Oct. 2, 2009

Box Score

MADISON, Wis. - After dropping the 2009 national championship banner, the Wisconsin women’s hockey team fell 2-0 to league-rival North Dakota in the season-opener Friday night at the Kohl Center.

In front of a crowd of 2,590 the Badgers unveiled its third championship banner before the drop of the puck on the 2009-10 season. Senior Alannah McCready made the start for the Badgers in net.

North Dakota’s Ashley Furia notched the first goal off of assists from Sara Dagenais and Ashley Holmes with 22 seconds left in the first period to tally the 1-0 lead. While falling down, Furia flipped the puck past McCready after she made the initial stop.

Despite the scoreboard, Wisconsin outshot the Fighting Sioux 8-6 and led 13-8 in face-offs in the first 20 minutes of play.

A Wisconsin goal looked promising with 12:40 left in the second period after freshman Brianna Decker capitalized on a shot from the crease. The goal was called off because sophomore Brook Ammerman was spread across the crease causing an interference, calling the play dead before the shot.

The Fighting Sioux found the back of the net with 1:25 left in the second period. Janet Babchisin broke up the pass and delivered it to Alex Williams. Williams broke away and completed the play, beating McCready top shelf. This solidified the 2-0 lead for North Dakota going into the final twenty minutes of play.

Although Wisconsin allowed two goals in the first two periods, interim head coach Tracey DeKeyser was pleased with the Badgers performance in the first 40-minutes of play.

“I think the kids were pretty up and it was pretty exhilarating,” DeKeyser said. “I thought they were on fire. They came out and the first and second periods were pretty good. We just got in penalty trouble and got frustrated with not being able to score.”

Brianna Decker and Carolyne Prevost led the team in shots with five apiece as Wisconsin outshot North Dakota 29-20. UND’s Jorid Dagfinrud played solid in net turning away all of Wisconsin’s attempts.

“She made a lot of great saves,” said Decker. “She had a really good game and we just couldn’t find the back of the net.”

Even though the Badgers were sent to the box nine times, North Dakota never capitalized on the man advantage. Wisconsin went 0-6 on the power play. McCready made a career-high 18 saves in the defeat.

In the 2-0 loss, Wisconsin faced its first shutout and fell to 8-3 in season openers since its inception in 1999. The loss marks the first-ever against the Fighting Sioux, bringing the all-time record to 24-1-0.

The Badgers will complete the series Saturday night against the Fighting Sioux. The puck drops at 7 p.m. at the Kohl Center.

Wisconsin Athletic Communications