| | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | St. Cloud State
| 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | Wisconsin
| 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | | | Scoring Summary | | 1st | 6:54 | WIS | Johnson (Burke) | | 1st | 19:57 | WIS | Clark (Pankowski) | | 3rd | 1:53 | WIS | Josephs | | 3rd | 10:56 | SCSU | Illikainen (Hespenhei, Pena) | | 3rd | 12:03 | WIS | Turnbull (Ammerman, Channell) | | | | | Goaltender Summary | Min | GA | Sv | | SCSU | Friend (16-21-8) | 56:54 | 4 | 45 | | WIS | Desbiens (23-5-6) | 59:54 | 1 | 13 | | Statistical Comparison
| SCSU | WIS | | Shots on Goal | 14 | 49 | | Power Plays | 0-1 | 0-3 | | Penalties-Minutes | 3-6 | 1-2 | | |
Feb. 28, 2015
MADISON, Wis. -- Four different Badgers lit the lamp as the No. 3 Wisconsin women's hockey team defeated St. Cloud State, 4-1, on Saturday night to advance to the WCHA Final Faceoff in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
| Fast Facts | | ? Badgers advance to WCHA Final Faceoff for the fifth straight year | | ? Four different Badgers lit the lamp | | ? Wisconsin outshot St. Cloud State 49-14 | |
Wisconsin (26-6-4) swept its WCHA first round playoff matchup with St. Cloud State (8-28-1) after defeating the Huskies 5-1 on Friday night.
Sophomore Mikayla Johnson and freshman Emily Clark scored in the first for the Badgers, while seniors Katy Josephs and Blayre Turnbull added goals in the third period.
"I think we played really well," Josephs said. "There were a couple shifts where we could've stepped up and worked a little harder. We still have improvement to do, but I really think that we came out strong and did what we needed to do today."
"It's nice to get back to the Final Faceoff again this season," Turnbull said. "After winning in two games this year, not three. So that's a bonus for us, we don't have to play again tomorrow. We're all looking forward to heading up to North Dakota later this week."
The Badgers got on the board early as Johnson tallied her third of the season, knocking a shot past SCSU netminder Julie Friend to give UW a 1-0 lead.
With time winding down in the first period, Clark accelerated through the St. Cloud State zone and notched her 11th goal of the season with 2.4 seconds to go in the period. Wisconsin ended the first frame outshooting St. Cloud State 18-2.
"We have talked about it prior to last night's game and after last night's game," UW head coach Mark Johnson said. "The same message was talked about today as we got ready for tonight's game. If you can come out and establish something in the first eight or 10 minutes, create some opportunities and maybe get a goal or two, it sends a message to the other team that you want to win the hockey game."
"We get really energized when we have the lead," Turnbull said. "I think it's helpful for our team when we jump out quick and have a really good start."
After a scoreless second, Josephs tallied her second of the weekend and 10th of the season, stealing a SCSU pass and launching a rocket into the top of the net.
St. Cloud State snuck the puck past UW netminder Ann-Renee Desbiens with nine minutes left in the game, but Turnbull helped UW retake a three-goal lead with a blast past Friend a minute after the Huskies' goal. It marked Turnbull's seventh goal in the past seven games.
"I think I've just been working on my shot a lot in practice and trying to get that accuracy right," Turnbull said. "Luckily, it's been coming on my stick and I've been able to get it off quickly, but I owe a lot of that to my line mates. They've been getting me the puck and they've been seeing me wide open in the slot a lot of times. It's nice to play with people who feed me the puck."
With the win, the Badgers advanced to the WCHA Final Faceoff in Grand Forks, North Dakota for the fifth straight year. Wisconsin will face host tournament host North Dakota at the Ralph Engelstad Arena on Saturday in a 5 p.m. contest.
"Obviously, it's a one and done situation," Johnson said. "Some of our upperclassmen have been through it for a couple of years. I'm sure they will prepare themselves as we get closer to Saturday to come out and play a real solid hockey game."
