender and back onto Lawler's stick. She then fired the puck past Kirkham for what proved to be the game-winning goal.
After UND pulled its goalie, Melissa Jaques narrowed the UW lead to 3-2 with 12 seconds left in regulation, but that was as close as North Dakota would get.
Wisconsin finished the game 0-for-7 on the power play while UND was 0-for-6.
UW and North Dakota conclude their WCHA series Sunday afternoon at Ralph Engelstad Arena. Faceoff is slated for 2:07 p.m.
