Box Score Nov. 20, 2009
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MADISON, Wis. - The sixth-ranked Wisconsin Badgers (8-4-1, 6-3-0 WCHA) outlasted the St. Cloud State Huskies (4-10-0, 3-7-0 WCHA) 2-1 on Friday afternoon at the National Hockey Arena.
Although the 0-0 score did not reflect it, the Badgers had several big plays throughout the first period with several close shots that refused to find the back of the net.
What the scoreboard reflected is the neck-and-neck competition that transpired throughout every play as the shots were split at an even 13-13 at the end of the first frame.
The Huskies had a 5-on-3 man-advantage twice in the first period, but Wisconsin prevailed, holding them scoreless on both power plays.
"It was good that we had practiced a lot of shot blocking during practice this past week," Interim head coach Tracey DeKeyser said. "It was very timely and it came in handy. Those were huge penalty kills. I give credit to our defensemen and our whole team for shutting them down in the passing lane."
After several close chances in the first period, Wisconsin lit up the scoreboard with 18:48 left in the second frame when Brooke Ammerman (River Vale, N.J.) finally found the back of the net after several rebound attempts in front of the goal. Not only did Ammerman give the UW a 1-0 lead, she extended her point-streak to 10 games (10g, 5a). Freshman Brianna Decker (Dousman, Wis.) and junior Mallory Deluce (London, Ontario) notched the assists.
SCSU answered at the 14:26 mark when Caitlin Hogan notched a rebound goal to tie the score at 1-1. Danielle Hirsch and Holly Roberts were attributed with the first and secondary assists.
With 17:46 left in the third frame, sophomore Carolyne Prevost (Sarnia, Ontario) battled past an SCSU defender and had her shot stopped. However, freshman Breann Frykas (East St. Paul, Manitoba) was there for the game-winning rebound to record her second goal of the season and advance Wisconsin to a 2-1 lead. Junior Kelly Nash (Bonita, Calif.) recorded the secondary assist.
Wisconsin held SCSU to 0-for-6 on the power play. The Huskies did not surrender a goal either, leaving the Badgers 0-for-3 with the man advantage.
Becca Ruegsegger finished with 29 saves in net for Wisconsin and Ashley Nixon tallied 27 for the Huskies.
The Badgers outshot St. Cloud 41-30 in Friday's victory.
The victory marks the second time the Badgers won the first game of a series this season, the only other time they did it was against Minnesota at home.
"I am really excited for our first win on the road during the first game of the season," DeKeyser said. "That's a huge accomplishment for our team I know that we have been close many times, but it was rewarding to get the win and I felt confident with our abilities and the scoring chances we had. We had quite a few of them, but it was nice that we were able to capitalize on the ones that made that difference."
Wisconsin will look to get its second series sweep this season in game two on Saturday. The Badgers face-off against the Huskies at 2 p.m. at the National Hockey Arena.
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Allison Metcalf, Wisconsin Athletic Communications
