Dec. 6, 2009

Box Score | Box Score

MADISON, Wis. - Despite outshooting Minnesota Duluth 35-24, the No. 6 Badgers tied the fourth-ranked Bulldogs, 2-2 to record a win and a tie for the series Sunday afternoon at the Kohl Center.

The series finale played up to the rivalry, sending the game to a shootout. UMD earned the extra point in conference standings after securing a 2-0 shootout win, however, the game is officially recorded as a tie.

"They’re ranked ahead of us nationally and in the WCHA, they’re a good team,” said interim head coach Tracey DeKeyser. “They had some uncharacteristic play on Friday, we were shocked we could handle them as easily as we did. But [today] was the team we expected to see."

After over 15 minutes of scoreless play and no penalties, the Bulldogs found the back of the net at the 17:20 mark during 4-on-4 play. A Badger defender blocked a shot attempt by UMD’s Laura Fridfinnson, but Emmanuelle Blais capitalized on the rebound from the left face-off circle to make the score 1-0 heading into intermission.

The Wisconsin offense turned it up in the second period, outshooting the Bulldogs 15-to-9 to record back-to-back goals in less than four minutes of play.

The Badgers’ first goal came from freshman Brianna Decker (Dousman, Wis.) with 9:43 left in the second period. From the left face-off circle, senior Emily Kranz passed the puck to Decker who powered the puck past UMD’s Jennifer Harss from just outside the crease to tie the score at 1-1.

“It was a great play,” Decker said. “Kranz picked off the pass and she heard me yell for it in the slot and then I shot it high, and it was a great goal.”

At the 13:59 mark, the Badgers took advantage of a scoring opportunity while on the power play.

From the side boards, junior Mallory Deluce (London, Ontario) sent the puck to sophomore Carolyne Prevost (Sarnia, Ontario). Prevost sent the puck to junior Geena Prough (Farmington, Mich.) who found the back of the net from the slot to give UW the 2-1 advantage.

After struggling to score with the man advantage this season, the Badgers’ recorded two over the weekend.

With less than three minutes left in the third frame, UMD’s Jessica Wong answered with a shot from the edge of the left face-off circle to tie the score at two at the 17:42 mark and send the game into overtime.

After a scoreless five-minute overtime, where Wisconsin outshot the Bulldogs 4-3, the teams went into a shootout. UMD won the shootout, 2-0 with goals from Katie Wilson and Audrey Cournoy.

With the shootout loss, UW sits in third place, three points behind Minnesota Duluth.

The Badgers finished perfect on the penalty kill, holding the Bulldogs to 0-for-4 while on the power play. Wisconsin went 1-for-3 with the man advantage.

Becca Ruegsegger (Lakewood, Colo.) finished with 22 saves in net for the Badgers and Harss recorded 33 saves for the Bulldogs.

 “I think we know we have to use our speed,” Ruegsegger said.  “That was a big thing out there today, we weren’t used to the quick team so we know we have to move the puck quickly also, and maybe just play all three periods hard. We need to come out hard in the first period and play tough.”

Wisconsin hits the road for the last time in 2009 from Dec. 11-12 when they face Minnesota State in Mankato, Minn. Friday’s face-off is set for 7 p.m. and the puck drops at 3 p.m. on Saturday.